Alex Bowman is not completed driving simply but, however he’ll be calling it quits on his NASCAR profession quickly.
Hendrick Motorsports introduced Thursday, July 23, that Bowman has signed a one-year extension to proceed driving the No. 48 Chevrolet however will retire from full-time racing after the 2027 season.
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The 33-year-old Bowman has been a full-time driver within the top-level Cup Sequence since 2014, however has only one victory within the final 4 seasons and missed 4 races earlier this 12 months due to vertigo. He additionally missed three races in 2023 due to a fractured vertebra and 5 races in 2022 after struggling a concussion.
“Alex has meant a lot to our group for a very long time,” stated Rick Hendrick, proprietor of Hendrick Motorsports. “He is overcome adversity, received massive races and represented our crew and companions with professionalism, persona and sophistication. Alex is an amazing expertise within the race automobile and a fair higher particular person outdoors of it. We’re proud he’ll have the chance to complete his full-time profession with us on his phrases. He is household.”
A local of Tucson, Arizona, Bowman has eight victories throughout 371 Cup Sequence races and holds the report for many consecutive begins on the entrance row of the Daytona 500 with six. He received the pole on the Tremendous Bowl of stockcar racing thrice in his profession.
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March 8: Ryan Blaney celebrates profitable the Straight Speak Wi-fi 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
(Meg Oliphant, Getty Pictures)
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March 8: Ryan Blaney celebrates profitable the Straight Speak Wi-fi 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
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March 1: Tyler Reddick celebrates profitable the DuraMax Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
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Feb. 22: Tyler Reddick celebrates profitable the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.
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See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners
Feb. 15: Tyler Reddick celebrates along with his household and crew after profitable the 68th working of the Daytona 500 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway.
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“I’ve spent a number of time excited about what’s subsequent, and this appears like the fitting determination on the proper time,” Bowman stated. “The game asks a number of you, and I’ve discovered it is necessary to take heed to your physique and make the fitting decisions for your self. To say I am extremely grateful to Mr. Hendrick, our companions at Ally and Chevrolet, and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports can be an understatement. They believed in me and gave me the largest alternative of my life.
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After profitable six races throughout two seasons within the decrease stage ARCA Menards Sequence, Bowman spent one full-time season within the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Elements Sequence earlier than leaping as much as a Cup Sequence experience in 2014 with BK Racing. The following 12 months, Bowman drove for Tommy Baldwin Racing.
Each of these first two seasons have been a wrestle for Bowman as he solely completed inside the highest 20 4 occasions out of 72 races. Getting into 2016, he was with no full-time Cup Sequence experience, however wound up working 10 races for Hendrick Motorsports within the No. 88 Chevrolet as an alternative choice to Dale Earnhardt Jr. as he battled concussion points. In that 10-race span, Bowman received his first pole at Phoenix and notched three top-10 finishes.
Following Earnhardt’s retirement, Bowman joined Hendrick Motorsports full-time in 2018, ending sixteenth within the level standings. The following season he notched his first win at Chicagoland. Bowman went on to take checkered flags within the Cup Sequence at Fontana, Richmond, Dover, Pocono, Martinsville, Las Vegas and the Chicago Avenue Course. Bowman completed a career-best sixth in factors in 2020 and had a four-win season in 2021 — the 12 months he moved over to the No. 48 after the retirement of seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson.
Bowman additionally notched one win within the O’Reilly Sequence, profitable at Charlotte in 2017.
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Subsequent season, Bowman will eclipse 400 profession begins within the NASCAR Cup Sequence, with greater than 300 of these coming in Hendrick vehicles.
Bowman’s retirement implies that there can be an open seat on one of many premier groups within the Cup Sequence and the highest crew for producer Chevrolet. Hendrick is NASCAR’s all-time winningest group and has had the identical four-driver lineup for the previous six years, with Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and William Byron filling out the roster subsequent to Bowman. Since 2016, Hendrick has captured 4 Cup Sequence championships, with Larson profitable two of them. Solely Penske — Ford’s prime crew — has as many titles in that stretch.
