In his second season driving full-time for Hendrick Motorsports, Alex Bowman is still seeking the first victory of his NASCAR Cup Series career. When will he pull it off?
Three of the 17 drivers who drive for the top-tier teams of Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske or Chip Ganassi Racing entered the 36-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season having never earned any victories in their careers.
None of these three drivers has managed to win any of the first 10 races of the 2019 season. That said, two of the three have either tied their previous career-high finishes or recorded new career-high finishes.
One of these three drivers, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, has recorded a new career-high finish already this season.
More from NASCAR Cup Series
- NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
- NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
- NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
- NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
- NASCAR team adds third car, names driver for 2024 Daytona 500
It took the 26-year-old Tucson, Arizona native until the season’s 10th race to finally finish a race in the top 10 this season, but when he finally did, he did so in style, as he recorded a career-high finish of second place in the race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Entering the season, Bowman had spent three seasons as a full-time Cup Series driver, including one season, the 2018 season, driving for Hendrick Motorsports. His career-high finish entering the 2019 season was his third place finish in the July race at Pocono Raceway last year.
This race at Pocono Raceway ironically produced the career-high finishes for each of these three drivers. Entering the 2019 season, their finishes in this race were their career-high finishes.
Bowman recorded a total of three top five finishes and 11 top 10 finishes last season and ended up advancing to the round of 12 in the playoffs before he was eliminated and ended up settling for a 16th place finish in the championship standings.
He finished the 2018 season as one of only two drivers who advanced to the round of 12 without winning any races throughout the season, so if any driver is on the verge of breaking through by earning what would be the first victory of his Cup Series career, it is undoubtedly him.
Through the first 10 races of the 2019 season, Bowman sits in 15th place in the championship standings, although he was outside of the top 20 before he recorded his career-high second place finish in the race at Talladega Superspeedway. As a result, he also now has momentum on his side after what was an alarmingly slow start to the season for him.
When will Alex Bowman earn the first victory of his NASCAR Cup Series career? He is set to start tomorrow’s race, the Gander RV 400, at Dover International Speedway in fifth place in his #88 Chevrolet, so if he can keep up the momentum that he gained from recording a career-high second place finish in this past Sunday’s race, don’t be surprised if he is a contender. This race is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET tomorrow.