Where do you see yourself in five years? It’s a common job interview question that usually doesn’t garner much actual thought.
However, in the case of Alex Bowman, the difference five years has made is staggering.
In 2014, Bowman was driving BK Racing’s No. 23 Toyota Camry. Not only did the young driver not score a top-10 finish during that season, but he had a particularly bad stretch at Talladega (crashed out in 28th), Dover (finished 40th) and Kansas (finishes 35th).
Fast forward to the here and now, and Bowman drives the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the most storied race team in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series history — Hendrick Motorsports. (HMS has scored 253 Cup Series wins and 12 championships, while BK Racing never scored a win in their time as a team in the Cup Series).
That alone, is a huge leap from where the Arizona native was just five seasons ago, but when you look at his performance in those same three races (Talladega, Dover and Kansas) in 2019, you see just how large of a leap it’s been.
Bowman just pulled off his third-consecutive second place finish in the Digital Ally 400 at Kansas. If you’re keeping score at home that means his average finish over that three race stretch has improved by 32 positions since five years ago.
It’s down right impressive and it seems like for Bowman, who led a big chunk of laps Saturday night at Kansas (63), heading to victory lane is now a matter of when not if.
