CONCORD, N.C. – Through injuries and resulting absences in the Next-Gen era, as well as some early years piloting struggling race cars, perhaps the numbers don't tell the full story for Alex Bowman when it comes to his NASCAR Cup Series career.
And then there's the luck factor, something that bit Bowman at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this season. That venue will serve as the playoff opener on Sunday.
"I made like one lap there in the spring," Bowman said. "It's got to go better than that and it should be a good 10 races for us."
Having locked his way into the postseason via win at the Chicago Street Course, Bowman is back after a one-year absence last season. And there's plenty of optimism in the No. 48 Ally Racing shop.
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"I'm excited to see what we can do in the playoffs," Bowman added. "I think there's a lot of great places for us."
Two of Bowman's eight career wins have come at playoff tracks - one each at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway - and for his career he's averaged better than a 20th-place finish at seven of them, led by a mark of 6.4 at the Charlotte Roval. He advanced through the Round of 16 in each of his previous five postseason appearances.
Here's a look at Bowman's 2024 statistics and his postseason history:
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2024 season
Starts: 26
Wins: 1
Average start: 15.2
Average finish: 15.4
Top fives: 6
Top 10s: 12
Laps led: 14
NASCAR Cup Series Playoff career
Playoff appearances: 5
Starts: 31
Best playoff finish: 6th (2020)
Wins: 0
Average start: 8.7
Average finish: 14.4
Top fives: 8
Top 10s: 16
Laps led: 168
Career starts at playoff tracks
Phoenix Raceway: 18
Talladega Superspeedway: 17
Kansas Speedway: 17
Martinsville Speedway: 16
Las Vegas Motor Speedway: 14
Bristol Motor Speedway: 14
Atlanta Motor Speedway: 12
Homestead-Miami Speedway: 8
Watkins Glen International: 7
Charlotte Roval: 5
Career average finish at playoff tracks
Charlotte Roval: 6.4
Kansas Speedway: 15.2
Las Vegas Motor Speedway: 18.3
Atlanta Motor Speedway: 18.4
Martinsville Speedway: 18.9
Bristol Motor Speedway: 19.6
Homestead-Miami Speedway: 19.9
Watkins Glen International: 21.4
Phoenix Raceway: 22.4
Talladega Superspeedway: 22.8
Career wins at playoff tracks (2 of 8 career victories)
Las Vegas Motor Speedway: 1
Martinsville Speedway: 1
Career laps led at playoff tracks
Phoenix Raceway: 195
Kansas Speedway: 183
Talladega Superspeedway: 67
Las Vegas Motor Speedway: 26
Martinsville Speedway: 10
Bristol Motor Speedway: 3
Charlotte Roval: 2
Career top-10 finishes at playoff tracks
Kansas Speedway: 9
Talladega Superspeedway: 5
Martinsville Speedway: 5
Charlotte Roval: 5
Las Vegas Motor Speedway: 4
Atlanta Motor Speedway: 3
Phoenix Raceway: 2
Homestead-Miami Speedway: 2