Hendrick Motorsports Influenced Alex Bowman to Pull the Plug on Side Endeavors After the Driver’s Disappointing 2023 Season

Zero wins, four top-5s, ten top-10s, and 20th in the standings. Alex Bowman‘s sixth season with Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) did not go exactly as planned. Guided by crew chief Blake Harris, who served his maiden season with the No. 48 car, Bowman fell out of the playoff spots for the first time since joining Rick Hendrick’s team. Against the backdrop of a 3-year contract extension for Bowman in February 2023, a fractured vertebra that he suffered in a sprint car accident in Iowa that cost him 4 weeks of the season… a drop that the team was never able to recover from.

Going into 2024, Rick Hendrick and Co. encouraged the driver to re-evaluate his choices, priorities, and calendar. Talking to SiriusXM recently, Bowman confirmed that he wouldn’t be participating in any sprint car racing events throughout 2024. When questioned if the decision to do so was solely his or if his team had any part to do in it, Bowman confirmed that it was his decision solely. But he also mentioned that his team had “reinforced” it.

In his words, “It was mine at first. I made the decision and my decision got reinforced by the management. To be honest with you, I had already made the decision on my own.”

Despite the call to scale back on the number of races that he drove in, he confirmed that he would definitely be back, driving winged sprint cars in the future. Expressing his love for it, he added, “I love sprint car midget racing. I love the mechanical side of it just as much as I loved the challenge of trying to figure out how to drive a winged sprint car, right? I love building cars and being on the crew chief side of things and being on the mechanical side of things too. So, I’ll be around it.”

Bowman’s injuries have been pretty much a downer over the years. For instance, in 2022, Bowman missed five races late into the season because of a concussion in a crash at Texas Motor Speedway on Sept. 25, which cast him out of the playoffs. So, when Bowman, however temporarily, wants to bow out from parallelly-run racing events, it is only fair. As Bowman makes some painful sacrifices for the sake of his team, his crew chief Blake Harris—who served his maiden season with the No. 48 car—has been prepping for a strong show in his second year with Hendrick Motorsports too..

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Crew chief Blake Harris is appreciative of his bosses after a lackluster first-year

The thing about the No. 48 team’s season in 2023 was that they started so well. In the first seven races of the year, Bowman and Harris led their Camaro to six top-10 finishes. During this string, they also managed to secure a pole position in the Daytona 500. But then, things came crashing down for them after the back injury Bowman suffered. During a postseason talk to SiriusXM, the crew chief acknowledged that they got their teeth “kicked in” in the second half of the year.

However, despite everything that went on, Rick Hendrick and his suits did not choose to relieve Harris of his duties. In his words to the team’s in-house media last month, the chief said, “It has been nothing but support from day one. Everything that I’ve had support-wise from the company and Mr. H through the season with just all the variables that we’re thrown at us, just makes me understand that much more why Hendrick Motorsports is the way that it is.”

Back in February, Mr. H did put a lot of trust in Bowman although the regular season was dented for the 30-year-old. While announcing the contract extension to the press, the team owner said, “We’re thrilled to extend with Alex… He’s a proven winner, and I don’t know of anyone who has worked harder to reach this level. The opportunity to continue our relationships with Alex and everyone at Ally is a great way to kick off 2023.”

Needless to say, Hendrick Motorsports is one of the most experienced organizations in the sport and would know all the ins and outs about managing a tough situation concerning a driver or a crew chief. Rick Hendrick’s confidence in Blake Harris and Alex Bowman says a lot about the potential that the duo carry. Should 2024 be void of any misfortunes similar to the one in 2023, the No. 48 is sure to bounce back to contending for the playoffs again.

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