By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
26-year old Alex Bowman is without a doubt having his best career season since joining the Cup series.
A career that started when he made his NASCAR premiere series debut back in the 2014 Daytona 500.
Bowman the Showman as often referred to has piloted the No. 88 Chevrolet for powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports full time since the 2018 season.
In his second full-time season for HMS, he continues to impress.
The Arizona native is showing what he can truly do on track when given the type of equipment a top team like Hendrick Motorsports can provide.
It was a rough start to the season as Bowman didn’t earn a top-10 result until the 10th race of the season at the famed Talladega Superspeedway.
His first top-10 of 2019 and a career best finish of second came in the GEICO 500.
A race where he finished behind his HMS teammate, Chase Elliott who captured the victory.
It took a while for the 88 to string along solid finishes but they’ve come consistently since.
The momentum would keep on rolling for Bowman and the 88 team. In fact, the young driver would go on to finish second two more times in a row.
Those finishes came at Dover where he led for 16 laps and Kansas where he led for a season high 63 laps.
Clearly, Bowman has improved drastically since last season and it’s not a question of if he’ll win, it’s when?
Bowman’s gone on to finish outside of the top-10 just once in the last six races.
Heading into Sonoma Raceway weekend last season, he had four top-10 finishes, and six top-15 finishes.
Fast forward to this season and he already has bested those statistics with five top-10 finishes and 10 top-15 finishes as well. This includes a 10th place result in last weekend’s event at Michigan International Speedway.
Top 10 at @MISpeedway. Know we had a better finish in us, but still going forward which is what matters most. 🤘🏼 @TeamHendrick @nationwide88 pic.twitter.com/Af0d13Hw2L
— Alex Bowman (@Alex_Bowman) June 11, 2019
First is the only position Bowman hasn’t finished in in NASCAR’s top series, a statistic he’ll look to change that this weekend in his 133rd career start.
In this Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350, Bowman will look to put his No.88 Axalta Chevrolet into victory lane for the first time in his career. In last season’s event, he went on to finish 9th after starting 17th for his best finish at the track in three starts.
Bowman has Axalta on board this week but the team and more importantly one of his primary sponsors made headlines this past week.
It was announced last Wednesday (June 12th) that Nationwide Insurance would be leaving Alex Bowman and Hendrick Motorsports.
Nationwide was signed with the team through 2020, and furthermore was signed on to be the primary sponsor for Bowman in 20 races next season.
However, the company will use an early out clause to depart at the conclusion of this season. Bowman is signed with HMS through the 2020 season and isn’t worried with the news of Nationwide’s departure.
“Nothing’s changed. It’s business as usual. We’ve got to go win races this year and try to contend for a championship. I’m not worried about anything and just trying to do my job the best I can,” Bowman stated on Monday during a media event for sponsors Axalta and CARSTAR.
HMS owner, Rick Hendrick further stated that Bowman will be a big part of the future at Hendrick.
“Alex is having a breakout season and showing the world just how talented he is. He’s signed through next year (2020) and will be a big part of our future”
Bowman currently sits 10th in the MENCS points standings, 181 points behind current points leader, Joey Logano.