Alex Bowman can’t seem to catch a good break for himself. After navigating himself from the chaos of speculation and rumors about his future last year, he was looking to turn a corner for good in 2025. With a win at the Chicago Street race and the backing of his boss, Jeff Gordon, he had all the right resources and help to make it happen. Unfortunately, after 15 races this season, he has found himself in a similar situation, struggling for points or being crashed out of the race.
On Sunday at Michigan, the #48 Chevrolet was mired in 29th when contact between Austin Cindric and Cole Custer on Lap 67 collected him, sending Bowman head-on into the Turn 2 wall. It was a nasty hit as the #48 car made contact with the safer barrier nose-first, and NASCAR dropped the red flag due to the severity of the impact. Luckily, the HMS driver was able to hop out of the car by himself, but he couldn’t help but ponder his shortcomings. Partly because of the bad luck, and the rest being his inability to improve on the racetrack.
Sharing his perspective on the crash, Bowman stated, “I feel okay. It was a really large crash, so I’m not super fun. I’ve certainly felt better, but yeah, I hate that our day went that way. The 41 maybe was in a bad error spot. Something there and the 41 got loose. And then turned us head-on into an outside wall. It’s a bummer. We shouldn’t be back there to put ourselves in that situation. Same thing I said at Texas, but unfortunately, when you’re back there, you kind of just open the door for something like that to happen, and we’re better than that.”
“I would like to stop hitting sh*t” @Alex_Bowman checked and released from the infield care center after a hard crash on lap 67. pic.twitter.com/q2uxV5dAFZ
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) June 8, 2025
At the start of the season, Alex Bowman started on a positive note, with four top 10s in his first five starts. With this momentum came the race at Homestead Miami Speedway, and had he been a little aggressive with his racing to fend off teammate Kyle Larson, he would’ve won that race. Instead of a playoff spot, he had to settle for a runner-up finish, and since then, he hasn’t been able to gather himself. Apart from the two top 10s at Kansas and Talladega, Bowman has finished 27th or worse in seven races, and he is just 17 points above the cutline after the crash at Michigan.
When asked how to reverse the spiral, Bowman’s reply laid bare his helplessness: “You got any good ideas? I’ll take what I can get for luck-changer ideas. A lot of those races were really good runs, I would say Texas and Kansas we were plenty capable of winning before we got the damage. Charlotte was my fault, Nashville was my fault, this week not much we can do… I’m a race car driver, I hit sh–, I’ve hit a lot of sh– lately. So I would stop hitting sh–.”
With an average starting position of 16.467 and finishing with an average of 20.267 seems as if the #48 HMS Chevy is a mid-pack team. Given that both his teammates, Kyle Larson and William Byron, can churn out consistent performance also added pressure on Bowman’s shoulders to deliver the goods. Gordon and the team at HMS can back their driver all they can, but if he goes without a win in 2025, there might be serious discussion surrounding his spot in the #48 car beyond 2026.
Carson Hocevar linked to Hendrick Motorsports
Alex Bowman is running in his eighth full-time season with HMS, and so far, he has managed eight Cup Series wins. 2021 was the big year where he snagged four wins alone, but in the Next Gen era, he has been the odd man out within the HMS driver lineup. Be it missing races due to injuries or advancing to the playoffs on points. And this has led to those speculations and rumors from time to time surrounding his longevity within the team.
Recently, the social media team of Hendrick Motorsports shared an update, “Admin’s desk got a remodel. What should we do with this space? Any thoughts @nascarcasm.” That was it, fans started making the connections and one name that stood out among the rest was Carson Hocevar. The Michigan native has been on a rise, at Charlotte, Nashville and even last weekend he was out contending for a win, and that too in a Spire Motorsports Chevy.
He is the polar opposite of Bowman, brash and goes about his business on the track, without worrying too much about the impact. With two runner-up finishes already, it is only a matter of time before he wins a race this season. Imagine a bold personality like Hocevar entering the HMS driver lineup, and he has the talent to back up his bold attitude and persona. Bowman is under contract until 2026, and thanks to his links with Ally, he could sign an extension. But this is where HMS will have to make a tough call in handing their driver another opportunity or bringing in fresh talent.
The post “I Would Like to Stop Hitting Sh*t”: Downed HMS Driver Blurts Out Major Crisis as Career Hits Rock Bottom appeared first on EssentiallySports.
