Alex Bowman just signed a contract extension to remain with Hendrick Motorsports through the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. What does this mean for the team?
Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman signed a one-year contract extension to remain with the team as the driver of the #88 Chevrolet through the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. When he took over as Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s full-time replacement before the 2018 season began, he did so on a two-year contract through the 2019 season.
What does the contract extension for the 25-year-old Tucson, Arizona mean for the rest of Hendrick Motorsports?
First of all, it means that the 2020 season will be a big decision year for the team. While Chase Elliott signed a contract extension to remain with the team through at least the 2022 season, seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, the 17-year veteran driver of the #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, signed a contract to remain with the team through the 2020 season last year.
William Byron, the driver of the #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, is now the only one of the team’s four drivers who does not have a confirmed contract that expires after the 2020 season. That said, it very well might, as the length of his contract has not been disclosed.
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However, seeing as how Byron is the team’s driver who is currently in the lowest position in the Cup Series championship standings in 21st place, it is hard to imagine that his contract would be for as long as the contracts of Elliott, Johnson and Bowman, and it is even harder to imagine that he would get a new contract for the 2021 season before Johnson and/or Bowman, especially since Elliott has already done so.
As a result, it looks like the 2020 season will be a big decision year for Hendrick Motorsports in regard to Byron one way or another as well, assuming that he is still driving for the team at that time, of course. This means that the 2020 season will be a big decision year for the team in regard to three of their four current drivers.
Another thing that Bowman’s new contract means is that Hendrick Motorsports are undoubtedly improving. Especially when compared to seasons that the team, which have earned 12 Cup Series championships, have had in the past, the start of the 2018 season has been disastrous.
No Hendrick Motorsports driver has won a race since Kasey Kahne won the 2017 Brickyard 400 last July. The last 16 races of the 2017 season first 21 races of this season have been contested since then, meaning none of the last 37 races have been won by one of the team’s drivers.
However, Bowman just finished in a career-high third place at Pocono Raceway, and two other drivers, Byron and Elliott, finished in the top seven in sixth and seventh, respectively, in what was the team’s best race of the 2018 season by far.
It was after this race when Nationwide Insurance agreed to sponsor the #88 Chevrolet through at least the 2020 season. In an era where even long-time sponsors such as Lowe’s are leaving the sport completely, seeing a sponsor such as Nationwide Insurance agree to continue sponsoring a car for one of the sport’s top teams is huge.
From a team performance perspective, it is huge in that Nationwide Insurance certainly believe that the team are getting ready to be capable of winning at just about any track in the near future like they have been in so many past seasons. Otherwise, a sponsor such as Nationwide Insurance would not want to pay to see their driver run around at the back of the pack.
Do you believe that the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season will be a big decision year for Hendrick Motorsports? Do you believe that the team are on their way to becoming regular contenders for race wins and championships again after what has been a disastrous past 12+ months for them?