Alex Bowman 2018 season recap

Alex Bowman piloted the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into the NASCAR Playoffs in his first season behind the wheel of the legendary ride he took over from Dale Earnhardt Jr. See highlights from the rising star's season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Bowman kicked off the season by scoring Hendrick Motorsports' fourth straight Busch Pole Award for the season-opening Daytona 500. The pole position immediately locked in Bowman for the 2019 Clash -- an exhibition race to kick off Speedweeks each season -- and served notice that the 88 was still a strong car at plate tracks.

The early season saw Bowman start off slow, but he found a rhythm with two top 10s in the three spring short-track races -- including his first Monster Energy Series top five at Bristol. He carried that momentum to Talladega -- a track where crew chief Greg Ives won with Dale Jr. in 2015 -- and notched an eighth-place finish, leading 26 laps.

Bowman needed to race his way into the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race through a stage win in the Monster Energy Open -- the race that precedes the All-Star Race. He wasted no time as he won the first of the three stages in the Open to lock into the All-Star Race and a shot at a $1 million win.

The 25-year-old turned it up in the summer with three straight top 10s coming at Sonoma, Chicagoland and Daytona. These performances only further strengthened Bowman's points position in his quest to make the playoffs. That position was enhanced with a third-place showing -- his best of the season -- at Pocono at the end of July.

Fresh off his best finish of the season, Hendrick Motorsports announced a two-year extension with Nationwide and in conjunction, a one-year extension with Bowman to keep the two connected through the 2020 season. The deal also saw Nationwide up its number of primary sponsor races on the No. 88 to 20 starting in 2019.

In his first full-time season with Hendrick, Bowman qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs alongside teammates Chase Elliott and Jimmie Johnson. Bowman led a solid turnaround season for the No. 88 team, which had missed the postseason in Dale Jr.'s final year.

Bowman stayed out of trouble in the opening two races of the Round of 16, and that put him in position to advance to the Round of 12 with a solid showing at the first race on the Charlotte road course. Bowman delivered just that with a fourth-place finish that was aided by a chaotic closing stretch of laps. He was one of two Hendrick drivers to advance to the Round of 12.

With two finishes outside the top 25 to start the Round of 12, Bowman was essentially in a must-win spot at Kansas. While he didn't win, he did nab his 11th and final top-10 finish of the season. Unfortunately for Bowman, that finish wasn't enough to keep him in the playoffs. Still, the Arizona native has a solid foundation to build on in Year 2 of his full-time status in the No. 88.