Alex Bowman

Alexander Michael Warren Bowman (born April 25, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner.

He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro for the same team.

He owns a Dirt Midget and Sprint car racing team Alex Bowman Racing.

A native of Tucson, Arizona, Bowman started his racing career on short tracks in Arizona and California in 2000 at the age of seven, driving quarter midget cars in United States Auto Club (USAC) competition.

By 2006, he had won nine national championships and had 165 feature wins.

In 2008, he won the USAC National Focus Midget championship with 11 wins, as well as the California Dirt Focus Midget championship.

In 2009, he was named USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year.

In February 2010, Bowman was injured in an accident during a USAC race, suffering a fractured clavicle and rib.

Bowman continues to field a midget in select races.

In 2010, at the age of 17, he moved to full-bodied stock car racing, making two Rev-Oil Pro Cup starts and a late model start.

Bowman moved to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East with X Team Racing for 2011.

Bowman finished sixth in series points, winning Rookie of the Year honors.

Bowman competed in two ARCA Racing Series events during 2011 for Venturini Motorsports, at Madison International Speedway and Kansas Speedway, winning both events.

He moved full-time to ARCA for 2012 for Cunningham Motorsports as a development driver for Penske Racing, winning races at Salem Speedway, Winchester Speedway, Iowa Speedway, and Kansas Speedway over the course of the year.

He also won the pole for the inaugural ARCA Mobile 200 at Mobile International Speedway.

In 2012, Bowman made his debut at the national level of NASCAR competition, driving for Turner Motorsports in the Nationwide Series at Chicagoland Speedway.

He finished 17th in his debut race; he also drove for RAB Racing in the Nationwide Series at Kentucky Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway, and for Turner at Dover International Speedway, towards the end of 2012.

In January 2013, it was announced that Bowman would be running the full Nationwide Series season for RAB in 2013, competing for Rookie of the Year honors.

He would win his first career Nationwide pole at the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas.

Bowman would win another pole at Texas later in the season, but was released by the team prior to the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Bowman ended the season with six top-tens in 32 starts.

Bowman returned to the Nationwide Series in 2014, driving the No. 80 for Hattori Racing Enterprises at Dover, while driving the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevy at Charlotte and Phoenix.

In January 2014, Bowman tested for BK Racing as part of Preseason Thunder before the 2014 Daytona 500 in the No. 83.

On January 20, the team announced his hiring for the No. 23 car for 2014, running the full 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season for Rookie of the Year.

During the 2015 season, Bowman made starts in the Xfinity Series with Athenian Motorsports and a Truck Series race with JRM.

On January 30, 2015, it was announced that Bowman would drive the full 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season in the No. 7 car for Tommy Baldwin Racing.

He failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 after he was caught up in a multi-car wreck in his duel race.

In New Hampshire, his car erupted in flames after rubber from a blown tire got into the engine.

He was able to return to the track.

On November 11, Bowman joined JRM for nine races in the No. 88 for the 2016 Xfinity season.

He won a pole at Michigan and finished in the top-ten in all but two races.

Despite the success, Bowman struggled to find sponsorship that would grant him the opportunity to race full-time for JRM.

In 2017, Bowman joined GMS Racing to run the Truck Series race at Atlanta in the No. 24 as a fill-in driver for Justin Haley, who was too young to race at the track.

In October and November, Bowman drove the No. 42 Xfinity car of Chip Ganassi Racing at Charlotte and Phoenix.

At Charlotte, Bowman dominated the final portion of the race following a late restart to win his first NASCAR national series race.

In 2022, it was announced by Spire Motorsports that Bowman would be driving their #7 truck series entry at COTA with sponsorship from HendrickCars.com.

He is known for a record six consecutive front-row starts in the Daytona 500, from 2018 to 2023, winning the pole in 2018, 2021, and 2023.

He is known by many nicknames, the most predominant being Bowman the Showman. Denny Hamlin called him "just a hack" after a late-race collision at Martinsville in 2021 took Hamlin out of contention for the win.

Following a 2022 race at Las Vegas, Kyle Busch said Bowman was "all luck, no skill" after Bowman won the race by taking 2 tires on a pit stop during a late-race caution.

In 2018, Bowman made his return to the west series at Sonoma Raceway, driving the No. 24 for Bill McAnally Racing.