Getty Alex Bowman at COTA.
Alex Bowman is off to a solid start in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, recording three top fives in the season’s first six races, his most recent, a fourth-place result at Circuit of the Americas.
The driver of the No. 48 sat down for an interview before the March 24 race and discussed multiple topics, including how the sport regularly kicks you in the teeth, his favorite NASCAR rivalry, why he tries to avoid conflict, and what pair of drivers he thinks would produce a marquee rivalry that fans would enjoy today.
Interestingly, one of them is his teammate.
Alex Bowman Says NASCAR ‘Kicks in Your Teeth’
Alex Bowman has competed in 295 Cup Series races and won seven times or a measly 2.3% of the time. Think about that. 97.7% of the time the Hendrick Motorsports driver is, as the legendary Ricky Bobby once said, not first, but last. He’s a loser.
It’s worth noting that Bowman’s winning percentage is undeniably better than most. In fact, most drivers don’t ever win a single race. In the sport’s 76-year history, 2,983 have started at least one Cup race and there have been just 204 different winners, or less than 7% have ever made it to Victory Lane.
To endure losing at such a high rate, especially compared to the stick-and-ball sports where there’s typically a clear winner and loser except for ties, is not easy. All drivers face this.
@Alex_Bowman discusses how “if you ain’t first, you’re last” and the brutality of NASCAR when it comes to dealing with losing on such a regular basis. Despite those losses, of the 2,983 drivers to start a Cup Series race, Bowman is just one of 204 different winners.
How does Bowman process losing so much?
“Yeah, this sport kicks your teeth in for the most part, more often than not,” he admitted. “So I think that’s been something that I’ve had to figure out. 2019, 2020, 2021 into the beginning of 2022, we were kind of winning a little bit regularly at least.
“And that kind of keeps you going. But, you know, last year, we struggled obviously the second half of the year. And it was, it’s kind of hard to find that at times. So I feel like everybody has to find motivation. It’s different for everybody. But for whatever reason, I’m getting my teeth kicked out kind of to start the year and still in a really good place.”
Alex Bowman Likes Conflict When He’s Not Involved
NASCAR President Steve Phelps has said on multiple occasions early in 2024 that he would love to see drivers lean into rivalries because it makes the sport even more entertaining. Driver rivalries and conflicts have been a part of it since the very beginning.
Bowman said one of his favorite rivalries was Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte. However, when it comes to being involved in a conflict with another driver like he was with Denny Hamlin after Martinsville in 2021, he’s not a fan.
@Alex_Bowman on enjoying rivalries as long as he’s not involved.
“Yeah, I don’t really like being in ’em,” he admitted. “I’m not a very confrontational person, but, yeah, I’m here for the tea, I guess. I enjoy it sometimes.”
Bowman Thinks HMS Teammate Should Be in Marquee Rivalry
While the 30-year-old Bowman doesn’t want any part of conflicts with another driver, when asked what two current Cup competitors he thinks should be the marquee matchup that fans would find intriguing and talk about, he initially paused and then offered up an unsurprising choice.
“I mean, Denny would have to be one of them, right?” Bowman said. “Like he really embraces that role really well. He’s in a place in his career where he is able to be super outspoken and not really pay for it like a lot of others would.”
After pausing for a few seconds, the HMS driver revealed his second choice.
“You know, I think him and his best friend Kyle (Larson). I think that’d be pretty entertaining,” he said.
Larson has also openly admitted that he doesn’t like confrontation, which is understandable considering his diminutive size. Despite that, the 2021 champion has not been afraid to call out Hamlin in the past for his on-track actions, including last year at Pocono.
Could there be another chapter added in 2024? If it happens, we know one driver that will enjoy watching it.