With all due respect to Alex Bowman\u2019s recovery from vertigo, and return to the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 over the weekend after missing four NASCAR Cup Series races, now it\u2019s time for the 32-year-old to save his job.<\/p>\n
Everyone downplays it, but Bowman is in a contract year, and having faced several medical issues over the years while also not winning at the scope of his superstar teammates, that ride might become available without its current driver winning some races this summer.<\/p>\n
To wit, 2014 Cup Series champion turned FOX Sports color analyst Kevin Harvick said it more bluntly than anyone else has yet while discussing the comeback on his Happy Hour YouTube show.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to have Alex Bowman back in the car,\u201d Kevin Harvick said. \u201cThat\u2019s the ride that he had and earned to get to this point. You couldn\u2019t ask for a tougher racetrack to come back to than Bristol with all the G\u2019s and all the heat. It was hot this weekend. Typically not that warm in the spring race at Bristol.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s good to see him back in the car, but now we\u2019re back to analyzing the 48\u2019s performance, and it wasn\u2019t good. Throughout the weekend, they didn\u2019t really have any speed and wound up in an accident. Now, they got to concentrate on we\u2019ve got the driver\u2019s health back where it needs to be. Now, what do we got to do to get this car back to where it needs to be, solidly in the top 10? That\u2019ll be the next tall task that they have to figure out.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then \u2026 Bowman will have to race to justify his next contract.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re going to keep your job, you\u2019re going to have to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowman has eight career wins since joining Hendrick in 2018, at first replacing Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 in 2018 and then taking over for Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 in 2021. He has just two wins over the last four-plus seasons. \u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition to his Hall of Fame resume, and current analyst job, Harvick also owns a talent agency and represents numerous drivers in the Cup Series garage and is clued in on silly season matters as well as anyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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