Alex Bowman will retire from full time NASCAR Cup Series competition following the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season, according to a Hendrick Motorsports announcement on Thursday. The 33-year-old from Tucson, Arizona has driven for Hendrick Motorsports full-time since 2018, staring in the No. 88 Chevrolet before moving to the No. 48 for 2021. The eight-time Cup Series race winner will remain in his seat for one last year in 2027.
“Alex has meant so much to our organization for a long time,” team owner Rick Hendrick said in a statement. “He’s overcome adversity, won big races and represented our team and partners with professionalism, personality and class. “Alex is a tremendous talent in the race car and an even better person outside of it. We’re proud he’ll have the opportunity to finish his full-time career with us on his terms. He’s family.”
Overcoming Injury
Bowman has faced a series of injuries in his time at Hendrick Motorsports. A concussion sidelined Bowman during the 2022 playoffs and a fractured vertebra during a sprint car crash sidelined him the next spring. Most recently, a battle with vertigo took him out of four Cup Series races this season, all but eliminating his chances of making the Chase.
In his statement Thursday Bowman didn’t specify whether these ailments contributed to his decision to retire at a relatively young age. For context, Bowman is younger than his teammate, defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson. A recent interview shed more light on the reasoning for his decision.
“My back hurts a lot; I’m in a lot of pain,” Bowman told The Athletic. “I’m doing [physical therapy] every single day, just trying to get through the season.” Even without his injuries, Bowman said he didn’t intend to race beyond the age of 35. Work-life balance is apart of that.
“For me, it’s just a life timing thing and what I’m willing to do and put myself through to try to compete at this level,” Bowman continued. “It’s really hard for me. It is everything I have every single day. All I do is train and sim and meetings and all this stuff to try to be competitive.
Bowman, recently engaged, told The Athletic he anticipates fatherhood, drift car racing, and limited sprint car racing. “I don’t want to be a dad when I’m coming home mad from races and carrying over into that,” Bowman said. “That’s probably top of the list, is how I carry the week.”
2026 has been a difficult season for Bowman, so difficult that he heavily contemplated retiring following the 2026 season, but he wanted to end on a better note than he is currently on. “That just gave me more motivation to want to go out on a better year and want to put the effort in to make that happen, and it lined up with what the team needed a lot better as well,” Bowman said of returning for 2027.
Who Replaces Bowman?
Hendrick Motorsports has not yet confirmed Bowman’s successor. Two young drivers have emerged as potential candidates for the No. 48 when the seat opens up. First is Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Corey Day. Day has been a Hendrick development driver since 2024, and is currently in his first full season of NOAPS competition. As of Thursday he sits fourth in points with two wins, six top-fives, and 14 top-10s in 21 races.
A promotion for Day would make sense, as he is a Hendrick development driver with the endorsement of Kyle Larson. Bowman staying for 2027 would give Day another year to refine his talents in NOAPS before moving up.
Another young driver, one who The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi reports is the favorite, is Connor Zilisch. While Zilisch is in the midst of a difficult rookie season, the 20-year-old has demonstrated his immense talent in the O’Reilly series driving for the Hendrick-affiliated JR Motorsports. Zilisch is viewed highly by Chevrolet beyond just NASCAR; in January 2026 he drove for Cadillac Whelen, in the GTP class of the 24 Hours of Daytona.
While Zilisch has only one career top-10 and sits 34th in Cup points, he’s won 13 NOAPS races in 45 starts, nearly a 1/3 winning percentage. His Trackhouse Racing contract has been rumored to expire following the 2027 season, so a buyout would not be required.
Looking Forward
Alex Bowman has 51 more NASCAR Cup Series races left for Hendrick Motorsports and one more full season. Making the postseason, as he has seven times, remains a goal for the Arizona native.
“I would love next year to be the best I’ve ever been in my entire career and win a bunch of races and contend for a championship, try to win a championship and then be able to walk away,” Bowman said. “I would absolutely love that.”
Bowman has only one multi-win season to his name and only two total wins in the Gen-7 car: one each in 2022 and 2024. One final win, perhaps even redemption for a close Daytona 500 loss in 2024, or even that coveted championship Bowman mentioned, would be the cherry on top of an already strong career.
‘I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what’s next, and this feels like the right decision at the right time. 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 said. “To say I’m incredibly grateful to Mr. Hendrick, our partners at Ally and Chevrolet, and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports would be an understatement. They believed in me and gave me the biggest opportunity of my life. My focus now is on making the most of my time on the racetrack and competing for wins. We still have a lot to accomplish, and I want to close my career on a high note for our team and our fans. To have the chance to do that with this organization and these people is really special.”
