Not Chase Elliott: The Underappreciated Driver Who Is Second Only to Kyle Larson in This 365-Day NASCAR List

It wouldn’t be unfair to say that Hendrick Motorsports have dominated the NASCAR Cup Series in the last couple of seasons. Of course, looking at it from a surface level, drivers like Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson have been instrumental in this dominance, with both of them winning the 2020 and the 2021 championship, respectively.

However, there’s one more driver whose name isn’t held in as high a regard as it should. A driver who has now earned his title of being named inside the bracket of Top 5 current best drivers.

A driver who is only second to Kyle Larson in terms of race wins in the last 12 months.

That driver is, of course, Alex Bowman of the No.48 Camaro.

When he took the checkered flag in Las Vegas on Sunday, Bowman took his total tally of career wins to seven. But as mentioned before, the statistic that stands out most is the fact that he has won five races in the last year, only second to current champion and teammate Kyle Larson.

Yes, if you take this into consideration, Alex Bowman has been the second-best driver not only at Hendrick, ahead of Chase Elliott, but also on the entire NASCAR grid.

Mutual respect between Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson after Vegas 1-2

The defending Cup champion who came a car length of making it two race wins in a row admitted his teammate was faster than him over the course of the entire race.

“Congrats to Alex (Bowman) and their team. They were really fast all day,” Larson said.

Alex Bowman also described how he enjoys racing against his teammate, how they always keep things “super clean.”  

“Racing Kyle (Larson) is always fun. Got to race him for a couple wins. We’ve always raced each other super clean and super respectfully,” the race winner said.

Also Read: First Denny Hamlin, Now Kyle Busch: Alex Bowman Teases Proven Method for Shutting Down JGR Drivers