Bowman makes feelings clear on Hendrick’s ruthless crew swap – Motorsport – Sports

Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman is teetering on the verge of an early NASCAR Cup Series playoff exit, with the No. 48 driver 35 points below the cutoff line for the Round of 12 with just the Bristol night race to go.

The eight-time race winner’s Round of 16 run has been blighted by pit road issues through the first two races, with air-gun problems leading to a 40-second stop during the Cook Out Southern 500, while his Chevrolet was dropped without a rear wheel in place in the Enjoy Illinois 300.

Now with 31st and 26th place finishes, leaving Bowman a lowly 15th in the Playoff picture, Hendrick opted to act fast, swapping four members of his pit crew for those from Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Spire Motorsports team — which is supplied by Hendrick — for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.

Ahead of Saturday’s race, Bowman spoke with reporters about 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,” via 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. 

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“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 team boss Chad Knaus, who recently said the team felt there was a need for something “fresh” at Bristol.

“The 48 pit crew is amazing,” Knaus said 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 knowing that a win would still guarantee him a spot in the Round of 12. While he has yet to win at the historic short-track, he did qualify on pole for both of the last two races at the venue, while on three occasions he has finished within the top five.

That being said, form and luck don’t appear to be on his side, having failed to crack the top 20 in the last three races. 

“We had a really good summer, and a switch turned off for us, for sure,” he said 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 position to progress to the third round of the Playoffs, sitting third, sixth, and ninth, respectively.