Bowman makes feelings clear on Hendrick’s ruthless – Sports News
Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman is teetering on the verge of an early NASCAR Cup Series playoff exit, with the No. 48 driver 35 factors under the cutoff line for the Round of 12 with simply the Bristol night time race to go.
The eight-time race winner’s Round of 16 run has been blighted by pit street points by means of the primary two races, with air-gun issues resulting in a 40-second stop during the Cook Out Southern 500, whereas his Chevrolet was dropped with out a rear wheel in place within the Enjoy Illinois 300.
Now with thirty first and twenty sixth place finishes, leaving Bowman a lowly fifteenth within the Playoff image, Hendrick opted to behave fast, swapping 4 members of his pit crew for these from Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Spire Motorsports staff — which is provided by Hendrick — for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.
Ahead of Saturday’s race, Bowman spoke with reporters concerning the ruthless change, saying, “Those guys have been super fast at points throughout this year, and they’re all really great athletes and do a good job,” through Bob Pockrass.
“We’ve just had a bad two weeks at a time that we can’t have a bad two weeks. So, I mean, I’m definitely friends with all those guys and [am] appreciative for all their hard work, and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they had an amazing day on pit road on the 77 car and looked really good.
“So, I think for us, we needed a change and just trying to have the best shot we can at winning this weekend.”
Bowman’s perspective mirrored that of staff boss Chad Knaus, who not too long ago stated the staff felt there was a need for one thing “fresh” at Bristol.
“The 48 pit crew is amazing,” Knaus stated on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “When they’re fast and they’re clicking, they’re one of the best on pit road.
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“So I do feel that, and we told the guys, and we wholeheartedly mean it, the expectation is for the 48 and 77 to come out of their ranked P1 P2 off of pit road on Saturday night, and that’s the hope.
“So if we do that, we’ve done our job. It’s given the guys that are regulars on the 48 an opportunity to go out there and show their strength and what they’re capable of doing. And that 77 car is more than capable of winning that race as well. So it’s a good reset for everybody, I feel right now.”
Bowman enters Bristol realizing that a win would nonetheless guarantee him a spot within the Round of 12. While he has but to win on the historic short-track, he did qualify on pole for each of the final two races on the venue, whereas on three events he has completed within the highest 5.
That being stated, kind and luck don’t seem like on his facet, having didn’t crack the highest 20 within the final three races.
“We had a really good summer, and a switch turned off for us, for sure,” he stated on Friday. “It’s kind of mortifying how bad we’ve been. It’s embarrassing. It’s not from a lack of effort. Everybody’s working so hard at HMS, and our whole team is, right. We’ve just not put days together like we need to.”
Meanwhile, teammates Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Chase Elliott are all in place to progress to the third spherical of the Playoffs, sitting third, sixth, and ninth, respectively.
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