“Well, I mean, just continue to improve and contribute the way he has been, which goes deeper than just results. It’s all about, you know, the feedback that he has throughout the race, throughout the race weekend, and in Monday debriefs, and he’s doing all those things,” Jeff Gordon said recently, signaling that he has given up on a championship with Alex Bowman in 2026. It was the kind of quote that sounded more focused on development and stability than a real title push. But while Gordon appeared ready to lower expectations around the No. 48 team, another key voice inside Hendrick Motorsports is refusing to shut the door completely on Bowman’s season just yet.

Chad Knaus refuses to shut the door

“Alex has done a great job, so we’re really excited to see what they can do moving forward. You know, it’s unfortunate that we’re in the points position we are in currently, but as long as they keep slugging, who knows what happens?” Chad Knaus, Vice President of Competition, Hendrick Motorsports, said, offering a far more optimistic tone about Alex Bowman’s season than the one coming from Jeff Gordon.

And honestly, it is not hard to understand why Knaus still believes there is something left to fight for. Bowman’s 2026 season looked completely derailed earlier this year after he was diagnosed with vertigo following the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA. The medical issue forced him to miss four races, immediately burying the No. 48 team deep in the standings while the rest of the field kept collecting points.

When Bowman returned at Bristol Motor Speedway in April, the results hardly inspired confidence. He finished 37th at Bristol and followed that with an 18th-place run at Kansas. At the time, the season felt less like a playoff chase and more like damage control.

But suddenly, things are changing. Back-to-back third-place finishes at Talladega Superspeedway and Texas Motor Speedway have completely altered the mood around the No. 48 garage. Instead of simply surviving the season, Bowman is finally building momentum.

The situation still remains complicated, though. Bowman has not yet received a medical waiver from NASCAR that would allow him to remain playoff eligible despite missing races. Currently sitting 34th in points, he still needs to climb inside the top 30 for that waiver to even matter. And since waivers remain entirely at NASCAR’s discretion, approval is far from guaranteed.

Still, there is now at least a path forward. With 15 regular-season races remaining, Bowman sits 127 points behind the playoff cutline. That sounds massive until you break it down mathematically. If he gains roughly 8.5 points per race on the bubble drivers, he can force his way back into contention. A win before the playoffs would likely simplify everything dramatically, but after two straight podium finishes, what looked impossible two weeks ago suddenly feels realistic again.

Alex Bowman’s future at HMS

For most of the 2026 season, it felt like Alex Bowman’s future at Hendrick Motorsports was quietly heading toward an ending. Fans, analysts, and even parts of the NASCAR media world had already started treating this year as the final chapter of Bowman’s nine-year run with the organization. And on paper, the concerns were understandable.

Bowman is currently in the final season of his three-year contract, yet there has been very little public movement toward an extension. Over nearly a decade with HMS, he has consistently been viewed as the weakest statistical performer among the organization’s four full-time drivers.

Yes, Bowman owns eight career Cup Series wins, but the numbers beyond that tell a more complicated story. He has managed just one victory in his last 145 starts dating back to 2022. Despite qualifying for the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons, his best championship finish remains eighth place, achieved twice.

That simply does not stack up cleanly against the standards set by teammates like Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, or William Byron. Still, Bowman has always had powerful supporters within the Hendrick ecosystem. He was personally selected by Dale Earnhardt Jr. to replace him following his retirement in 2017, and both Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick have continued backing him through difficult stretches.

Another major factor working in Bowman’s favor is sponsor stability. Ally Financial remains heavily invested in Bowman and is already committed through the 2028 season. That kind of financial security matters enormously in modern NASCAR and could become a deciding factor in contract discussions later this year.

The expectation now is that if HMS does extend Bowman, the deal would likely be shorter and less lucrative than his current contract. But after battling through vertigo issues and suddenly producing consecutive top-three finishes, Bowman may finally be rebuilding momentum at exactly the right time.

A month ago, his HMS future looked nearly finished. Right now, it feels uncertain again. But, for Bowman, that alone is a major turnaround.