Alex Bowman Q&A

Q&A with ALEX BOWMAN

HENDRICK DRIVER HAS EMERGED AS ONE OF NASCAR’S BIGGEST STARS

BY JARED TURNER

On the heels of his most successful campaign since joining the NASCAR Cup Series full time in 2018, 28-year-old Alex Bowman is gearing up for another big season with Hendrick Motorsports.

Bowman, who earned a career-high four Cup Series victories in 2021, went to Victory Lane for the final time after wrecking Denny Hamlin in the closing laps at Martinsville Speedway.

Get to know Bowman in this exclusive interview from his personal race shop, where he discusses – among other things – his run-in with Hamlin, who angrily labeled him “a hack” during a post-race interview.

HOW DOES WHAT YOU ACCOMPLISHED IN 2021 AFFECT YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL AND EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS SEASON?

I’m definitely proud of those four wins. I think the way we ended ’20 was probably a little bit stronger than how we ended ’21 – we had a much better playoff run and ended up way better in the points – but being able to win four races in one year was pretty awesome, so I’m definitely confident going into ’22. I’m still trying to find that consistency, but we know how to win races and we know how to finish well at the end, and if we can put the consistency factor in there as well, I think we can contend for a championship.

WHAT WAS THE MOST INTERESTING THING YOU DID DURING THE OFFSEASON?

I have no clue why my trainer made me do this, but I did almost like a Supermoto motorcycle school, minus the jumps. So like slick tire, dirt track, road course motorcycle school, and I have no coordination – period. I’m really lucky driving a race car doesn’t require me to move my body around inside the race car because I would be no good at it. So it was a struggle. I fell down a lot. It was a really interesting day, and I was super-uncomfortable the whole time, but it was pretty interesting and something I never thought I would do, and it was pretty neat. I don’t want to ever do it again, but it was pretty interesting.

WHAT IS RICK HENDRICK’S BEST QUALITY AS A BOSS?

I think just the way he can connect with people. Even when it’s a hard conversation and not exactly a fun conversation to have, he’s good at being able to have those conversations and have those talks and do it in a positive way, and the way he can lead everybody is really special. It’s been awesome to be driving for Mr. H. I’ve had a lot of fun, and I’ve learned a lot from him, so I’m thankful for the friendship we have, and it’s been pretty awesome.

WHAT’S THE MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT YOU THAT MOST FANS PROBABLY DON’T KNOW?

I feel like there’s no hidden thing about me. I’m just a car guy, I’m really into cars. I grew up in a paint shop, so I’m really mechanically inclined and have been working on stuff my whole life, so all my free time is spent at my race shop working on race cars and trying to get ready for sprint car stuff. … I love hanging out with my dogs. I’m kind of like, “What you see is what you get.” There’s not much else to it. I’m a regular person – uncoordinated and awkward, whether it’s the motorcycle school or trying to snowboard or pretty much anything other than driving a race car, I’m pretty terrible at.

YOU’RE A BIG COFFEE FAN. TELL ME ABOUT IT.

First coffee today was at 6:45 (a.m.). I will drink coffee all day if I have access to it. … It’s all the coffee I can get. My trainer tries to make me not drink as much as I wish I could all the time, but I’m a big coffee guy. It all started when I was driving the Chevy simulator in 2016. I would have to get there at like 7:30 (a.m.), which would turn into 7:45 or 8 with me because I’m not the most on-time person in the world, but I lived like an hour, 15 minutes away.

So I was a 23-year-old race car driver who had never had a super-real job that started that early in the morning at least, and I was trying to figure out how to stay awake in a dark room for long periods of time while they were making changes in the simulator, because I was literally falling asleep in the morning. So I started drinking coffee, and now I’m as addicted as the rest of the country is.

EVERYONE’S SEEN YOUR DOGS – ROSCOE AND FINN – ON TWITTER, AND THEY’RE WITH YOU NOW DURING THIS ZOOM INTERVIEW. THEY’RE PRETTY SPECIAL, RIGHT?

They’re the best – even when they’re not. I’m not going to lie to you: Finn just farted, and it smells terrible in here, so I’m dealing with that. No, they’re great. They’ve been coming with me to my shop this winter quite a bit. They can be a handful, they can be awesome. They’re different every day, and I really enjoy having them around.

WHERE DO YOU KEEP YOUR GRANDFATHER CLOCK FROM YOUR MARTINSVILLE WIN LAST FALL, AND DOES IT CHIME?

It’s in my office at home, and it does chime. You have to wind it once a week. Honestly, it was kind of a project putting it together. There’s a lot that goes into those things. … There’s a lot to set it up, but it’s a really cool trophy.

WERE YOU SURPRISED AT THE WARM FAN RECEPTION AFTER WRECKING DENNY HAMLIN FOR THE MARTINSVILLE WIN?

Yeah, for sure. Quite honestly, I think if that was somebody else (besides Hamlin), I would have been the one getting booed, but kind of the way some of those late races have gone there, the 11 car (Hamlin) has obviously been on the other side of that, and he’s crashed me twice, getting loose underneath me, so stuff happens. It was obviously very unintentional, and I got out of the car fully expecting to get booed.

I think if anybody watches that post-race stuff, anybody that knows me can tell I wasn’t exactly thrilled and happy and excited. I was pretty frustrated at myself for making that mistake and wrecking somebody like that. So I was definitely surprised to be on the good side of that when I was the one that wrecked somebody, but after watching some (post-race) interviews, I also understand it, so very appreciative of all the support. We sold a lot of T-shirts (playfully featuring Hamlin’s “hack” reference) that went to a good cause (Bowman and primary sponsor Ally each donated $10,000 to Stand for Animals, a nonprofit spay and neuter clinic in Mooresville, North Carolina). So that’s really cool. I’m not the most outgoing person, not the most popular guy in the garage, but to see that kind of support from a bunch of fans was really cool.