Kevin Harvick sounds alarm on ‘unraveling’ Alex Bowman, No. 48 team after COTA

Alex Bowman sits near the bottom of the NASCAR Cup Series standings after three weeks, in 36th place and leading only Casey Mears and BJ McLeod at this point. Things got especially dicey at COTA, where Bowman had to exit his car and seek a replacement driver.

Health issues aside on Sunday, Kevin Harvick is sounding the alarm right now on the No. 48 team. Things just aren’t going well.

“I don’t know, I mean you never want to speculate on somebody’s health or what’s happening,” Harvick said on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast. “But it just feels like the 48 thing is just kind of unraveling right in front of us. Haven’t had a good week yet as far as performance.”

Alex Bowman started the NASCAR Duels at Daytona in fourth position, a good enough start to the season. He finished 10th in the duel itself.

But it’s been all downhill from there. Bowman finished 40th at Daytona, 23rd at Atlanta and 36th at COTA.

And when you’re not a super consistent driver, a key factor is doing well where you traditionally shine. You have to be putting up good performances on your strong tracks.

“COTA was definitely one of those places where Alex Bowman hadn’t finished outside of the top 10 ever in the first five years,” Harvick pointed out. “And really never did anything to go forward on the weekend.”

Alex Bowman was simply outclassed most of the day before he exited the car and made way for a replacement driver. Even before that his crew was hit with a penalty for an uncontrolled tire on pit road. Things just weren’t clicking.

For a driver who’s capable of making a championship push, Alex Bowman hasn’t looked like it so far this season. That needs to change in a hurry, Harvick said.

“They’ve definitely got some things that they’ve got to work through pretty quickly or it’s going to unravel pretty quick,” Harvick said.