Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman was the lone driver with double-digit starts to not lead a single lap during the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign.
Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE
Bowman, who missed several races early in the year after a vertigo diagnosis, finished the season with 4 Top-5 finishes, 8 Top-10 finishes, and 26th overall in final points.
The 33-year-old driver is well aware he did not pace the field in 2026.
Photo: Feliz Aragon/TRE
“Oh and yeah Reddit I know we didn’t even lead a lap, neither did you,” Bowman said in a social media post.
Bowman’s highest finish was a 2nd-place effort at Gateway in September.
The last time Bowman led laps in a Cup race was Bristol in September 2025.
Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE
Bowman announced in July that 2027 would be his final year racing in the Cup Series full-time. Connor Zilisch will replace him in 2028.
Across his career, Bowman has 393 starts, 7 poles, 8 victories, 50 Top-5 finishes, 120 Top-10 finishes, 1,533 laps led, and a career-high of 6th in points in 2020.
SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book “All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story” with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.