Did You Notice? … Alex Bowman jumpstarted his career by replacing an injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports? Now, some 10 years after Earnhardt’s pain was Bowman’s gain, the grim reaper of racing injuries has come back to claim him.
Bowman’s retirement was announced July 23, effective at the end of the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season. Like Earnhardt, he will retire on his own terms; Bowman received a one-year contract extension to bow out with the same Hendrick Motorsports organization he’s driven for since becoming Earnhardt’s super sub in 2016.
Here’s the difference: Earnhardt still got to live out a long, storied career in motorsports, culminating in a NASCAR Hall of Fame induction in his 40s.
Bowman? He’ll be left wondering what might have been, retiring at the same age (34) that Josh Berry recently competed for Cup Rookie of the Year.
No question, the move is the right thing to do for both Bowman and a body that’s been ravaged by a series of wrecks. Engaged to longtime partner Chloe Henderson last December, he’s decided the next chapter of life needs to start with him healthy and whole. Bowman has the financial means to give 100% to fatherhood, family and friendships off the racetrack now.
Why risk it?
“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what’s next, and this feels like the right decision at the right time,” Bowman said Thursday. “The sport asks a lot of you, and I’ve learned it’s important to listen to your body and make the right choices for yourself.”
Bowman isn’t the first athlete to retire young, as NFL players, for example, rethink their own injury risk with the rise of long-term physical ramifications. But it’s a cruel irony that the final chapter plays out this way, with Bowman replaying the pattern of a driver who himself departed while wondering what he left on the table.
Earnhardt won seven races during the 2014-15 seasons, including another Daytona 500, and seemingly hit the peak of his career in his late 30s. Then, with a snap of the fingers, concussion problems popped up again and knocked him out of half the 2016 season. One year later, his career was over at age 43 after looking like he might grab himself a championship.
Enter Bowman, who, as Earnhardt’s protege, showed so much promise after a failed Cup effort running underfunded equipment at a young age. In 2018, he earned three top-five finishes and made the playoffs. In 2019, he won his first Cup race and finished an impressive sixth in the standings.
2021 was arguably Bowman’s best year. After transitioning into Jimmie Johnson’s old No. 48, he won four times (Richmond Raceway, Dover Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Martinsville Speedway) while posting a career-best eight top-five finishes. The team stumbled during the postseason, watching teammate Kyle Larson cruise to the title, but the stage appeared set for a breakout 2022.
Instead, it was the injury bug that broke Bowman.
The team busted out with a win that March at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and hung inside the top five in points through the middle of May. A summer slump of crashes left Bowman on the lower end of the 16-driver format, but he snuck into the Round of 12 with ease heading to Texas Motor Speedway that fall.
It was there where Bowman was running eighth when disaster struck.
Bowman limped home to the finish but developed concussion-like symptoms shortly thereafter. Just like Earnhardt before him, the effects lingered. He missed five races and wound up 16th in the 16-driver postseason field.
The next year, in 2023, a back injury in a sprint-car crash caused a fractured vertebra and forced Bowman out of three more Cup events. That’s arguably the most painful of his injuries, sending him to physical therapy even now. After returning to the car, the team struggled, and Bowman wound up missing the postseason for the first time since joining Hendrick.
And in 2026, the injury bug popped up again. A scary bout of vertigo began at Circuit of the Americas and caused Bowman to miss a full month of competition. Barring a miracle finish, he’ll miss the playoffs again for the second time in four years while driving equipment that’s expected to compete for championship.
Bowman’s won just once since that fateful Texas crash in 2022, victorious during the chaotic 2024 Chicago street course event. His average finish of 21.8 this season is the worst of Bowman’s career since driving for that underfunded Tommy Baldwin-owned team in 2015.
It’s hard to argue it’s the same driver who was cruising toward superstardom in 2021. Despite the stalwart support of sponsor Ally, who’s been by Bowman’s side through it all, no amount of corporate success can nurse a broken body back to health.
In an exclusive interview with The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi, Bowman confirmed he’d been looking ahead to fatherhood and had always planned to end his NASCAR career far earlier than drivers like Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and other modern-day drivers who still raced well into their mid-40s and beyond. But it’s easier to hit the eject button when your body is sitting there betraying you on a daily basis.
We’ll see what 2027 brings. Perhaps one last hurrah is in order, and mentally, Bowman can produce a minor miracle of a resurgence. No matter what, when the checkered flag waves, he deserved better than what the racing gods dished out. A reliable teammate and a great sponsor representative, Bowman was the exact type of driver Hendrick looks for off the track.
If only his body would have let him deliver on it.
Did You Notice? … Quick thoughts before taking off …
- If Connor Zilisch becomes the Bowman replacement, that means he’s due for another year at a Trackhouse Racing outfit where he’s already struggling. It also means there’s less incentive for them to improve a situation where he’s already sitting well outside the top 30 in points. Could you imagine what 2027 will be like? What will such an extended period of running so badly do for his long-term confidence?
- Another potential domino if Zilisch is the choice: What does that say about Trackhouse’s long-term growth potential in the sport if Hendrick can just pluck him right out of its grasp? There’s no better way to say you’ll never be No. 1 by pulling off that type of steal. As RAM looks for a long-term fit to grow its way back into Cup, it would make perfect sense for it to at least inquire about this Chevy team’s long-term manufacturer plans.
Follow Tom Bowles on X at @RacingBowles
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 50+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.
The Junior curse–still laughing.