Alex Bowman’s final full-time Cup season is still a year away, but the No. 48 team is already losing some of the people who have been part of his Hendrick Motorsports story.
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Kevin Hamlin has confirmed that Homestead was his final race spotting for Bowman, ending a partnership that began when the driver moved into the No. 88 in 2018. He will join Legacy Motor Club in 2027 to work with Riley Herbst and the new No. 84 Toyota. The move was first reported by Dustin Albino in a post on X.
Hamlin’s departure is not just another name changing teams during the offseason. The spotter has spent 14 years with Hendrick, and his relationship with Bowman has covered the driver’s move from Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s old number to the No. 48.
In an Instagram post, Hamlin reflected on the end of that long association: “Today’s my last race with Hendrick Motorsports. It’s been an incredible 14-year journey making some great memories and even better friends.”
He also made clear that he is not stepping away from the sport. “I’m beyond excited for a new chapter with Riley and Legacy Motor Club. An amazing opportunity for me and my family, and I cannot wait to get started,” Hamlin wrote. That means Bowman will have a different voice in his ear when he begins his final full-time Cup campaign, while Hamlin moves into a new project that is taking shape at Legacy.
The timing is significant because Hamlin has been paired with Bowman since the start of the latter’s full-time Hendrick tenure in 2018. Bowman took over the No. 88 after Earnhardt’s retirement, with Hamlin shifting over from Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 team.
When Jimmie Johnson retired and Bowman moved to the No. 48 for 2021, the spotter remained alongside him. That continuity has stretched across two car numbers, multiple crew changes and some of the most important years of Bowman’s career.
A spotter’s job is often less visible than the crew chief’s, but the relationship matters every lap. The voice above the grandstands has to help a driver judge closing speeds, identify traffic and make decisions in places where mirrors and sightlines cannot tell the full story. After nearly nine seasons together, Bowman will have to establish that rhythm with someone new just as he enters a season with a very different significance for his career.
Hamlin’s exit also comes days after another major change around the No. 48 was revealed. Blake Harris is set to leave Hendrick Motorsports and become Shane van Gisbergen’s crew chief at Trackhouse Racing in 2027.
Harris has worked with Bowman for four seasons, and the pair’s partnership produced its only Cup win together at the 2024 Chicago Street Course. Their final weekend together at Homestead therefore marked the end of another important working relationship.
The two departures leave Hendrick with more than a routine offseason replacement to sort out. A new spotter will be needed for Bowman, while the No. 48 crew chief position is also open.
RACER reported that Adam Wall, who currently works with Corey Day in Hendrick’s No. 17 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series programme, has been mentioned as a possible candidate, but no appointment has been confirmed. The team has not publicly identified who will take over from Harris.
Bowman’s own timeline makes those decisions more complicated. In July, he announced that he would step away from full-time Cup competition after the 2027 season, signing a one-year extension to remain with Hendrick for one final campaign.
The eight-time race winner will finish his career with the organisation that gave him his full-time Cup opportunity, but the group around him is now beginning to change before that last season begins.
Hendrick has already settled the next chapter of the No. 48, too. Connor Zilisch signed a multiyear agreement to join the team in 2028, replacing Bowman in the Ally Chevrolet. Zilisch will remain with Trackhouse through 2027 before making the move, leaving Hendrick with one season to prepare the No. 48 for its next driver while still giving Bowman the chance to finish his career on his own terms.
Hamlin’s destination adds another layer to the move. Legacy Motor Club is expanding to three full-time Cup entries in 2027, with Herbst taking over the No. 84 Toyota after spending 2026 at 23XI Racing.
Jeremy Bullins has already been named crew chief for that car, giving the organisation an established leadership pairing as it grows. Hamlin’s experience at Hendrick will now be part of that effort.
For Bowman, the departure means saying goodbye to a spotter who has been alongside him through almost his entire Cup career. Harris is moving on as well, and the team has yet to reveal who will replace either man.
Hendrick still has the 2027 season to give Bowman a proper final run in the No. 48, but the personnel around the car will look noticeably different by the time he takes the green flag at Daytona.