The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Bowman takes big step in keeping Hendrick ride
Alex Bowman started the season in the middle of a strong group of looming free agents. He is going to need to perform to keep his ride at Hendrick Motorsports. He took a big step over the weekend.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. » There is a strong crop of drivers headed into free agency this summer and Alex Bowman has hardly been at the top of the list.
Brad Keselowski is a former Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson is considered the future of NASCAR and Ryan Blaney is poised for a breakout season. Erik Jones is determined not to be the lowest-performing driver at Joe Gibbs Racing, while Corey LaJoie is among a handful of young drivers desperate for a chance to drive competitive cars.
Bowman used to be in LaJoie’s situation, a group of second- and third-tier drivers routinely passed over by the top teams. They settle for underfunded teams, often have to bring their own sponsorship, don’t make much of a salary and never have a fair shot to win each week.
“Every year is a contract year. Every year of my life in the Cup Series has been a contract year,” Bowman said. “I’ve had contracts and two weeks before Daytona read a tweet that said I’m not going to Daytona.”
His break came in 2016 when the 22-year-old took his first big step away from driving bad race cars. Bowman patched together nine Xfinity Series races with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team and was available when Earnhardt was sidelined for a long portion of that season with lingering effects from multiple concussions. Hendrick Motorsports called Bowman for 10 of those races and he grabbed the first pole of his career and notched three top10 finishes as a substitute.
Bowman again refused slow cars all of 2017. He ran just three times all year — one Truck Series race, twice in the Xfinity Series and nothing at all in Cup — and practiced his craft on simulators while waiting to be considered for a seat in a car that can actually win.
His plan worked to perfection when Earnhardt retired after the 2017 season and Rick Hendrick gave Bowman the No. 88 Chevrolet.
But going into the final year of a three-year contract, Bowman understood it was going to be a struggle to keep that seat considering how many drivers will be available at the end of the season. Hendrick already needs a driver to replace seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson when he steps back from a full schedule.
So Bowman opened the year determined not to lose the No. 88.
He qualified second for the Daytona 500, might have had a chance to win Feb. 23 at Las Vegas if not for a late caution and then finally made his way to victory lane Mar. 1 in California with a dominating run. It was Bowman’s second career Cup victory in 156 starts, both in the Hendrick Chevrolet, and first opportunity to convince his boss he wants to keep his seat.
“Hendrick Motorsports is where I want to be. It’s where I want to stay for the rest of my career,” Bowman said. “There’s a lot of outside pressure. There’s a lot of pressure from myself. I just want to win races. That’s all there is to it. When I come here and don’t run well and people think I look mad or upset or I’m not friendly, you’re dang right, I want to win races.”