"Doesn't seem to foster a good relationship": Fans react to Alex Bowman's crew swap under Hendrick-Spire agreement

Hendrick Motorsports has again changed several pit-crew members from Spire Motorsports teams to Alex Bowman's No. 48 ride, and NASCAR fans are not pleased.

Bowman entered the playoffs as the 16th seed, and his No. 48 team made costly errors on pit road in the first two postseason races. At Darlington, a disconnected air hose led to a 40-second stop, and at Gateway, an unsecured wheel forced a second jack-up, which pushed the team back. As a result, HMS decided to swap all but one crew member from Bowman's team before the final Round of 16 race at Bristol.

Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass shared a breakdown of the new changes for the No. 48 car with members from Spire drivers, Carson Hocevar (No. 77), Justin Haley's (No. 7), and Michael McDowell's (No. 71) crews, in his latest post on X:

Bob Pockrass

@bobpockrass

Hendrick crew changes for Bowman/Spire cars: 48-tire carrier Brandon Grier (from 77) and jack Dax Hollifield (71) 71-jack Brandon Johnson (7) 77-tire carrier Jarius Morehead (48) and jack Cody French (48) 7-jack Allen Holman (77)

Some fans criticized the team's agreement to change crew members mid-season.

"I'm sure this is how that arrangement works between Hendrick and other teams. But personally, I'd never enter into an agreement where the parent could take leased people at their discretion. This doesn't seem to be a practice that fosters a good relationship," a fan replied.

Another fan termed Hendrick's leadership and the swap "a bad look" for team president and former No. 24 Chevy driver Jeff Gordon.

"Still not addressing the problem - the crew chief. This is such a bad look for [Jeff Gordon] and [Hendrick Motorsports]. This has been a dumpster fire forever and should be moving toward building NOW for a strong [Ally Racing] Team in 2026," another commented.

Meanwhile, other fans speculated about a future driver swap between Alex Bowman and Carson Hocevar.

"Why do I feel like this is preparing for a Bowman/Hocevar swap in 2026?" a fan wrote.

"They should swap the drivers too," another shared.

Hendrick supplies engines for Spire's Cup cars and also went into a new technical alliance with the Haas Factory team (HFT), which begins next season with HFT's switch from Ford to Chevrolet.

Alex Bowman's another post-season setback after 2024

Alex Bowman had five top-10 finishes in the first six races of the 2025 NASCAR Cup season. The 32-year-old also scored a runner-up finish after starting from the pole position at Homestead early on, but failed to land any wins.

Bowman entered Bristol facing elimination, 35 points below the cut line, but failed to qualify for the next round despite an eighth-place finish at the 0.5-mile oval.

Alex Bowman was also eliminated after the Round of 16 last season as a result of bad luck after his No. 48 Chevy car didn't meet the minimum weight during the post-race inspection.