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Sep 27, 2020; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Alex Bowman (88) and driver Denny Hamlin (11) lead the field during the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
USA Today via Reuters
Sep 27, 2020; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Alex Bowman (88) and driver Denny Hamlin (11) lead the field during the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Jimmie Johnson’s future successor Alex Bowman had one of the busiest weeks of his 2020 season. It began with him being announced as the next driver of the iconic No. 48 car at Hendrick Motorsports to be vacated by Johnson.
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After all the excitement around the announcement, Bowman still had a job to do with the No. 88 car, with which he has some decent success. Truthfully speaking, he had a big job ahead of him.
Bowman came into the race at the Charlotte Roval, inside the top-8, but he still was far from qualifying for the Round of 8 of the playoffs. A number of variables going into the Charlotte race added to his challenge. The stress level was high, but Bowman expressed that the positive start to the week helped him greatly.
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Oct 11, 2020; Concord, North Carolina, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott (9) leads Alex Bowman (88), Joey Logano (22) and Kyle Busch (18) into the chicane during the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
What helped Alex Bowman in the Charlotte Race?
After his 8th place at Charlotte, Bowman said, “To be honest with you, that probably helped distract me through the majority of the week. Just being able to talk about something else, not being so caught up in a points situation.”
The prospect of racing at the Charlotte Roval is already challenging. To add to that, Sunday’s race was an elimination race. Not only that, but the prediction of rain during the race, coupled with the need to better than the likes of Kyle Busch among others, made things extremely difficult for Bowman.
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Sep 19, 2020; Bristol, Tennessee, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) leads Alex Bowman (88) during the Nascar Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Conquering a highly stressful situation
“It’s just tough, man. You come to the Roval, stressful. It’s a cutoff week, stressful. You’re surrounded in points by champions of the sport, extra stressful. You’re trying to beat Kyle Busch, and it’s going to rain. It’s like how many stressful elements can you add to one thing?” Bowman continued.
This is why starting the week on a good note and something as big as driving Johnson’s car in the future helped Bowman take his mind off the stresses ahead.
“Being able to talk about something else was definitely helpful this week, I feel like,” Bowman expressed.
He suffered from anxiety issues during the race as well. Bowman spoke with his team over the radio as he tried to battle those issues. Eventually, Bowman overcame those troubles and showed his skills to prevail.
Read more – What the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Scenario Looks Like Ahead of the Round of 8
