Alex Bowman Loses Nashville Spotlight Days After Heated Charlotte Radio Outburst

Alex Bowman’s time with Hendrick Motorsports hasn’t been the best this year, and while his struggles in the Cup Series continue, he might find it a bit hard to focus on racing in the other series. Perhaps that is what he or the team had in mind when they made a late call to replace him.

JR Motorsports has had quite a few Hendrick drivers to pilot their #88 Chevy in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series this season, including the likes of Chase Elliott and Rajah Caruth. Bowman was also scheduled for the same; however, Kyle Larson is now set to replace him in the upcoming race at Nashville. But he will be running the Cup Series on Sunday. This comes after he missed his first duty with JR Motorsports at Darlington; however, this was at the same time when he missed four Cup races because of vertigo.

Upon his return from the minor sabbatical, Bowman appeared to be on a much stronger drive. He finished in third place in two consecutive weekends, but then saw a steep downfall with a 25th at Watkins Glen and a 17th at Charlotte.

However, this race at Nashville could have turned out to be one of the more competitive drives for him, considering his past performances in the NOAP Series. Although he ran full-time for just one season back in 2013, his later part-time runs, notably with JR Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, and Chip Ganassi Racing, were extremely impressive. He also clinched his only race win with the latter in 2017. The last time he ran the series was back in 2025, where he fell short of a victory with a second-place finish at Phoenix.

Meanwhile, his struggles in the Cup Series have continued. While his teammates have won multiple championships, Alex Bowman has struggled to win races and maintain consistency. Even this season, although he had two very strong finishes, they were the only top-10 finishes. This isn’t great for the team, especially considering what Rick Hendrick brings to the table for his drivers.

When it’s not his performance, Alex Bowman finds himself out because of health issues. In the past five years, he has been sidelined thrice for concussion symptoms (2022), a fractured vertebra (2023), and vertigo. Even if the management, including Hendrick, would need at least a few race wins if they wanted to overlook his absence from racing during this period. It might seem a bit difficult to achieve, considering he hasn’t won a race since 2024. With all of this, including his absence from the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race in the coming weekend, points towards the bitter part of NASCAR that he might have to face in the coming season, a speculation which grows stronger after his radio exchange with the team at Charlotte last week.

NASCAR insider suggests an alternative option for Alex Bowman in 2027

Bowman wasn’t having the best weekend while running the Coca-Cola 600 last weekend, and it was only made worse after he faced some issues with the car. This soon turned into a short radio meltdown with the team.

“Kevin, just tell me what Blake said. I did hear Blake. I did not break s—. The sh—- a– parts broke,” he inquired from his spotter, Kevin Hamlin, during the race. Following this, Kevin replied: “Yeah, maybe we broke it? I don’t know.”

If this is what you’re talking about then here you go https://t.co/DBkZZJz5yH pic.twitter.com/idinsKRsmJ

— Trevor Bailey (@trevorsports_98) May 25, 2026

Although it seems rather odd that there could be an issue with one of Hendrick Motorsports’ cars on the field, it would be a bit unnatural to blame the driver for a mechanical failure related to the gearbox. At the same time, however, Bowman hasn’t been far from criticism. Being the worst-performing driver in your own team has its pressures, and Bowman has been facing it for a long time now.

Bowman has now dedicated a decade to the team; however, with little success when compared to his teammates, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he were to look for other options in the garage, and insider Bob Pockrass seems to suggest a strong one.

He claimed, writing for FOX, that Spire Motorsports might require a stronger driver in their lineup. Considering they have been stepping up their performance, it comes naturally. The team has already offered Carson Hocevar a massive extension that is said to go beyond 2030, but that is not the case with its remaining lineup.

Michael McDowell has been struggling within the team, not making enough impressions at the front of the field, compared to his teammates. Meanwhile, at Hendrick Motorsports, the team might also begin eyeing better drivers to take hold of the #48 Chevy to extract the most out of what the team provides.

Considering all of this, Pockrass’s hint of Bowman eyeing out a seat with Spire seems to fall in the right place. However, HMS might still end up giving him another season. Post that, his future is hard to predict, unless he were to pull off some impressive moves in the remaining season and 2027.

For now, however, if he is missing out on the NOAPS race to focus more on the Cup Series, it would only be one of the things that he requires the most right now.

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