48 Alex Bowman
Age: 28 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 14th
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No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
1.5-MILE STATS: Alex Bowman has 63 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series on tracks measuring 1.5-miles in length. The Ally-sponsored driver captured his first career victory at Chicagoland Speedway on June 30, 2019, after leading 88 laps. Bowman has seven top-five finishes, 17 top-10s and has led 458 laps total at 1.5-mile facilities. In his last seven appearances at these venues, he has four top-five results, which are tied for the most in that timeframe, and six top-10s, which are tied for second-most among drivers.
NO PLACE LIKE KANSAS: Bowman will make his 12th start at Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Last season, the Tucson, Arizona, native brought home an eighth-place result in the spring race and a fifth-place finish during the fall playoff race at the venue. The driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE is tied for first with five drivers for the most top-10 finishes (four) at Kansas in the last five events and was the highest-finishing Hendrick Motorsports driver in three of the last four races there. Bowman has two top-five finishes, five top-10s and has led 76 laps at the 1.5-mile track. He made one start at the venue in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2013 and finished 11th at the end of the 200-lap event. Bowman made two Kansas starts in the ARCA Series and brought home the win in both races, including from the pole position in 2012.
START NO. 200: When the field takes the green flag on Sunday, Bowman will be making his 200th career NASCAR Cup Series start. Since his first race in 2014, the 28-year-old driver has three wins, 18 top-five results and 45 top-10s. Bowman has captured three pole positions, including two for the DAYTONA 500, with Hendrick Motorsports since 2016 and has led 925 laps total. Only four drivers have claimed a victory in their 200th start, with the most recent winner being Kevin Harvick in 2006.
2021 AT A GLANCE: After 10 races in 2021, Bowman has one win, two top-five finishes, four top-10s and one pole award (the DAYTONA 500). The No. 48 Ally team has spent 1,313 laps running inside the top 10 – the 12th-most in the series. Out of those laps, 649 have been inside the top five, which is eighth-most of current drivers. Bowman led the final 10 laps during the event at Richmond Raceway en route to his first short-track victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.
IVES IN KANSAS: Crew chief Greg Ives has called the shots 12 times at Kansas Speedway in the Cup Series. The Bark River, Michigan, native’s drivers have three top-five results, seven top-10s and have led 78 laps at the 1.5-mile facility. Ives’ best finish of second came in the spring of 2019 after the team rolled off fifth and led 63 laps. The crew chief’s résumé includes one top-five finish and two top-10s at the venue in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In 2013, Ives’ driver led 81 laps en route to a third-place result at the facility. Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 team at Hendrick Motorsports from 2006 until 2012. During that time, he was part of two wins, two pole awards and eight top-10 finishes at Kansas.
HOME-TRACK FEELS: The fueler for the No. 48 team, Jacob Conley, grew up approximately 204 miles from Kansas Speedway in Omaha, Nebraska. Conley went to Doane University in Crete, Nebraska, and graduated with a degree in sociology in 2012. While at the university, Conley played offensive tackle for the Tigers and was a starter during all four years of college.
PIT PERFORMANCE: Just 10 events into the 2021 season, the No. 48 pit crew continues to be the fastest in the NASCAR Cup Series based on average four-tire stop times. The five-man over-the-wall crew has an average four-tire stop time of 13.59 seconds. The team includes fueler Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback and tire changers Scott Brzozowski and Devin DelRicco.
KANSAS CHIEFS: Entering Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports owns the track records for wins (seven), runner-up finishes (six), top-fives (36) and top-10s (66). Its average finish of 13.14 is the best of all teams.
RECENT HISTORY: In three of the last four Cup Series races held at Kansas, Hendrick Motorsports has placed three cars inside the top-10 finishers. In fact, the organization has placed at least three cars in the top 10 there on 14 different occasions. No other team has done it more than six times.
WE’RE STREAKING: At least one of Hendrick Motorsports’ Chevrolet race cars has finished inside the top 10 in each of the last 28 NASCAR Cup Series events – the longest active streak. Team Penske is second with top-10 results in the last seven races.
CHECK THE RECORD: Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest NASCAR Cup Series team on 1.5-mile tracks. It holds the all-time record with 62 victories on intermediates – nine more than next-best Joe Gibbs Racing.
INTERMEDIATE MASTERS: Thirteen different Hendrick Motorsports drivers have recorded at least one Cup Series victory on a 1.5-mile track. The list is led by seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson with 28 and four-time champ Jeff Gordon with 17. They are joined by Darrell Waltrip (three wins), Chase Elliott (two), Kasey Kahne (two), Terry Labonte (two), Ken Schrader (two), Alex Bowman, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Mark Martin, Casey Mears and Jerry Nadeau.
AFTER 10: Three different Hendrick Motorsports drivers have gone to victory lane in the first 10 races of 2021, marking only the eighth time in NASCAR Cup Series history a team has done so. Hendrick Motorsports also accomplished it in 2007 and 2009, while Joe Gibbs Racing did it in 2016 and 2019. Other teams with three different winners in the first 10 events: Roush Fenway Racing in 2005, Peter DePaolo Racing in 1957 and Carl Kiekhafer Racing in 1956. The earliest in a single season a team has won with four different drivers is race No. 12 by Hendrick Motorsports in 2007 and JGR in 2016.
TWO TO TIE: Hendrick Motorsports entered the 2021 season within striking distance of one of stock car racing’s most enduring achievements: Petty Enterprises’ all-time team record for NASCAR Cup Series victories. The legendary Petty organization captured the wins record from Carl Kiekhafer Racing more than 60 years ago when Lee Petty took the checkered flag at Orange Speedway on May 29, 1960, for the team’s 53rd victory. Its 268th and final win was delivered by driver John Andretti on April 18, 1999. Hendrick Motorsports has earned 266 points-paying Cup Series wins since Rick Hendrick founded the team in 1984 and currently needs just three to break the record at NASCAR’s highest level.
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on strong runs at Kansas: “Kansas is a track where I feel like we have a really good notebook. We have been great here in the past and our intermediate program at Hendrick Motorsports is strong. I feel like we always have a chance to win when we come here and that is credited to the No. 48 team. Last week didn’t end how we would have liked it to, so we are hoping for some redemption on Sunday.”
Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on what makes Kansas unique: “The ability to move around multiple grooves makes Kansas Speedway a track where we look forward to running. Goodyear does such a good job with the tire there. There is fall-off, and pit strategy definitely comes into play there. Do you short pit or go long? Unlike some tracks, I think all the drivers say that they can’t wait to get back to Kansas. Not like you can’t put any extra effort into races, but I think a lot of guys circle that on the calendar and think they can have a lot of fun there.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
