With only ten days to go before the 2024 Cup Series season kicks off with the Daytona 500, many drivers are aiming to get the upper hand on the competition early. Denny Hamlin is already looking like the one to beat, and Kyle Busch is not too far behind, but there’s Alex Bowman, who is equally worthy of the title and has more to prove this season than most of his peers.

For the past few seasons, Bowman and Hendrick Motorsports have been on a steady climb toward Cup Series glory together. If we talk about last season, Alex Bowman was rewarded with the NASCAR Cup Series record for the most front-row starts in Daytona 500 history. Commendable right? So now that the Daytona 500 is once again around the corner, Bowman fans are curious if he can continue in the Sunshine State.

Can Bowman continue his Daytona pole-position streak?

Alex Bowman has been on the front row for six straight years. What’s more impressive is that the record for most front-row Daytona 500 starts has been five! This is a record shared by Richard Petty, Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, Bill Elliott, and Jeff Gordon. In 2023, Alex Bowman advanced to the top 10 shootouts as the fastest driver in round one and took the pole position in the shootout ahead of teammate Kyle Larson, who clinched a front-row starting spot himself for the second straight year.

Later, when he crossed the line at Daytona to secure his best finish, every HMS fan thought that the momentum that seemed to falter in 2022 had once again been restored. Soon enough, Alex Bowman proved the fans right with six top-ten finishes in the first seven events. But the HMS driver may have used up all his luck at the start of the season. From that point forward, it was only downhill for the #48.

To add to his misery, Alex Bowman suffered a fractured vertebra which meant that he would miss three important races that could have brought in vital points along with the All-Star Race. Though Bowman soon returned to contention, still a lot was lost in the time off, leading to a missed opportunity to make the playoffs. This was especially consequential for his reputation as the driver had never failed to make the playoffs for Hendrick Motorsports ever before.

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Naturally, the No. 48 driver has a lot to prove this season. And it’s fairly evident that the two-and-a-half-mile oval would be the perfect opportunity to right the wrongs of last season and set a new record. However, crew chief Blake Harris’ opinion believes otherwise.

The #48 crew chief is not the one to lose faith so easily

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2024 will be the second year that Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Blake Harris pairs with Bowman and the #48. And despite the lackluster outing last season, the crew chief is certain 2024 will be a year of regrowth. Not only has Alex Bowman been vocal about the sound relationship the two have developed over the season, but the faith Harris has in Bowman also knows no bounds. With such trust on both ends, what could possibly stop them?

“We are going to take each week as it comes, as we did last year, but we are going for the win straight out of the box,” said the crew chief as per the official statement by HMS. “Last year, we went to L.A., had a good run, and were super competitive. Rolling with momentum into Daytona, we go sit on the front row and come out of there with a top five. You can’t script that type of momentum going into the season. It carried up until the point where Alex (Bowman) got hurt.”

Speaking on the prospect of winning races this season, Blake Harris also believes that the Las Vegas race paired with the Atlanta Motor Speedway will be the highlight of their season, as the cars have run fairly well there the past few seasons. However, Alex Bowman also believes that the team is fairly capable of winning races. He stated, “We’ve won quite a few races in the last couple of years. There’s no reason we can’t get back to doing what we’re supposed to do this year.”

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As for Bowman’s record of front-row is put to the test, it has been a record for 6 years now. He tied the record of three in 2020, broke the record with his fourth in 2021, extended the record with his fifth in 2022, and extended it again with his sixth in 2023. With the entire #48 garage optimistic about their prospects this season, do you think Bowman can set a new record and improve his chances further with a solid Daytona 500 finish?