Jeff Gordon Reaffirms Alex Bowman is Hendrick Motorsports' Guy
Fair or foul, Alex Bowman has had to endure a lot of noise about his future with Hendrick Motorsports. The noise intensified late last season, but Bowman and his No. 48 team quieted critics with a win at the Chicago Street Course followed by a solid performance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
That momentum has carried over into the 2025 season, where Bowman has become one of the most consistent drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series garage. After another great race weekend for the 31-year-old driver and his No. 48 team, where Bowman sat on the pole, led 43 laps, and recorded a near-miss runner-up finish to his teammate Kyle Larson in Sunday's Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Bowman finds himself third in the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season championship standings after the season's sixth race.
RESULTS: Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead
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No driver in the NASCAR Cup Series has more top-10 finishes (five) this season than Bowman does, currently.
Hendrick Motorsports certainly likes what it is seeing with Bowman and the No. 48 team, and HMS Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon feels the solid effort at Homestead-Miami Speedway will provide a spark for the driver and team going forward.
"I think this performance, to have that solid of a weekend -- pole, pit stops were great, they were basically in the top-five all day long. Led a bunch of laps. So, to be leading at the end, contending, that does a lot for a race team," Gordon explained in a post-race press conference. "I think we saw the momentum building with that team at the end of last year. You just hope that they can build on that and carry that into the season. And I think they have, but you've got to get the results. And so, I think today was an important day for them, and I think you'll see that create quite a spark to hopefully get them on a run."
Gordon didn't shy away from the fact that he heard the rumblings spreading like wildfire through the garage about Bowman last season and notes that what Hendrick Motorsports has tried to do since the rumor mill stirred up drama is put their arm around the driver and let them know that they're committed to him.
"I think what we've worked on the most is just making sure he knows he's got the support behind him," Gordon said.
According to Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports has made every resource available to Bowman and crew chief Blake Harris in an effort to improve the No. 48 team. Gordon feels that the whole team understanding the Hendrick Motorsports organization is in their corner whether they win or lose has been a big aid to everyone involved, and has been a part in the turnaround for Bowman and the No. 48 team.
"I think they've been searching for a little bit more depth within the team, I think when you compare them to the other Hendrick teams. [Crew chief] Blake [Harris] was sort of one of the steps, and he's been working on car chief, and pit crew, and putting all of the pieces together," Gordon said. "And Alex and he have kind of always been on the same page and have a lot of confidence in one another. But when a team has the confidence that the organization is behind their moves, and supporting them, and the sponsors are there for them. It's like, take all of those things off to the side, don't worry about that. Just go and make your race cars the best you can make them. Drive the car the best you can. Prep the car the best you can. Mentally, physically just being in a position to go capitalize when the day goes well. I think that's what I'm really seeing this year in them, but also what you saw today."
As far as the specific support that has been provided internally, Gordon says Hendrick Motorsports has enlisted the help of Chad Knaus and Jeff Andrews to aid the No. 48 team in hiring the personnel that Harris and the No. 48 group felt they needed to compete at a high level. At the end of his post-race press conference, Gordon issued the most resounding words of affirmation about Bowman yet in regard to his future with Hendrick Motorsports.
"But beyond that, yeah, it's the noise that's been around. Some of the things there. You know, this is our guy, and we're happy to see them doing well," Gordon said.
Next up for Bowman is this weekend's Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, a venue where the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet scored a win back in the Fall of 2021. While the 0.526-mile short track hasn't been Bowman's best over the years (he has just one top-five finish and five top-10s in 17 career starts), there is hope that he can parlay the recent turn of momentum into a potential ninth career NASCAR Cup Series win.
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Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.