It’s impossible to race in NASCAR’s top-tier racing series and not fall in love with the sport. Once the thrill of speed gets hold of someone, the itch to race just doesn’t get off their back. However, a racing career does not go on forever, and a speedster, at some point in their life, has to give up on being a racer.

What would a NASCAR Cup Series driver do if they were not driving? For Stewart-Haas Racing icon Kevin Harvick, it’d perhaps be a FOX Sports analyst. However, what Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman chose as his profession would have any motorsport enthusiast raise their eyebrows in awe first and then burst out laughing.

Alex Bowman revealed what he does for a living; wrong answers only

This year has been a sorry season for Alex Bowman. Back in the first half of 2023, the #48 team was leading by a few points. But they got hit with a penalty for using illegal aero parts. No sooner had that gone away than the Chevy team got slammed with another penalty of 60 points and 5 playoff points, and the crew chief was suspended from two races, besides a fine of $75,000.

Fast forward to the end of that month, and Alex Bowman broke his back. It looked like the season wasn’t just meant for Bowman to shine. However, the way he kept driving even after the fatal injury from a sprint car accident at the Iowa dirt track clearly speaks of the resolve that this 30-year-old speedster has toward his career.

But would one be astonished to know if Alex Bowman wakes up one day and decides to quit racing and become a zoo animal? It wouldn’t even make sense at first, right? But it did happen. Recently, NASCAR on NBC set out to interview Kyle Larson, William Byron, and, of course, Alex Bowman, asking them what they would do for a living otherwise. While Kyle Larson said he was a sushi chef and Byron said he was a pizza delivery guy, Bowman declared, “I’m a glorified zoo animal!“

But why would Bowman call himself a zoo animal? A zoo curbs an animal’s freedom to live freely. Perhaps because he felt like one after his injury had curbed his freedom to go and win the championship this year? Who knows?

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After a disastrous season, Bowman looks forward to a fresh start

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Bowman’s performance at the beginning of the year was quite impressive. He had top-10 finishes in 6 of the first 7 races. He even won the pole twice during that stretch. Moreover, he grabbed the points lead before NASCAR penalized him and his teammate William Byron for greenhouse violations. But that was not the end of his misery.

Bowman’s broken vertebra sidelined him for nearly seven months. He missed several major point-scoring races at Dover, Kansas, and Darlington, as well as the All-Star Race. But he gathered all his strength and came back on track for the Coca-Cola 600. Unfortunately, that was not remotely close to what a wise decision is.

There were times when Bowman suffered from unbearable pain while his body was trying to recover. According to NBC Sports, Bowman admitted, “I couldn’t really walk the week after the 600.” However, he is ready to hit that reset button and buckle up for another new season.

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“Previous years, I would have a bad weekend and hold on to that for the whole week and make myself miserable the whole week and really kind of tear myself apart over my own mistakes,” said Bowman. “I think this year, there’s been so many bad weeks that I’ve really had to learn how to deal with them in a better way and be more positive about things.”

There is a lot of work for Alex Bowman to do before the #48 team kicks off the 2024 NASCAR season. He has to keep working with his crew chief, Blake Harris so that he’s able to recapture his momentum and avoid a slow start. Only time will tell how that will pan out for Alex Bowman.