Alex Bowman claims his HMS cars weren’t as good as his team’s after returning from injury

Alex Bowman had his worst season with HMS in 2023.

Alex Bowman claims his HMS cars weren’t as good as his team’s after returning from injury

Alex Bowman (Via IMAGO)

The 2023 was a season to forget for Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman as he ended the year with zero wins and missing out on the playoffs. His woes are the product of the massive loss in momentum after the consistent start to the season due to a back injury. His teammate Chase Elliott suffered a similar fate as well.

Bowman missed out on four Cup races and the All-Star race after he broke his back. He got into a freak accident on his debut in teammate Kyle Larson’s sprint car series, the High Limit Racing. This came at a time when he was in fine form and was one of the most consistent drivers on the field, with consecutive finishes in the top 10s.

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While talking about the 2023 season, Bowman admitted that he didn’t have the best car, like his teammates did when he came back after the serious injury. He felt his car was a little bit off from his compatriots compared to how it was before he was sidelined. Bowman backed his arguments by pointing out the fact that he had the best cars before the injury occurred.  

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I think everybody looks at our 2023 season and is like, ‘Man, you guys struggled.’ But the reality is, when we were firing on all cylinders we were the most consistent car and one of the best cars every week. Post-injury, a lot was going on. We’re trying to catch up, I feel like our cars as a whole fell off a little bit at HMS, we weren’t where we needed to be and I’m coming off breaking my back.
Bowman told On3.com.

Alex Bowman is set for redemption in 2024

Bowman is more determined than he has ever been going into the 2024 season to win the race and secure his spot in the playoffs. This has to do with a lot of factors including his place in the HMS driver hierarchy.

Alex Bowman
Alex Bowman (@HMS/Twitter)

With Willaim Byron’s breakout performance in 2023 with six wins and a P3 finish in the championship, Bowman is the only driver of Rick Hendrick who has something to prove to the fans that he is in the same league as his teammates, which includes ex-Cup champions, Larson and Elliot.

Bowman believes he is in the best shape of his life in terms of fitness going into the 2024 season and is optimistic that some changes the team has made since the off-season will be for his redemption. He has also confirmed that he will be staying away from NASCAR activities for the foreseeable future.

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