Alex Bowman had a tough weekend, but instead of brushing it off, he chose to speak honestly. Just days after a heated moment with Front Row Motorsports’ Noah Gragson, the Hendrick Motorsports driver admitted he was “embarrassed” by how things played out. What he said next might surprise fans even more.

Alex Bowman’s rivalry with Noah Gragson began at Nashville, where Bowman admitted fault for wrecking Gragson. Weeks later in Charlotte, another misjudgment added tension. But Richmond lit the fuse.

Alex Bowman’s honest take on Gragson’s retaliation

The tension between the two drivers reached a boiling point at Richmond Raceway, where Gragson admitted to intentionally blocking Bowman late in the race as payback for Nashville. Bowman confirmed the exchange after the race, “Yeah, I mean, I talked to Noah… leaving the track… and he just said… he did [retaliate] on purpose, ‘cause of Nashville.”

During the final laps at Richmond, Gragson blocked Bowman, costing him a shot at the win. The latter also acknowledged the consequence of Gragson’s retaliation in pure racing terms, how it hindered what could have been a stronger day for the No. 48. “He felt like he needed to do that. Certainly not happy about it. That one was by far the biggest hinder to our race last week.”

It all started at Nashville, where Bowman made a mistake and slid into Gragson, causing a wreck. Then at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bowman again misjudged traffic and slid up underneath Gragson, triggering another incident. Though not as severe as Nashville, it added tension between the two drivers.

Reflecting on his mistake at Charlotte, Alex Bowman said, “That was on me… I drove in the corner… and crashed underneath them. He was lateral damage on my way to the wall, unfortunately… which sucked. I was embarrassed to crash… and ruin somebody else’s day.”

While Hendrick drivers like Kyle Larson and William Byron are often in headlines for wins and dominance for their team, Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman’s moment stood out for different reasons, facing accountability after a driver openly admitted to retaliating against him.

Playoff pressure and the Richmond ‘race manipulation’ debate

The scrutiny surrounding Alex Bowman intensified just days after his incident with Noah Gragson, as Richmond Raceway became ground zero for another heated controversy. In the midst of the playoff push, Bowman’s frustrations erupted on the team radio when he was blocked by lap traffic, notably Jesse Love, a teammate to rival Austin Dillon, during a critical run near the end of the race.

His exclamation “This is race manipulation, and he needs to give us a f**ing exit” sparked a widespread debate among NASCAR insiders about racing etiquette and the influence of manufacturer alliances during crunch time.

What set this moment apart was the context: Bowman sat right on the playoff bubble, and every position mattered as he tried to close the gap to Dillon. Richmond’s short-track chaos magnified the pressure, with lap cars defending and playoff hopefuls demanding every advantage.

The debate among insiders quickly split: Freddie Kraft pointed out, “I think the race manipulation he was bit**g about was Jesse Love, right? He felt like Jesse was blocking him… which is a teammate of the 3.” That Bowman felt unfairly targeted by Love’s blocking a move that helped Dillon’s cause.

Meanwhile, reporter Bob Pockrass raised a provocative question: “At first I thought maybe SVG’s (Shane van Gisbergen) thinking, well, I’d much rather race Austin Dillon in the playoffs than Alex Bowman… is that a strategy? Can you block somebody to keep them out of the playoffs? Is that okay?”

Bowman, for his part, admitted after the race that playoff stress was at an all-time high. He conceded that venting is part of what drivers “do,” and stressed the need to focus on execution rather than distractions.

Despite thirteen top 10s and five top 5s, Bowman’s 2025 campaign featured no wins, placing him precariously in the standings. Heading into Daytona, his playoff fate hinged on not just performance, but whether a new race winner might vault ahead and knock him out of contention.