Alexander Michael Warren Bowman (born April 25, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. He owns a Dirt Midget and Sprint car racing team, Alex Bowman Racing. He is known for a record six consecutive front-row starts in the Daytona 500, from 2018 to 2023, winning the pole in 2018, 2021, and 2023.
Bowman is known by many nicknames, the most predominant being Bowman the Showman. Denny Hamlin called him "just a hack" after late-race contact between the two at Martinsville in 2021 resulted in Hamlin being spun from the lead. Bowman would go on to win the race. Following a 2022 race at Las Vegas, Kyle Busch said Bowman was "all luck, no skill" after Bowman won the race by taking two tires on a pit stop during a late-race caution.
Bowman is set to retire from full-time competition in the Cup Series after the 2027 season.
A native of Tucson, Arizona, Bowman started his racing career on short tracks in Arizona and California in 2000 at the age of seven, driving quarter midget cars in United States Auto Club (USAC) competition. By 2006, he had won nine national championships and had 165 feature wins.
In 2008, Bowman won the USAC National Focus Midget championship with eleven wins, as well as the California Dirt Focus Midget championship. In 2009, he was named USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year. In February 2010, Bowman was injured in an accident during a USAC race, suffering a fractured clavicle and rib. Bowman continues to field a midget in select races.
In 2010, at the age of eighteen, Bowman moved to full-bodied stock car racing, making two Rev-Oil Pro Cup starts and a late model start. Bowman moved to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East with X Team Racing for 2011. Bowman finished sixth in series points, winning Rookie of the Year honors.
In 2018, Bowman made his return to the West Series at Sonoma Raceway, driving the No. 24 for Bill McAnally Racing.
Bowman competed in two ARCA Racing Series events during 2011 for Venturini Motorsports, at Madison International Speedway and Kansas Speedway, winning both events.
He moved full-time to ARCA for 2012 for Cunningham Motorsports as a development driver for Penske Racing, winning races at Salem Speedway, Winchester Speedway, Iowa Speedway, and Kansas Speedway over the course of the year. He also won the pole for the inaugural ARCA Mobile 200 at Mobile International Speedway.
Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series
In 2012, Bowman made his debut at the national level of NASCAR competition, driving for Turner Motorsports in the Nationwide Series at Chicagoland Speedway. He finished seventeenth in his debut race; he also drove for RAB Racing in the Nationwide Series at Kentucky Speedway and Phoenix Raceway, and for Turner at Dover Motor Speedway, towards the end of 2012.
In January 2013, it was announced that Bowman would run the full Nationwide Series season for RAB in 2013, competing for Rookie of the Year honors. He won his first career Nationwide pole at the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas. Bowman won another pole at Texas later in the season, but was released by the team prior to the season-ending race at Homestead–Miami Speedway. Bowman ended the season with six top-tens in 32 starts.
Bowman returned to the Nationwide Series in 2014, driving the No. 80 for Hattori Racing Enterprises at Dover, while driving the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevy at Charlotte and Phoenix.
During the 2015 season, Bowman made starts in the Xfinity Series with Athenian Motorsports and a Truck Series race with JRM.
On November 11, Bowman joined JRM for nine races in the No. 88 for the 2016 Xfinity season. He won a pole at Michigan and finished in the top ten in all but two races. Despite the success, Bowman struggled to find sponsorship that would grant him the opportunity to race full-time for JRM.
In 2017, Bowman joined GMS Racing to run the Truck Series race at Atlanta in the No. 24 as a fill-in driver for Justin Haley, who was too young to race at the track. In October and November, Bowman drove the No. 42 Xfinity car of Chip Ganassi Racing at Charlotte and Phoenix. At Charlotte, Bowman dominated the final portion of the race following a late restart to win his first NASCAR national series race.
In 2022, it was announced by Spire Motorsports that Bowman would drive their No. 7 truck series entry at COTA with sponsorship from HendrickCars.com.
In January 2014, Bowman tested for BK Racing as part of Preseason Thunder before the 2014 Daytona 500 in the No. 83. On January 20, the team announced his hiring for the No. 23 car for 2014, running the full 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season for Rookie of the Year.