CHICAGO — A lot has changed since Tucson-born Alex Bowman spent his Saturday evenings in the grandstands watching super late model races and competing at Tucson Speedway (known at the time as Tucson Raceway Park). He’s now an eight-time winner at NASCAR’s highest level, driving the iconic No. 48 made famous by seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson.
But the one thing that’s stayed true for the Ironwood Ridge High School alum: his perseverance.
That’s a big part of what made last Sunday so special for Bowman. Heavy celebrations were in order after he emerged victorious in the second-ever NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street Course event, where he snapped an 80-race winless drought spanning over two years. Holding true to his word, the 31-year-old properly indulged in his fair share of bourbon on Sunday evening into Monday morning, following a long overdue and well-deserved commemoration of sorts.
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Tucson native Alex Bowman and his Ally No. 48 teammates celebrate after winning last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Chicago.
“The goal is always to win races, so to get back in victory lane after everything, it meant a lot,” Bowman said. “The longer it goes, the more you start to think, ‘What if it doesn’t happen again?’ Obviously, it had been for a pretty long time. It was definitely important to be able to do that and get to share that with a lot of guys on my team who haven’t won Cup races before.
Tucson’s Alex Bowman, then 12, sits in his quarter-midget vehicle with numerous trophies behind him back in September 2005. His goal at the time: become the first American to win a Formula One championship. He hasn’t done that yet, but, now 31, he has become a contender on NASCAR’s Cup series circuit, earning his eighth career Cup win in July 2024 in Chicago.
“I think it just gives you confidence, knowing that we can still do it,” Bowman added. “It puts away a lot of second-guessing and puts our team in a good spot to kind of try to find our rhythm here before the playoffs start.”
Prior to Chicago, Bowman’s most recent win was back out West at Las Vegas in 2022. At that point, he’d gotten accustomed to winning, snatching a career-best four checkered flags the previous season for organizational powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports.
Yet after that Vegas win, and unaware of the tribulations that would ensue throughout the next two years, Bowman and his band of brothers held off on post-race festivities, leaving bottles of bourbon to sit and age as they attempted to claw their way back to victory lane.
In the two years between his most recent victories, Bowman was sidelined in consecutive seasons due to a concussion, then a fractured vertebrae from a sprint-car racing incident. He’d spend his 30th birthday in late April 2023 in a hospital bed, recovering from back surgery. Losing his furry friend Roscoe unexpectedly in the ensuing months was a blow, too.
Alex Bowman climbs atop his car after winning the Grant Park 165 of the NASCAR Street Race on July 7 in Chicago.
Before joining the Hendrick stable — the winningest in Cup series history — Bowman spent a majority of his time in NASCAR driving for underfunded teams, and even found out through Twitter he was fired from the smallest team in the garage at the beginning of 2016. By the end of that year, Bowman got the opportunity of a lifetime to pilot Dale Earnhardt Jr’s No. 88 for HMS in the Cup Series, as the 15-time Most Popular Driver was forced out of the car due to a concussion of his own.
Due to his unrelenting work ethic and ability to maximize equipment, Earnhardt Jr. had signed Bowman to a limited schedule in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, which afforded him the opportunity to showcase his talents and get him where he is today.
As Bowman explained, spending his 30th birthday in a hospital bed during what should be the prime of his racing career forced him to confront many personal battles, while also allowing him time to reflect on all the good in his life.
“I think the biggest thing that’s always stuck with me throughout my career is just not giving up,” Bowman said. “My career path had a lot of twists and turns and wasn’t easy by any means. Just not giving up and continuing to try to persevere through tough situations. You look at what’s gone on in the last couple of years, I think that kind of still holds true.”
Tucson native and NASCAR driver Alex Bowman signs autographs for a few fans during an event at Precision Toyota, 700 W. Wetmore on February 27, 2013. Bowman, pictured at 20 years old but now 31, is an eight-time winner on NASCAR’s Cup Series circuit.
One of those positives is the relatively new and blossoming relationship between he and girlfriend Chloe Henderson, who Bowman credits for keeping him grounded and for bringing a more positive outlook in his life. There’s also his four-year partnership with Ally Financial — primary sponsor of Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro — which partially enables him to keep racing, as well as pursue something else he’s passionate about: saving dogs.
After adopting Roscoe, his first pup, from a shelter in 2013, it opened Bowman’s eyes to the reality of rescue animals and their situations across the globe. Part of why Ally and Bowman linked up is due to his affinity for dogs. That’s translated to their partnership with Best Friends Animal Society, who are on a mission to have all shelters as no-kill shelters by the end of 2025.
Each race weekend, Ally donates $4,800 to a Best Friends partner shelter. As an added incentive for winning, whenever Bowman finds victory lane — like last weekend at Chicago — Ally bumps up their weekly donation to $10,000. In their four years together, the collaboration has helped successfully raise over $650,000 for homeless pets through Best Friends Animal Society.
“Working with Ally and Best Friends, we’ve been able to do a lot for homeless pets, so that’s been really meaningful,” Bowman said. “The money we’ve raised and the impact we’ve had has been really great to be a part of.”
After his win last weekend, a different kind of pressure will be on for Bowman this Sunday, as he heads to Pocono Raceway with his No. 48 dressed in white with pastel-colored paw prints in support of Ally’s Best Friends partnership. While he’s never won back-to-back races, the Hendrick Motorsports driver did get to victory lane at the track nicknamed “The Tricky Triangle” back in 2021.
While the pressure may be on for the pups, the stress of qualifying for the postseason is virtually nonexistent following his victory one week ago. With six races until the playoffs, there are four spots available for the 16-driver field.
Although a victory is said to lock a driver into the playoffs, the only way Bowman could be bumped is if there are at least 17 winners, and he failed to accumulate enough points to stay ahead of other previous winners.
Entering what will be his sixth postseason appearance, Bowman is hopeful he can improve upon his career-best ranking of sixth back in 2020, courtesy of that newfound positivity and growth both on and off the track.
“I’m in a way better spot,” Bowman said. “I’m so much more organized (and) have my stuff together so much more than I’ve had in the past going to the playoffs, so I’m excited about that. I know we can definitely be a threat.”
