A couple of weeks ago, a Chase appearance for Alex Bowman, who missed four races due to symptoms stemming from a bout with vertigo mid-race at Circuit of the Americas, seemed about as far-fetched as anything that could happen this year in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Before the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Bowman faced a nearly impossible task of making up the 167 points he found himself behind the cutline for the Chase for the NASCAR Cup.
Then, Bowman, who had a best finish of 18th this season, which came in the ninth race of the season at Kansas Speedway, scored a solid third-place result in an incredibly wild event at Talladega Superspeedway. He would follow that up with another third-place finish this past weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
Back-to-back third-place finishes have helped Bowman shave 40 points off the deficit, and he now sits 127 points behind the Chase cutline with 15 races until the Chase begins.
Sure, it’s still a massive uphill battle, but after two excellent weekends, things look a lot more feasible for Bowman to rally his way back into championship contention.
So, What Does Bowman Need to Do?
In order to make it into the Chase for the NASCAR Cup, Bowman will obviously have to erase the 127-point deficit that he has to the Chase cutline over the next 15 races. What that boils down to is that Bowman has to gain 8.5 points per week to the cutline to get there.
Is it possible? If his pace from the last two races can continue, Bowman will easily get there, as he has averaged 20 points gained on the cutline per race over the last two races.
Granted, it’s not realistic to expect Bowman to finish third in every race for the remainder of the regular season, but if the driver can limit his mistakes and others falter along the way, Bowman could be a heck of a lot closer to a Chase berth than anyone ever expected when the regular season concludes at Daytona International Speedway in August.
Bowman will look to keep his momentum rolling this weekend in the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. And while road racing presents a unique chance to gain on drivers inside the cutline, Watkins Glen is a track where Bowman doesn’t have a great track record.
Overall, Bowman is an underrated road racer, evidenced by his win on the Chicago Street Course in 2024 and his five top-10 finishes in seven career starts at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. However, for whatever reason, those road racing skills have not translated to success at the high-speed Watkins Glen International.
Bowman has never scored a top-10 finish at Watkins Glen, but he has achieved his career-best finish of 14th on three separate occasions at the facility.
If Bowman is unable to nab his first career Watkins Glen top-10 this weekend, obtaining another 14th-ish-place finish will be crucial to his Chase aspirations.
After Watkins Glen, Bowman will have the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race weekend at Dover Motor Speedway before a trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600, the sport’s longest race of the season.
The Coca-Cola 600 is the lone race on the schedule, which features four stages, instead of the typical three. That means Bowman will have the opportunity to collect additional Stage Points in that event, which again, would be ultra-important to his hopeful rally if he could capitalize.
While many have counted Bowman out in regard to the Chase for the Championship, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has begun to work himself back into a manageable situation. Depending on how Watkins Glen and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway go, Bowman could be in even better shape as the NASCAR Cup Series heads into the grueling Summer stretch.
