GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Pressure? What pressure?
During an event held by Michigan International Speedway on Wednesday where the city of Grand Rapids declared July 25 “Alex Bowman Day,” Bowman declared he’s not feeling the heat to get into the postseason with six races remaining before Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders are set.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a whole lot of pressure,” Bowman told NASCAR.com. “Obviously, that’s a big goal of ours. But, I just want to run well every week.”
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Heading into Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Bowman holds a 28-point advantage over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the cutoff line in the playoff standings.
Prior to New Hampshire, the gap was only nine points. But Bowman’s 11th-place finish paired with Stenhouse’s 30th extended the gap by 19 points.
“Glad we’re on our side of it and not his,” Bowman said. “So, hopefully we’ll be able to keep putting some points on him, get a bigger buffer and go from there.”
Bowman and the rest of the Hendrick Motorsports organization has made slow, but steady progress. Bowman has finished 11th or better in four of the last five races — the best among his teammates in that same stretch — and he, Chase Elliott, Jimmie Johnson and William Byron all finished in the top 14 at Loudon.
Byron is mired back in 21st in the playoff standings, while Elliott and Johnson are ahead of Bowman in 13th and 15th, respectively.
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With hints of increasing speed for the organization, Bowman knows progress needs to happen faster if he wants to break the No. 88 Chevrolet into Victory Lane for the first time in his career.
“Hopefully anywhere we go we can have a shot at it,” Bowman said. “We’ve got some work to do, I feel like, before we get to that point.”
Bowman said it’s crucial for him to earn as many points as possible to help his postseason campaign – a task the 25-year-old knows he and the team can accomplish. He has collected 27 stage points this year, tied for 18th with Byron and Ryan Newman. Elliott has collected 94 points, good for 11th among other competitors, while Johnson has earned 84 points, the 13th-most in the series.
“Any day we can have good stage points and get good points throughout the day,” Bowman said. “Wins will come with time, but hopefully we make the Playoffs.”