NASCAR’s Alex Bowman wants everyone to talk about mental health.

Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, waves to fans after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course on July 07, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

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Alex Bowman knows that it’s the dream of millions of everyday people to become a race car driver, just as it was for him growing up while watching NASCAR. Yet, as one of the more affable faces in the nation’s biggest auto racing league, Bowman has been tapped to talk about a subject that may be taboo to a lot of men who participate in and follow motorsports: mental health.

“I think mental health awareness is super important for anyone across the board. Doesn’t matter if you are a competitive athlete or a regular person,” said Bownman during our Zoom interview last week. While Bowman admits that racing is both his favorite thing to do and a bit of a release, he said that “anxiety is something I’ve battled with” too.

The 31-year-old Arizonan first joined the NASCAR Cup Series circuit in 2020, took over the No. 48 car full-time in 2021 to replace the retiring racing legend Jimmie Johnson, for Hendrick Motorsports.

On November 19, Bowman joined other sportspeople, including USA Olympic Snowboarder Chloe Kim, NWSL soccer player Macey Hodge, and MLS soccer player Tim Ream, as a part of the Ad Council’s “Love, Your Mind” Playbook initiative.

“Coming on board with the Ad Council’s ‘Love, Your Mind’ campaign, to me, was easy, because awareness is something that matters to me a lot,” Bowman explained.

Two other big names in sports involved are US Men’s National Team soccer player Diego Luna and Major League Baseball star Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets, a likely Hall of Fame player.

Lindor also spoke about the importance of the Ad Council’s effort.

“Some people call me ‘Mr. Smile,’ but that nickname didn’t come naturally,” Lindor said, in a statement last Wednesday. “It came from putting in work to take care of my mental health.”

Lindor added that, for him, “There are ups and downs in baseball and in life, and the only way to stay grounded is by being kind to yourself and being open to asking for support.”

Bowman also added, “Mental health is something that’s different for everybody. We all struggle with something, but who you surround yourself with plus how you take care of yourself means a lot.”

Tough racing, resilient racers

Bowman points out that racing is “as challenging any sport out there. We all know that racing as a sport can ebb and flow,” Bowman said, illustrating that it’s extremely hard to win a race any weekend, much less all of the time. “From my vantage point, as a driver, how I take care of myself can really determine longevity in the sport. You have to take care of your mind through a lot of that—or it gets bad pretty quick.”

While Bowman is pretty friendly and, in a Zoom conversation, seemed very even-keeled, he noted that with nearly 40 cars on the track each week from February to November, things between drivers and racing teams can sometimes get very heated.

“I think it’s something that’s unique to NASCAR, that we compete largely against the same 35 people every week. It’s not like we compete and then we’re not going to see the same faces again,” Bowman said, the way teams in the NFL play the same competitors twice a season.

But, like Vegas, does what happens on the track stay on the track?

“Sometimes, if something happens on the race track, you get over it pretty quickly, or you have a conversation and work it out post-race. Then, sometimes you have an issue with the same person, and it can kind of linger and end badly, depending on who it is.

“Every situation is different. But sometimes drivers can hold grudges, and you can have (an incident) come up again haunt somebody, say, 15 weeks later, lingering with someone else.”

One aspect of the NASCAR season that Bowman recognizes as a positive is its variety. Races happen all over the country, some on ovals, others on road courses. Plus, there are special events such as the mid-season Bristol Night Race in Tennessee, as well as the big kickoff in Daytona at the start of the season.

With over 350 professional races under his belt, Bowman said that the variety and change of landscape does help keep it fresh. “Getting to see so many parts of the country, I think, is good for us.”

But, of course, Bowman likes it best when he can win, or place among the top drivers in each race.

“Selfishly, I like the places where I’m good at. There are some places I really get excited to visit. I love road course racing,” Bowman said, hinting that some of his favorites are the races at Watkins Glen, in New York, and Sonoma Raceway outside San Francisco, California.

Bowman won last year’s summer NASCAR Chicago Street Race, which secured him a 2024 playoff spot, and ended an 80-race winless drought for the driver.

“We won Chicago last year and had some really good runs on road courses, so I enjoy that. Then again, I look at super speedway racing, and sometimes I’m not so enthusiastic about racing Daytona and Talladega,” in part because of the ultra-high level of competitiveness.

At each of the two famous raceways, Bowman explained,” it’s so hard to control your destiny, and easy to get caught u in someone else’s mess. I have crashed. And, at this point in my life, I like to avoid crashing lots of stuff.”

Aside from racing, there are a few things that Bowman said help him keep his cool and his head on straight. “I love being home, and I love working in my shop on my cars. And I have three dogs. All that keeps me at peace.”