NASCAR: Alex Bowman signs contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports
By Asher Fair
Alex Bowman has signed a contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports to remain with the team through the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Another piece of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Silly Season puzzle has slotted into place, although it was a bit of an expected one. Alex Bowman has signed a one-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports.
Bowman has driven full-time for the team since the 2018 season when he replaced Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind the wheel of the #88 Chevrolet.
He signed a two-year extension in August of that year, so he was one of the many drivers in a stacked free agent class.
Pumped to lock down the contract extension for 2021! Couldn’t be more excited to return to @TeamHendrick next season and keep the good times rolling in the 88! Thanks for all the support, can’t wait to get to Darlington tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/b1YNHViR5n
— Alex Bowman (@Alex_Bowman) May 16, 2020
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This news leaves just one seat open at Hendrick Motorsports for next year, as Chase Elliott and William Byron are under contract already. But Jimmie Johnson is slated to retire from full-time competition after the 2020 season, leaving the seat of the #48 Chevrolet vacant.
With that being said, it has not been confirmed whether Bowman will continue driving the #88 Chevrolet or move to the #48 Chevrolet. It has only been confirmed that he will be back for a fourth full-time season with Rick Hendrick’s team.
The #48 team already have full-time primary sponsorship lined up with Ally Financial through the 2023 season, so a move for Bowman would make sense for stability purposes and effectively send Johnson’s replacement to the #88 team.
Through the first four races of the 2020 season, Bowman sits in fourth place in the championship standings with a dominant victory at Auto Club Speedway, the second win of his career. His first win came at Chicagoland Speedway last June.
His first two seasons as the full-time driver of the #88 Chevrolet resulted in two trips to the round of 12 of the playoffs. In 72 races over those two seasons, he secured 10 top five finishes and 23 top 10 finishes as well as one pole position, that being his pole position for the 2018 Daytona 500.
The 27-year-old Tucson, Arizona native led 271 of the 20,005 laps he completed in those two years; he has already led 113 of the 986 he has completed this year.
Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark. Next
Alex Bowman and the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series field are scheduled to get back in action tomorrow for the first time in 10 weeks with the The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway. This race is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET and is the first Cup Series race since the race at Phoenix Raceway back on Sunday, March 8.