Alex Bomwan's "gamble on himself" pays off with Hendrick Motorsports

Bowman, who filled in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. last season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series while he was recovering from a concussion, signed a contract with HMS last fall but with no guarantees of a ride, just the chance at an opportunity.

He’s spent much of his time at HMS since working in the Chevrolet Racing simulator and on doing testing with the wheel-force car, a car permitted for each manufacturer outfitted with data-gathering devices.

When Earnhardt announced earlier this season he would retire from full-time NASCAR competition at season’s end, an opportunity suddenly opened in the No. 88 Chevrolet for 2018.

Earlier this week, HMS announced Bowman would drive the No. 88 next season with sponsorship from Nationwide and Axalta.

“Of course, I didn’t want to see Dale tell me that he was going to retire, but we had Alex in the back of our mind for whatever opportunity we had,” team owner Rick Hendrick said Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“It wasn’t much of a decision at all. Alex was the guy.”

Still, as Hendrick pointed out, “I can’t make all the decisions.”

“We didn’t know what was going to happen and we were very careful not to guarantee him anything other than if opportunities arose, he would have a shot,” he said. “Sponsors have to be involved. But in my mind, Alex was going to be the next up.”

A dream come true

Bowman, 24, called the experience “a complete dream come true.”

“It’s been a little bit overwhelming but I’m just so thankful and appreciative of the opportunity,” Bowman said. “A lot of cool stuff happened this week.

“I was able to share everything with my dad (Sean Bowman). He was at the shop with us. He has a full body shop back home in Tucson (Ariz.) and we visited the Axalta Center, which was really cool. That’s his world and I literally couldn’t get him to leave.

“Hendrick Motorsports is always where I wanted to be.”

After completing his stint as a fill-in for Earnhardt last season, Bowman said he was presented with other driving opportunities in NASCAR, but he was unwilling to leave the possibilities at HMS behind.

“There was nothing set in stone,” he said. “It was a big leap of faith. To get the opportunity to stay this year in whatever capacity, I was very happy to take that.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen from there.”

Dale Jr. believes in him

Earnhardt quickly became one of Bowman’s biggest supporters.

“I believe in his talent on the race track but his commitment off the race track to further his career, to me, over the last several years has been real impressive,” Earnhardt said.

“There are a lot of guys that have the talent and need that one critical break and if they still committed and keep pushing and are willing to make the sacrifices, eventually that opportunity will come along.

“Alex is the perfect example of that. He gets this opportunity because of his commitment to his own career and his gamble on himself that he made a long, long time ago.”