Alex Bowman does not need his shades to know how fast his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet has been ahead of the Bristol Night Race. (Photo: Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Alex Bowman has been a man focused on the job at hand rather than discussions about job as driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Before making noise with his first Busch Light Pole of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Tucson, Arizona, native has been inundated by questions about his future at Hendrick Motorsports.
Rather than expressing annoyance or defiance with the press, the unassuming driver has done his job by winning the Chicago Street Race and qualifying for this year’s Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2022.
Despite cheekily telling the press that they did not listen to him, the 10-year Cup competitor typically does his talking in his car. After 108 laps in Friday’s practice session, Bowman was the ninth fastest on the charts but 18th quickest in a 10-lap average.
Once qualifying was underway, Bowman and crew chief Blake Harris put their heads together. Their belief in each other and Bowman’s confidence at the 0.533-mile concrete track paid dividends.
Logging the fastest time in Group A qualifying, Bowman duplicated his efforts by taking the pole over Kyle Larson, his Hendrick teammate.
The eight-time Cup race winner considered the team’s progress from the start of practice to the qualifying rounds.
“I thought we struggled a little bit in practice, more than I was expecting,” Bowman said. “And then really in qualifying, I just had a lot of grip. I was a little bit too tight. It was one of those situations where you run a lap and you’re like – it’s either going to be really good or really slow. When your tight, you just slow down until you can turn it.
“Yeah, I mean obviously after the first round, I felt pretty good about it. I’m thankful to start up front and qualify well. Obviously qualifying hasn’t been our strongest suit over the years, so with it being a cutoff race and everything, starting up front is definitely important.”
Like Larson and the field, Bowman considered the possibility of tire wear issues like in March’s Food City 500. Based on Friday’s on track activities, Saturday night’s 500-lap race does not appear like a repeat of the tire management race seen six months ago.
Alex Bowman has been quietly steady throughout the season, a microcosm of what has been seen ahead of Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol. (Photo: Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)
“Yeah, I mean I think it’s back to where it was a year ago. I didn’t really see any unusual wear. They don’t fall off that much,” Bowman observed. “So definitely curious as to what the variable is there, right? I think there’s a lot of smart people that will figure out what that variable is; between the tests here, the spring race and everything, with the same stuff causing different results.
“Yeah, I think we’re in for Bristol a year ago, more than Bristol from the spring. Unless all the rubber comes up off the track overnight for whatever reason, I think that would create the spring race again. But barring that happening, I think it’ll be kind of normal Bristol again.”
Heading into the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol, Bowman finished fifth at the opener at Atlanta and 18th at Watkins Glen. With a 42-point advantage over the cutoff line, a clean, methodical race is what the methodical driver and his team needs with the resources at the Hendrick campus.
“Yeah, I mean I think it’s important, right? We have the tools that we need to go do it, it’s just a matter of using them correctly; going to work and finding the results,” Bowman said. “We’ve definitely had streaks of great runs throughout the season, and we’ve had some runs that haven’t been so great, too.
“Obviously, starting the Playoffs strong is really important for us, and continuing that positive momentum forward is really key.”
Alex Bowman hoists his first Busch Light Pole Award banner since the 2023 DAYTONA 500. (Photo: Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)
As for those rumors about Bowman’s future, in the words of the late Samuel Clemens, otherwise known as Mark Twain, such discussions about the Arizonian competing elsewhere have been ‘greatly exaggerated.’
“I think that’s just the story of my Cup career, in general, right?” Bowman pondered. “It’s always been that way. There’s never been – I mean, you know, the years we won the second-most races of anybody and it was still the same questions and the same stuff.
“Yeah, I mean just continuing to try and improve, and I think our team is in a good spot right now. But yeah, honestly, the last couple of months, the rumor mill got going more than normal. But I feel like I’ve answered those same questions for five or six years now. So I’m used to it, at this point.”
