Bowman to Run Xfinity Charlotte, Phoenix Races in Ganassi’s No. 42

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer

With Chip Ganassi Racing in a tight battle for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Owner’s Championship, the team has tabbed Alex Bowman for the races at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway. Ganassi’s No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro is already locked into the Round of Eight after Tyler Reddick scored his first career victory at Kentucky Speedway.

In 50 career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Bowman has five top-fives, 13 top-10s, and three pole positions. He has three starts at Charlotte with a best finish of 12th in 2014. At Phoenix, Bowman has five starts with a best finish of 11th in 2013.

Bowman was excited about the opportunity,

“I’m really excited to get back in a race-winning car with a team like CGR. A huge thanks to Chip and Mr. Hendrick for putting this together for me to get some valuable seat time heading into 2018. My goal is to win two races and help the No. 42 team win the NXS owners’ championship.”

Bowman, who will replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in 2018 at Hendrick Motorsports will have sponsorship from his future team owner. HendrickCars.com will be the primary sponsor of Bowman’s No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro at Charlotte. His Phoenix sponsor will be announced at a later date.

Hendrick Motorsports team owner, and Chairman of Hendrick Automotive Group, Rick Hendrick, thought that this was a valuable opportunity.

“This is a terrific opportunity for Alex to get back into a competitive environment and work with a championship-caliber team. I think he’ll pick up right where he left off. It’s also a valuable platform for us to promote HendrickCars.com in our (Hendrick Automotive Group’s) home market. Chip is a great friend, and we’re looking forward to working with his team on and off the track.”

Currently, Ganassi’s No. 42 leads the Xfinity Series Playoffs with four victories, and three stage wins this season. As of now, the No. 42 would be seeded fourth in the Round of Eight behind Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 and No. 20, as well as Team Penske’s No. 22.

No. 42 team owner Chip Ganassi welcomes the opportunity to have Kyle Larson focus on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs,

“We’re excited to welcome Alex to the No. 42 team for two races. He’s a great young talent, who can help us with our goal of winning an NXS owners’ championship. Initially those two races were earmarked for Larson but we wanted him to focus on the Cup playoffs so we appreciate Rick (Hendrick) and his team for allowing us to put Alex in our car. Hendrick Motorsports has been a tremendous partner of CGR for many years.”

Now Bowman will look to not only gain valuable seat time, but help Ganassi earn an Owner’s Championship.