Bowman on his future: "These races may be the rest of my Cup career"

Bowman added another mark to his resume Thursday night, when he qualified a career-best second at Charlotte Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500. That was a better performance than 11 of the 12 drivers still competing for the Sprint Cup Series championship this season.

What does the future hold?

Bowman, 23, has been sharing driving duties with Jeff Gordon in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet as Earnhardt continues to recover from a concussion. In early September, HMS announced Earnhardt would sit out the remainder of the season.

“I don’t know what my future holds. There are not really any rides open next year, so this maybe – these however many races left we have may be the rest of my Cup career,” Bowman said Thursday night after qualifying. 

“You never really know what the future holds. Not having anything set in stone, the one thing that I said I was going to do throughout all these races was to make the most of it and to have the most fun I possibly could.

“I’m not going to let the pressure kill me. I’m not going to let the people on social media dictate how I feel when I go home at night. I’m just trying to have as much fun as I possibly can.”

Bowman’s 2016 season

So far, Bowman has competed in four races in the No. 88. He has one top-10 (10th at Chicagoland) and finished 14th at New Hampshire in his most recent start.

At New Hampshire in July and Michigan in August, Bowman was running in the top-10 before incidents not of his doing cut short his promising runs.

Bowman has also competed seven Xfinity races for JR Motorsports this season. He has one pole, three top-five and seven top-10 finishes with a season-best finish of third at the spring race at Dover.

“Dale Earnhardt Jr. saved my career two years ago when he gave me that chance in the Xfinity car. It just means a lot to have him help me as much as he has and be the friend that he’s been,” Bowman said. “He has been a big part of my life and I will definitely cherish that friendship forever.

“Without him, I wouldn’t have got the ride I did last year and going forward obviously I hate the circumstances, but without him saying ‘Hey, put Alex in it’ – I don’t think that Hendrick Motorsports really would have thought of me. 

“Maybe they would have, but who knows. I’m definitely thankful for all his support.”