Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman has had a lot on his plate lately. Despite ending an 80-race winless streak in Chicago and securing a playoff spot, there were questions surrounding his future in the team. Rumors and speculations grew to the extent that Bowman had to clear the air, confirming his extended run with the team.

Although the win at Chicago somewhat settled the nerves for the No 48 team, it’s safe to say they’ve got a long road ahead of them. Bowman does look like the odd man out compared to his teammates, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and William Byron. All of them have been notably better throughout the regular season, along with a strong playoff record. So where did it all go wrong for the driver and his team in the first 26 races?

Alex Bowman recalls the missed opportunities of the regular season

The driver of the #48 Chevy has consistently produced results throughout the regular season. In fact, in the first 14 starts of the season, he had already earned four top-5 finishes, including his runner-up finish at the Daytona 500. During that time, he also had a streak of four top-10 runs until the Coca-Cola 600. But despite his victory in Chicago, he wasn’t able to find this consistency again.

And just like his good finishes and streak, his lack of race-winning speed and inability to execute races late in the season were highlighted. It all started after his DNF finish at Brickyard, and since the Olympic break, he hasn’t been able to register a good finish. And there will be no margin for error going into the playoffs.

Taking accountability for his team’s results so far, Alex Bowman, on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, said, “Like Indy, we were pretty fast; strategy did not go our way, and then we got caught in the crash at the end. We went to Richmond, we were not good at all, and then I sped on pit road and made it 10 spots worse than not good. We went to Michigan, and we ran solid top 10 all day and then crashed at the end. Where else have we gone?”

Now P16 and P19 finishes aren’t exactly going to help a driver advance further in the playoffs. This is why Bowman knows the #48 team will need to step their game up. “We need to be faster, but we also need to execute right? Like Darlington in the spring, we were terrible, and we executed our way to an eight-place finish. Darlington in the fall, we struggled, and we executed our way to a 19th-place finish. So we need to do a lot of things better across the board, myself included.”

Although he has publicly said his ride at Hendrick Motorsports is safe, the playoffs will be testing ground for the team. So presumably, Bowman will leave no stone unturned in a bid to gain the total confidence of his bosses at HMS.

Does the underrated HMS driver have the caliber to script an underdog story?

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It is indeed difficult to label a HMS driver as an underdog. But given the competition that starts within his team, it’s hard to see him dominate in the upcoming races. 14 laps led in his 26 Cup isn’t a mark of a driver who runs up the field and competes for a win. So, the only way Bowman can have a deep run is to execute the races well, like he did in the initial phase of the year. But, given the nature of comebacks this year, a similar story couldn’t be ruled out in his favor. And he does have some statistics to back his cause in the final 10 races.

Out of the next ten venues, Bowman has a pair of wins at two race tracks. One at Las Vegas and one at Martinsville Speedway. Bristol has also been good to him as he did secure a P4 finish during the spring race. Moreover, his eight career wins all have come at different venues. Be it short ovals (Richmond and Martinsville), a mile and a half (Chicagoland), or the Street Race (Chicago). He has yet to add a superspeedway win under his belt, so that’s something he can work on in the playoffs.

To call Alex Bowman a contender to win the championship would be a stretch. But, given that he drives an HMS car, he can pull off a big upset or two. So, it wouldn’t be wise to just count him out just yet.