HMS reassigns Alex Bowman’s pit crew to William Byron after the former’s elimination from the NASCAR playoffs

Alex Bowman’s team is set for a shakeup ahead of this Sunday’s playoff race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports has picked Daniel Bach from Bowman’s crew to serve as the front tire changer for William Byron’s No. 24 car.

Byron’s tire changer, Jeff Cordero, will be on Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Spire Motorsports team for this week’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, Bowman will have Donnie Tasser backing his car.

The news surfaced through a post by Bob Pockrass on X (formerly Twitter), after Bowman failed to qualify for the Round of 12 of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Pockrass wrote,

“Daniel Bach, who was the front tire changer on Alex Bowman car last week and Carson Hocevar before that, is listed as the front changer for William Byron for Loudon ... Jeff Cordero, who was front changer on Byron, now on Hocevar.”

Alex Bowman is the only driver from the HMS camp who did not advance beyond the opening round of the playoffs. However, he still has seven races to record his maiden win of the season. 29 races in, the Tucson, Arizona native sits 13th in the driver standings with six top-fives, 15 top-10s, and 2056 points to his name.

Last week at Bristol, Bowman bagged a P8, marking his 15th top-10 of the season. Christopher Bell won the race, followed by Brad Keselowski, Zane Smith, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano, rounding off the top five spots.

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“I defer to my man Rick Hendrick”- Kyle Petty gives his verdict on Alex Bowman’s future at Hendrick Motorsports

Alex Bowman’s last win came on July 8, 2024. The Chevy icon is currently on a 45-race winless streak. So he had to rely on points to qualify for the playoffs in the first place.

Furthermore, Bowman was the only driver from Hendrick Motorsports who didn’t make the Round of 12. Given his underperformance, Bowman’s stay at the Chevy team has been long discussed by NASCAR pundits. Former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty weighed in on the matter recently.

“We have a voice, we have an opinion, but it's not our decision,” Petty said via NASCAR.com. “The sponsor likes him, Rick likes him, the team likes him, he adds something to the combination and he helps the whole group move forward." “So let's give him another shot. Let's give him another shot next year and then come back and talk to me. But for right now, I defer to my man Rick Hendrick,” he added.

Next up for Alex Bowman is the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a 1.058-mile oval in Loudon, New Hampshire. Scheduled for Sunday, September 21, the 301-lap event will be televised on USA (2 pm ET onwards) with live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Edited by Pratham K Sharma