May 4, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Alex Bowman (48) is introduced before the start of the Wurth 400 race at Texas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Kansas Speedway a Great Opportunity for Bowman to Right the Ship

Originally posted on Racing America on SI
By Toby Christie | Last updated May 8, 2025 3:07 PM ET

Alex Bowman heads into this weekend's NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on a rough-luck stretch, which has seen the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet register four finishes of 27th or worse over his last five starts.

The most recent rough outing came in the form of a race-ending crash, not of Bowman's doing, in the final Stage of last Sunday's event at Texas Motor Speedway. It came on a day that Bowman showed a lot of speed in his No. 48 Chevrolet.

“I just saw guys wrecking in front of me. I tried to get high. The No. 16 (AJ Allmendinger) came back across the track, and we all piled in there. I hate that for this team," Bowman said after a trip to the infield care center. "We had a really fast No. 48 Ally Chevrolet. I think we passed more cars than anyone’s ever passed at Texas (Motor Speedway). We just shouldn’t have been back there to begin with. Really bummed, but we’ll move onto the next one.”

The next one just so happens to come at a track, where Bowman is most likely to shake off his recent funk -- the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway.

Since the Next Gen car was adapted in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022, Bowman has never finished a race at Kansas Speedway outside of the top 10. In fact, Bowman is tied with Kyle Larson for the second-best average finish at the track (7.2) since 2022, trailing only Denny Hamlin who has a 3.7 average finish at Kansas over the last six races.

Further echoing Bowman's effectiveness at Kansas is the fact that despite missing an event at Kansas due to injury in 2023, the driver has still amassed the 10th-most points at the 1.5-mile intermediate track since the 2022 season.

A solid weekend at Kansas Speedway could serve as the Uno Reverse card for Bowman's 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, which has seen high-highs and low-lows.

After a runner-up finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the sixth race of the season, Bowman had climbed to third in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. However, after the last five races, the driver has slid to 10th in the championship standings, despite constantly having speed that seemingly has put him in contention on a weekly basis.

Will Bowman and crew chief Blake Harris put it all together in Sunday's AdventHealth 400?