Alex Bowman looking to repeat 2020 Martinsville form

Alex Bowman has history on his side heading into Saturday's Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at the historic Martinsville Speedway. He finished sixth in both NASCAR Cup Series races at the .526-mile oval in 2020, making him one of the drivers to keep an eye on.

Also, the No. 48 has an enviable record of nine victories at Martinsville with Jimmie Johnson behind the wheel, leaving Alex Bowman with some big shoes to fill.

.@Alex_Bowman finished in the top 10 in both @MartinsvilleSwy races in 2020.Does he make it three straight Saturday night? pic.twitter.com/0RVPG9T7te

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 8, 2021

Between winning the pole for the Daytona 500 and earning a 22nd-place finish at the Bristol dirt race, Alex Bowman has run 344 laps in the top 5 and 733 in the top 10 this season.

While Victory Lane has been hard to come by for the 27-year-old, a third-place finish at Atlanta provided a much-needed boost for Alex Bowman. However, for the most part, his results are not what he or the team expected, according to the No. 48's crew chief Greg Ives.

“The thing that we’re missing is finishes," said Ives while speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "At Atlanta, we did a good job of having speed and finish. On the other tracks we’ve had speed but not the finishes that we need."

NASCAR veteran Martin Truex Jr. is the winner of last year's spring race at Martinsville. His odds are 11/2 odds for this race.

How is Alex Bowman's crew chief preparing for the Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500?

This week we are short-track racing under the lights @MartinsvilleSwy!Drop a GIF below to show us how excited you are for some Saturday night racing. 🔥 Saturday | 7:30 p.m. ET | @fs1 pic.twitter.com/nsewj9eB35

— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) April 5, 2021

This weekend's race is only the second time that the Cup Series will race under the lights at Martinsville, famously known as "The Paperclip" for its shape, and Greg Ives offered an insight into his strategy for the race and what Alex Bowman will have to deal with on the track.

"Anytime you have night races, you prepare a little bit differently depending on the track's grip," said Ives. "There were times when you would start the race during the day and then it would end at night, but this is a true night race. Now we just have to worry about whether the track is going to rubber up or not. I think it's generally going to be a clean track and hopefully, we can get another groove in there. You might see some fender banging to make the pass. You might have some tempers flare, but it’s just short track racing.”

Alex Bowman will start in 20th place on Saturday, alongside HMS teammate Kyle Larson. The eighth NASCAR race of the season will be telecast on FS1 at 7:30 p.m. EST.