NASCAR insider sparks concern about Alex Bowman's future at HMS- "He may be out of more than just a playoff"

NASCAR insider Brett Griffin has sparked intrigue about Alex Bowman's future at Hendrick Motorsports. The Arizona native is running his seventh full-time schedule with Rick Hendrick's organization, and, according to Griffin, could be in a problem if his #48 Chevy gets eliminated in the Round of 16.

Bowman marked his full-time Cup Series debut in 2014, fielding BK Racing's #23 Toyota. In 2016, he moved to HMS on a part-time deal, and in 2018, he began fielding full-time entry in the #88 Chevy. A couple of years later, HMS' Jimmie Johnson retired from full-time Cup Series racing and Bowman replaced the seven-time Cup Series champion in the #48 Chevy.

The 31-year-old collected his career-first Cup win in 2019 at the Chicagoland Speedway. Since then, Alex Bowman has registered eight wins to his name. His latest triumph came at the 2024 Chicago Street Race, where he snapped his 80-race winless streak.

Though his Chicago victory guaranteed his playoff spot, the #48 driver is the lowest-ranked HMS driver among all his teammates. Kyle Larson is ranked first, followed by William Byron in fourth, and Chase Elliott in seventh. Bowman is placed outside the top 10, in 12th.

While conversing with other spotters during the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Brett Griffin hinted that Bowman could suffer a big blow to his HMS seat if he fails to succeed in the first playoff round. Griffin has over 20 years of spotting experience on his resume and recently filled in for Austin Dillon's suspended spotter, Brandon Benesch.

While suggesting who won't make it past the first playoff round, Griffin said.

"I'll say (Martin) Truex is out, I'll say Alex Bowman is out and he may be out of more than just the playoff if he's out first round (1:39.39)."

Though Bowman inked a multiyear deal with HMS to drive through at least the 2026 season, the playoff picture might result in an amendment.

Alex Bowman's 2024 Cup Series season in a nutshell

Alex Bowman kicked off his current Cup Series season with a second-place finish at the Daytona 500. However, his performance plummeted in the next three races. finishing 27th at Atlanta, 18th at Las Vegas, and 20th at Phoenix.

Bowman showed signs of improvement with good runs in the mid-regular season races. After succumbing to a DNF at Texas Motor Speedway, the Arizonian bagged six consecutive top-10 finishes with a P5 spot at the Talladega Superspeedway.

However, Bowman's performance dropped again after acing the Grant Park 165 in Chicago and posting a third-place finish in the next race at Pocono. The #48 Chevy driver couldn't place his car among the top 15 in the last five races.

Compared to Alex Bowman's last 5 weekends, Kyle Larson has bagged the Brickyard 400 race win, has collected two top-5s and a solitary top-10, Chase Elliott clinched two top-10s, and William Byron has etched a runner-up finish.