CONCORD, N.C. – Alex Bowman has put together his two best finishes of the season in each of the last two race weekends.
In both races following the off-weekend, Bowman has started inside the top 10 and crossed the finish line as the runner-up, leading laps at both tracks -- Talladega Superspeedway and Dover International Speedway -- in the process.
That came after a start to the season without a top-10 finish, though the No. 88 team finished just outside of it in 11th twice. After a chance to regroup during the break, season-best results have followed.
“So proud of (crew chief) Greg Ives and everybody on this 88 team,” Bowman said. “We had a miserable start to the season. We did a really good job resetting over the off-week. We've come out strong since then.”
The second-place result at Dover, which tied Bowman's career-best finish in the NASCAR Cup Series, was made even more impressive by the fact that Bowman began the race at the rear of the field due to inspection issues despite qualifying inside the top five.
After maneuvering his way through traffic, he was able to lead the field at the track for 16 laps.
“To come here to, in my opinion, the hardest racetrack we go to and run like that from the back, of all things, was pretty special,” the driver said. “Just proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for all the improvement we've made. We're going to keep it going.”
Following his runner-up finish on Monday afternoon, the driver was exhausted from the physical demands of the 400-lap race.
“This is the physically hardest race of the year for me, for sure," Bowman stated. “We were in (race-winner) Martin (Truex Jr.)'s way, I wish I was in his way at the end of the race. We at least had a shot at it. That's really all you can ask for.”
In hopes of continuing their hot streak, Bowman and the No. 88 team head to Kansas Speedway this weekend looking to improve those back-to-back second-place results up one more position to find Victory Lane.
“It would be better if we had a trophy, right?" Bowman said at Dover. "But, we needed this, for sure."