Hendrick Motorsports and Trackhouse Racing currently enjoy the second and fourth spots in the NASCAR Cup Series owner standings. William Byron has been the torch bearer for HMS this season with three wins and a second spot on the leaderboards following Martin Truex Jr’s win at Sonoma Raceway. HMS #5 driver Kyle Larson too isn’t far behind with two title wins this season. But luck hasn’t been in favor of HMS’s #9 Chase Elliott and #48 Alex Bowman. 

Elliott was handed out a one-race suspension following the incident involving Denny Hamlin at the Coca-Cola 600. He now sits in the 27th spot on the Cup standings. As for Bowman, the 2023 NASCAR season has been riddled with struggles. Filling out the 16th position on the current leaderboards, Bowman’s 2023 NASCAR run was hindered by an injury during a sprint car race. 

Bowman’s last Cup Series win was over a year ago. This winless streak has fans comparing Trackhouse Racing’s #1 Ross Chastain to Bowman, leading to massive debates on the internet.

Why are fans likening Ross Chastain to Alex Bowman?

Alex Bowman and teammate William Byron were penalized 60 points and five playoff points for illegal modifications done to the greenhouse of their HMS’s #48 and #24 cars post the races at Richmond Raceway. But the drama didn’t end there for the former. Fracturing his T3 vertebra last month during a wreck at a High Limit Sprint Car Series event at 34 Raceway, Bowman missed out on three Cup car races this season. 

Often referred to as Bowman the Showman, the #48 driver’s last Cup race win was during last season’s Las Vegas Motor Speedway race. Since then, Bowman has participated in 42 races. Bowman’s winless streak has now caught the eye of Reddit fans who have made the ‘Drivers With a Winless Streak of Over a Season’ stats their hotly debated topic. 

This has put 2022 Cup Series Championship runner-up Ross Chastain in the fans’ crosshairs. Chastain, who is enjoying the 4th spot on NASCAR’s 2023 driver rankings, is going through a winless streak himself. His last win too dates over a year back. Bagging the title at Talladega Superspeedway in 2022, Chastain has competed in 43 races since then. The ‘winless streaks’ list also has Daniel Suarez, Aric Almirola, and A. J. Allmendinger among a total of 10 drivers.

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Both Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman’s dry spell has quickly grabbed the center stage of discussions in Reddit threads. Fans have a lot to say regarding the stat lump of both drivers.

Who do fans blame for Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman’s year-long slump?

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As soon as the ‘Drivers With a Winless Streak of Over a Season’ stats hit Reddit, fans quickly filled the thread with their own views. Discussions soon heated up and fans expressed their thoughts on what may be the reason behind the Hendrick Motorsports and Trackhouse driver’s slump. Fans cited various reasons, right from Bowman’s injury to Chastain becoming his own wrecking ball.

Drivers With a Winless Streak of Over a Season (As of 6-15-2023)
by u/FalseWeeknd in NASCAR

Here are some of the views of fans.

“He’s had the speed/positions for at least 10 wins since his last at Talladega, but one thing or another (or Chastain himself) has stopped them from happening.” 

“It’s amusing that Ross is such a chaotic wrecking ball, yet he’s a permanent fixture at the top of the standings. It feels contradictory. He just sacrifices other people’s equipment to do it sometimes.”

“Hendrick’s other 3 drivers have 15 wins combined since Bowman’s last win.”

“I think Bowman is the most likely to break his streak based on who is on this list, next would be Chastain, but it depends if Trackhouse can get their speed back.”

“I really feel Bowman will get a win this year, but I’m unsure if it’ll happen in time to get him into the playoffs. Between the penalties and his injury, they’ve backslid a lot.”

Read More: Bubba Wallace Reveals the Hardest Thing to Learn as a Driver, After He Struggled With Mental Health Throughout His Racing Career

With Reddit fans having a lot to say about the stats, what is your take on NASCAR’s ‘Drivers With a Winless Streak of Over a Season’ list.