Alex Bowman appreciates the support from his direct boss, Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon.
He does not appreciate the narrative frequently brought up in the media that he is somehow racing for his job or that his status in the No. 48 car isn’t secure, despite a contract that runs through next season.
Gordon was asked last week in a press conference about Larson winning at Homestead-Miami Speedway about the support the 48 team is getting after coming up just short to Larson. The four-time series champion answered that the key was making sure Bowman and crew chief Blake Harris had the right personnel on their depth chart.
“I think what we’ve worked on the most is just making sure he knows he’s got the support behind him,” Gordon said. “I think they’ve been searching for a little bit more depth in the team. …
“Alex and (Blake) have always been on the same page and have a lot of confidence in one another. But when a team has the confidence that the organization is behind their moves and supporting them and the sponsors are there for them, it’s, Hey, take all those things off to the side (and) don’t worry about that. Just go and make your race cars the best you can make them. Drive the car the best you can. Prep the best you can. Mentally, physically just be in a position to go capitalize when the day goes well.
“I think that is really what I’m seeing this year in them, but also what you saw today.”
Gordon was then asked if the support was purely on an engineering standpoint or about letting the driver know that they believe in him.
“That’s mainly what I was meaning,” Gordon said. “There’s the support on the inside too of, ‘What do you need?’ Not just Alex but Blake (and) the whole team. Go to Chad Knaus, Jeff Andrews and say, ‘What does this team need and what are they missing and how do we go get that for them,’ whether it’s personnel (and) usually it’s personnel.
“Then beyond that, right, yeah, it’s the noise that’s been around some of the things there. This is our guy. We’re happy to see them doing well.”
This is our guy
Gordon couldn’t have said it anymore plainly and Bowman couldn’t either.
“I guess you guys need something to talk about and I guess that comes with the territory of driving this car and driving for this team,” Bowman said on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.
“But yes, I definitely appreciate the support from Jeff and my contract doesn’t end until the end of 2026 so maybe we can talk about something else.”
For example, like a start to his season that has he and Harris third in the championship standings only behind teammates William Byron and Larson.
“There are so many ebbs and flows in this sport right now and obviously we look really good right now but it could go away really quickly too if we don’t stay on top of things,” Bowman said. “It’s hard for me to tell you what it means for the rest of the season but I think things are going really well right now.”
Bowman has just the one win over the past two-plus seasons (Chicago last year) but also was off to a similarly fast start in 2023 before suffering a spinal injury in a Sprint Car crash that spring that derailed the next calendar year or so.
Bowman again looks like a driver that has led the standings at times but is keen to get back to winning races, which is arguably the only thing left for him to do to silence the perceived narrative.
