NASCAR insider reveals hot favorite to replace Alex Bowman at Hendrick Motorsports

Alex Bowman announced that he would be retiring from full-time NASCAR racing at the end of 2027 on Thursday evening, and the hot favorite to replace him at Hendrick Motorsports has already been revealed.

As per Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, Hendrick Motorsports are focusing on one name and one name only in their search for the next driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet - NASCAR Cup Series rookie Connor Zilisch.

The Athletic report claims that Hendrick Motorsports' pursuit of Zilisch is well underway, with Hendrick and Trackhouse Racing - Zilisch's current team - having already held a meeting regarding his availability.

While nothing is official yet, The Athletic now claims that an agreement between the two teams is expected to be reached, with some sources even claiming it is a 'lock'.

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Connor Zilisch rookie struggles in Cup Series

The Zilisch report has emerged despite the young star having a very rough rookie season in the Cup Series.

After a record-breaking campaign in the O'Reilly Series last season, expectations were high ahead of 2026, but so far, strong results and consistency have been very hard to come by.

Through 21 races, Zilisch has achieved just a single finish inside the top 10 (Sonoma), with his average finish for the year currently standing at 27.9 heading to Indianapolis this weekend.

While it isn't all on the driver - he's had some real bad luck and had to contend with Trackhouse having a difficult season along the way - those results leave Zilisch sitting 35th in the Cup Series standings on 213 points, with Cody Ware the only full-time driver to score less so far in 2025.

For context, Trackhouse teammates Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen sit 21st and 14th, respectively, with 412 and 516 points on the board apiece.

Fortunately, there is plenty of time for Zilisch to find his feet in the Cup Series and some much-needed consistency ahead of 2028, when he is currently tipped to take over the No. 48 at Hendrick Motorsports.