NASCAR Playoffs post-mortem: Bidding farewell to Blaney, Keselowski, Larson, Bowman

Alex Bowman

High point of 2018: Bowman started the season off at a modest pace, not earning his first top-10 finish behind the wheel of the 88 until Martinsville. He earned three in a row between Sonoma and Daytona, but his most notable result was his career-best third in the second trip to Pocono, when he looked every bit the part of someone who might make the next step up from top-10 to top-five caliber.

Low point of 2018: Not only did Bowman limp a bit into the playoffs, but then his worst two-week stretch of 2018 came at Dover and Talladega in the Round of 12. That left the 88 team so far behind the eight ball that only a win could get them through at Kansas. Since Bowman had yet to win in the Cup Series, it probably didn’t shock you when he didn’t win this weekend.

Better luck next year? The reasonable assumption is that with the new 2019 rules package and another offseason for Hendrick Motorsports to get a handle on the Camaro, Bowman could challenge for avictory or two next season. That said, he and his team still have a lot of work to do before they can regularly run up front, and he needs to be wary that he doesn’t become another Daniel Suarez story where people get impatient waiting to see if he can win.