Alex Bowman, a popular NASCAR driver, recently opened up on the possibility of joining Arizona State University’s Curtain of Distraction, the next time NASCAR is in town. He said that though it sounds fun, certain actions like wearing a Speedo wouldn’t be something he would do.The Curtain of Distraction is a rare and highly successful ASU tradition to distract fans and opposing teams by waving hands around in the event of a free throw. The Curtain is a massive black curtain, approximately 6.5 feet high and eight feet wide, hung on a PVC frame that is rolled out of the student section directly behind the basket, directly within the line of sight of the shooter. The Curtain was introduced in 2013 by a group of dedicated students called the 942 Crew and included wild skits, costumes, and characters intended to distract the focus of the free-throw shooter and give the home court an edge to the Sun Devils.The Curtain has gained notoriety throughout college basketball over the years due to its unique and sometimes humorous distractions. It features guest performances by famous people and fantastical creatures like an angry elderly lady, Thanos, Michael Phelps in a speedo striptease, and even topless students. On SpeedFreaks, Bowman was asked if he would be joining the famous event, to which the NASCAR driver replied:"This is going to sound bad. I don't know what the Curtain of Distraction is, but it sounds really cool. All I know is ASU knows how to party way better than Tucson does. So if the Curtain of Distraction has something to do with that, yeah, probably."He further responded to his chances of wearing a Speedo like Michael Phelps:"Well, I'm not doing that, but nobody wants that."With Hendrick Motorsports in the No. 48 Chevrolet, Alex Bowman is in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season and has been performing consistently and competitively, but has not won a race this year. Bowman has won two pole positions and registered six top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in over 26 races. His overall race average is a good 16.38, which places him in the middle of the pack in the championship. Bowman has led 160 laps in total this season and has finished around 89.9 per cent of all laps, proving to be very competitive and reliable on the track.Alex Bowman admits to HMS' inferiority against Team PenskeAlex Bowman candidly acknowledged Hendrick Motorsports' (HMS) performance gap compared to Team Penske, specifically pointing out their struggles at Phoenix Raceway during the 2024 Cup Series champion title race. He noted that Penske's cars were "incredibly fast" at the track and that HMS has "a lot of work to do" to catch up. Despite these challenges, Bowman emphasized that many smart people at HMS are diligently working to improve their performance, highlighting the team’s commitment to closing the gap with Penske."We've really struggled there [at Phoenix], but at the same time, we — to be blunt — just have a lot of work to do there, to catch the Penske cars. They're incredibly fast there," he was quoted as saying by Fox Sports."We have been getting to work, trying to improve that stuff. So a lot of smart people back at HMS working on it," Bowman added.In the 2025 season, Bowman has faced hurdles consistently as HMS tries to keep pace with dominant teams like Penske.