Alex Bowman is set to retire from full-time Cup Series racing after the 2027 season, after racing for more than a decade for Hendrick Motorsports. His career is often remembered through his achievements, like eight Cup wins and a long-term place with one of NASCAR’s most respected teams. Yet, there’s more to the bling-bling life of this HMS driver, that involves early financial struggles.
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Speaking about his journey, Bowman explained that his path through NASCAR’s premier racing series was never guaranteed.
“It was never easy. I guess there were times that I thought that I would end up here. Probably growing up, like, I’ll end up in a Cup car, end up driving for Hendrick Motorsports, and think I would win a bunch of races and things would be easy. But really the way that like 2013, ’14, and ’15 went, just driving for smaller teams and trying to make it, and realizing like I don’t have a big sponsor behind me; I don’t have a bunch of family money. Like I’m not gonna end up in a good ride.” Bowman said on the speedonfox podcast.
Bowman raced for a smaller teams like BK Racing and Tommy Baldwin Jr Racing. It was nothing but survival. His best result, a 13th place finish at Daytona with BK Racing, and that kind of results aren’t appealing for a team like HMS. The big blow came in 2016, when he lost the No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Jr ride, and all of a sudden his career looked pretty grim.
He had purchased used carbon fibre seats, also called carbon buckets, from Richard Childress Racing. Those were older equipment that had previously been used in competitive cars. When the deal ended, the seats became an important financial asset for him.
“When I lost my deal, I was selling those to be able to pay rent. Like not making ends meet. I took a job driving a simulator for HMS that paid enough to like start being able to pay my bills again. I had sold all my seats. Like, struggling. And all of a sudden I end up in a Hendrick Motorsports car.” Bowman revealed in the same podcast.
The simulator role at HMS provided steady income while he also competed in a limited nine-race O’Reilly Series schedule for JR Motorsports, where he earned three top-5 and seven top-10 finishes. This combination of circumstances opened an unexpected door for him.
After Dale Earnhardt Jr. got sidelined because of his concussion symptoms for much of the second half of 2016, HMS turned to Bowman, who was already working inside the organization. He shared the No. 88 Chevrolet with Jeff Gordon across 10 starts, delivering strong runs that included a near-win at Phoenix after leading 194 laps. He then earned a full-time seat at the beginning of 2018.
After his stint in the No. 88 car from 2018 to 2020, Bowman took over the famed No. 48 car. The very first season in 2021, he bagged four Cup wins. And this was the only time in his career that he had multiple victory lane visits. A move at Hendrick Motorsports completely changed Bowman’s career trajectory. And he has the opportunity to script more history with the No. 48 car until his scheduled retirement in 2027.