48 Alex Bowman
Age: 30 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 20th
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
DOWNRIGHT FAST IN ‘DEGA: While Alex Bowman shows speed at every drafting-style track that the NASCAR Cup Series competes at, he has yet to get to victory lane. His best superspeedway finish in his Cup Series career came at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2019. In that race, Bowman finished second in both stages and led seven circuits en route to his runner-up finish behind teammate Chase Elliott. The 30-year-old driver is one of four active drivers along with his teammate, William Byron, to finish second but not yet win at the Alabama venue. In 15 starts at Talladega, Bowman has one top-five finish and four top-10s. This spring, he finished second in the opening stage before a 13th-place result.
DOING WELL IN THE DRAFT: Bowman has two top-10 finishes on drafting tracks in 2023. In the season-opening DAYTONA 500, he finished fifth and backed that up with a sixth-place run in the summer race at the “World Center of Racing.”
THAT’S MY CREW CHIEF: Blake Harris, the crew chief of the No. 48 Ally Racing team, will make his fourth start atop the pit box at Talladega this Sunday. In two races at this track in 2022, Harris led the No. 34 team to one top-five finish and two top-10s, finishing eighth in April and third in October. In Harris’ first superspeedway race with Bowman – the 2023 DAYTONA 500 – the duo won the pole and finished fifth.
SET FOR THE RESTART: The Tucson, Arizona, native ranks as the fifth-best driver on restarts in 2023, according to data from Racing Insights. That mark is the second-best among the Hendrick Motorsports quartet, as teammate Kyle Larson is second in this statistical category.
FUELING FUTURES: Ally will host its annual Fueling Futures event on the campus of Hendrick Motorsports on Wednesday, Oct. 4. The primary partner of the No. 48 team has created four individual “pit stops” for students from Charlotte’s Garinger High School and Harding University High School, providing a behind-the-scenes look at various job opportunities within the racing industry, including engineering, marketing, financial education and pit crew. After completing each pit stop, the group will come together for a Q&A with Bowman. The driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will also be available to the media that day. To RSVP to attend the event, members of the media can email jarneson@hmsracing.com for further details.
SAVE THEM ALL: Bowman and primary partner Ally are teaming up this year to bring back the Best Friends Animal Society donation effort. This week, the duo will make charitable contributions to Kitty Kat Haven & Rescue, which serves the local community in Hoover, Alabama. Bowman and Ally will donate $4,800 to Best Friends and Kitty Kat Haven & Rescue. Ally will increase its donation to $10,000 if the No. 48 team wins on Sunday.
SHINING BRIGHT IN THE DAYTIME: During Sunday’s race at Talladega, the No. 48 Ally Chevy will adorn its “day” scheme. This scheme hosts a white base with bright plum, grapefruit and seafoam stripes down the sides.
300 WINS REACHED: With William Byron’s win at Texas Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has become the first team to reach 300 NASCAR Cup Series victories. Twenty drivers have combined to reach this total across 31 different racetracks. With nine points-paying victories in 2023, the team has posted its 36th multi-win season in the Cup Series while maintaining a streak of at least two per season for the past 30 years. To see a full breakdown of the win total by driver, track, car number and more, click here.
PLAYOFF LOWDOWN: For the 10th straight season, Hendrick Motorsports has at least two drivers in the Round of 12. Byron and Kyle Larson remain in the playoff field. In addition, the Nos. 5, 9 and 24 teams are battling for the owner championship. Byron’s victory at Texas locks him into the Round of 8 and marks the 10th straight season that the organization has had at least one driver in the Round of 8.
CHAMPIONSHIP COUNT: The Rick Hendrick-owned team has a series-best 14 Cup Series championships. NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2024 inductee Jimmie Johnson accounts for half of those with seven (2006-10, 2013 and 2016). NASCAR Hall of Famer and team vice chairman Jeff Gordon racked up four titles (1995, 1997-98 and 2001). NASCAR Hall of Famer Terry Labonte (1996), Chase Elliott (2020) and Larson (2021) each have one championship for the team. Nine of those titles have come in the playoff era (2004-present).
GOOD SIGN: In six of the last seven occurrences where a Hendrick Motorsports driver has won at least six races, that driver has gone on to win the title (Johnson in 2007-10 and 2013 and Larson in 2021). Byron now has half a dozen wins in the 2023 season.
RECORD SETTERS: Hendrick Motorsports has posted a series-best 57 wins in the playoffs, which is 21 more than the closest team. Johnson has the most with 29 victories. Among the current driver lineup, Elliott and Larson top the board with seven wins apiece in the playoffs followed by Byron and Alex Bowman with one.
VICTORY FORMATION: Gordon’s six wins at Talladega Superspeedway top the board for the organization followed by Johnson and Elliott’s two triumphs each. Labonte, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ken Schrader and Brian Vickers each have one victory at Talladega while driving for the organization. The seven drivers to win at this track are the most for one team.
DRAFTING DARLINGS: The Concord, North Carolina-based team has 32 wins on drafting tracks, which is the highest total in the series. The drafting tracks on the circuit are 2.66-mile Talladega, 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway and 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway (since its reprofiling for the 2022 season). In addition to its 14 victories at Talladega, the team has 15 wins at Daytona and three triumphs at Atlanta.
NEXT GEN NUMBERS: Byron and Elliott are tied for the most wins (two) on drafting tracks in the Next Gen car. Byron was victorious at Atlanta in March 2022 and July 2023. Elliott scored wins at Atlanta in July 2022 and Talladega in October 2022. Those victories have all occurred in the last 10 races on drafting tracks.
STUDYING THE TRENDS: In each of the last eight 2023 Cup Series races, Hendrick Motorsports has had a driver finish in the top five. Those top fives came at Michigan International Speedway (Larson), the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (Elliott and Bowman), Watkins Glen International (Byron), Daytona (Elliott), Darlington Raceway (Larson and Byron), Kansas Speedway (Larson), Bristol Motor Speedway (Larson) and Texas (Byron).
TWO MORE XFINITY RACES ADDED: Hendrick Motorsports will enter two additional 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season with its No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro. Veteran road racer Boris Said will drive in the Oct. 7 Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL event while Rajah Caruth will be in the seat at the season-ending race at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 4. Both will be sponsored by HendrickCars.com. The No. 17 entry has made five starts in the Xfinity Series this year, with a combined three top-five finishes, four top-10s and one pole position.
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his mindset heading to Talladega this weekend: “We had a good No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the spring race at Talladega (Superspeedway) and I think Blake (Harris) and I learned a lot about what I need in my set up to help us for this weekend. Our crew has done a lot of work looking at SMT data and leaning on our teammates at Hendrick Motorsports. I feel like we are very prepared to go compete this weekend. Blake and I have talked a ton this week and we already know that having a clean race car at the end is super important. We are going to do our best to unload in Alabama as close as we can get to having the car right, make some good adjustments and try to go execute a clean race. Hopefully, that will be enough to be competitive.”
Blake Harris, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on what it will take to win at Talladega: “I think Talladega (Superspeedway) has a lot of different challenges. Obviously, having a fast No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is important, but trying to give Alex (Bowman) a car that can handle well in traffic will also be key. We have good superspeedway notes and feel confident we can be in contention if we stay out of trouble. We have great teammates to work with throughout the race and it will take all of us to pull off a win this weekend.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
