HAMPTON, Ga. — Alex Bowman‘s fifth place at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday evening (Sept. 8) not only helped his playoff run, but it also may help squash rumors and put out smoke regarding his status for next year.
At media day for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs on Wednesday (Sept. 4), most of the drivers were asked questions pertaining the playoffs, naturally.
But Bowman’s were mostly about his status as driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48, with rumors recently popping up that he could be out of the car if he has a quick exit from the playoffs.
Bowman shot down the rumors at media day.
“My contract is through the end of 2026, and all I can tell you is what my bosses have told me,” Bowman said. “And that’s that there are no plans to change anything. Rumors are just rumors.”
Bowman said it got to a point where he started calling people, including Hendrick Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon, to see if he was back in the No. 48 next year.
“Everybody said ‘Absolutely not,’” Bowman said. “So that’s really all I have to go on. I don’t have a reason to believe anything other than that. There’s no ‘Oh, you need to do this to keep your job.’ It’s absolutely not [the case]. Everything is fine.’
Regardless of if the rumors are true or not, the top five in the Quaker State 400 certainly helps silence the talk as well as further his playoff runs. The result was his first top 15 since Pocono Raceway in July.
“Obviously, a really good points day and a great day for our Ally Chevy, but I certainly want a whole lot more than that,” Bowman said.
Bowman started the race in 11th but quickly worked his way up to third, where he finished the first two stages. His 16 stage points were the second most scored on Sunday.
But the Arizona native made the wrong call by choosing the bottom on a late restart and got shuffled outside of the top 10.
“I’m honestly mad at myself for making some bad moves there with seven to go or whatever, restarting 13th there, two restarts from the end,” Bowman said. “Just kind of took us away from fighting for…
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