NASCAR
Just How Lucky Is Alex Bowman?
Perhaps no driver in NASCAR today is as underrated as Alex Bowman. Since the 2021 Daytona 500, Bowman and the 48 team have five victories. This is the second-highest win total in the Cup Series, only behind Kyle Larson. Bowman’s last two victories though, including this week in Vegas, have been characterized by heated quotes from Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. Is Alex Bowman purely the luckiest driver in the sport today, and how talented is he? Let’s take a look back at each of his seven current Cup Series wins.
Chicagoland 2019
Career win number one for Alex Bowman was a great battle with Kyle Larson, where the 88 came out on top. Many winning chances escaped his grasp earlier in 2019, including three-straight runner-ups. However, Bowman finally put it all together in June. While not nearly as chaotic as the “slide job” battle the year before at Chicagoland, Bowman and Larson traded blows many times over the closing laps. After Larson’s No. 42 cleared Bowman, the 88 stormed back around him with just six laps left. In his 134th start, Bowman out-drove a hard charging Larson at one of his best tracks. Bowman’s first win reaffirmed that he does in fact belong at Hendrick Motorsports, as his talent was on full display here.
Auto Club 2020
In his most dominant win to date, Alex Bowman had a career day at Auto Club. The No. 88 Chevrolet started third, won a Stage, and led a whopping 110 laps en route to a victory by almost 10 seconds. Since then, Bowman has called this the best car he’s ever had in a Cup race. Despite such a strong showing, this would be Bowman’s lone trip to victory lane in 2020.
Because of the lack of wins, Bowman entered that year’s Playoffs with a deficit in bonus points. Ultimately though, Bowman was superbly consistent in the 2020 Playoffs. The 88 team outscored all of their competitors, except for eventual champion Chase Elliott. If Bowman simply had a few more Stage wins or race victories throughout 2020, his Playoff run would have mirrored the 9.
Richmond 2021
For his first victory in the Ally No. 48, Alex Bowman came in clutch at Richmond last spring. After Denny Hamlin led over 200 laps, Bowman restarted third with only 11 laps left. On this restart, Bowman rocketed by the 11, making quick work of Hamlin and seemingly stealing this victory. While Hamlin certainly was the dominant car that day, it still took skill for Bowman to beat the short track ace at his home venue.
Dover 2021
Just a month after Richmond, the 48 was back in victory lane at Dover. This entire race was a historic day for Hendrick Motorsports; they finished 1-2-3-4 and also tied Petty Enterprises’ all-time win record. However, Bowman was once again not the dominant driver. That honor would go to Kyle Larson, as the 5 led 263 laps at the Monster Mile. Just inside of 100 laps remaining though, the 48 pit crew delivered when needed. Bowman’s team put together their fastest stop of the season to get the 48 out ahead of the 5. For the remaining laps, Bowman maintained ahead of Larson, taking another victory. Bowman getting ahead of Larson was certainly the doing of his pit crew, thus making this an all-around team effort win.
Pocono 2021
The first leg of last year’s Pocono doubleheader was Bowman’s luckiest win so far. After a heated late race battle with Kyle Larson, the 5 finally got by the 48 with four laps left. Larson at this time was going for an unprecedented fourth-straight Cup Series victory, and appeared to have this win well in hand. However, in the final corner Larson lost a right front tire, and slammed the outside wall. This allowed Bowman to get by and secure his third win of 2021. Meanwhile, Larson would limp home to finish ninth.
Pocono proved to be Bowman’s flukiest win to date, as the odds of a last-corner tire puncture are incredibly small. However, Bowman still had to be in position to capitalize on Larson’s misfortunes. Even with the slim chances of these cards all falling right, Bowman nevertheless raced hard against the best in the business. It was this race where the mantra of Bowman being lucky was born.
Martinsville 2021
After being eliminated from the Playoffs in the Round of 12, Bowman stunned many by winning at Martinsville. This win by the 48 was not without controversy, as he spun Denny Hamlin late in the going for the lead. However, Bowman had the faster car and had tried numerous times to pass Hamlin cleanly. Ultimately, Bowman just overcooked entry into turn three and got loose under the 11. The 48 would only lead the last nine circuits of this 500-lap slugfest, taking an astounding fourth win of 2021.
After the checkered flag, Hamlin was none too happy with how Bowman raced him. The 11 rammed into Bowman during his victory celebration, and proceeded to call him a hack on the NBC broadcast. Bowman responded by selling “Hack” t-shirts, capitalizing on the name-calling. Bowman has embraced the hack nickname, as Rick Hendrick said later that week that “if he’s a hack, I’d like to have more of him.” Once again, Bowman beat the wily veteran Denny Hamlin at one of his best tracks.
Las Vegas 2022
Now moving ahead to last week’s race, Bowman seemingly lucked his way into another win. The 48 won Stage 1, but then had a mid-race pit road penalty. After a late caution, Bowman lined up second to Kyle Larson, as they both took two tires. On the overtime restart, Bowman was able to stay alongside Larson for the entirety of the two-lap dash, clearing the 5 in the final corner and taking the win. After being in position to win before the late caution, Kyle Busch voiced his displeasure. Busch’s comments this week mirror Hamlin’s from last fall, that Bowman seems to luck his way into wins rather than beating the competition on-track.
In reality though, Bowman just beat the strongest driver and team in NASCAR today heads up in a shootout. Larson was not going to give the 48 an inch at Las Vegas, as the 5 wanted back-to-back victories. While Bowman again led only 16 laps, this is again a testament to his ability to perform when needed at the end of races. Much like David Pearson or Matt Kenseth of past generations, Bowman has a tendency to be nonexistent in a race’s early laps only to come alive at the finish.
Alex Bowman is a wildcard driver who has a tendency to play upset late in many races. If the 48 can repeat their winning ways of last year and their postseason consistency of 2020, they will be a championship threat come this fall.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Meg Oliphant/Getty Images for NASCAR
