Hendrick Motorsports star Alex Bowman has joked about his Cinderella run in NASCAR's In-Season Challenge, but admitted that he has other things on his mind.

The $1m prize for running the table in the five-week tournament can hardly be an afterthought, but Bowman insisted that he's trying to keep his focus on grinding out good race weekends and putting things back in order after he missed a number of races with vertigo earlier in the season.

Even without his health issues, Bowman has recorded his lowest average finishing position (21.5) in a season since his run with Tommy Baldwin Racing in 2015, as questions continue to be asked about his future at Hendrick – and in NASCAR.

Speaking to NASCAR.com this week, Bowman reflected on a promising fifth place at Chicagoland, and how he sees the rest of the season as the NASCAR world waits for his future to become clear.

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Bowman: Chicagoland was a step forward

“Everybody here sees all the bull****, just like I do,” Bowman said. “They all care a lot and work really hard, and how this car runs means a lot to a lot of people. So having those people have a good week – a good start to their week at least and not be starting the week mad about the weekend – is good. Hopefully, we can keep it up.”

On Chicagoland, he added: “We unloaded happier with the car than we have lately and felt like sim was better than it has been for us lately, and just every little part and piece was a little bit better.

"And nothing went wrong throughout the course of the race, even though we fired off way too tight, not where we needed to be. But yeah, I feel like we put together a solid day and keep digging at it.”

Bowman's moved on to face Zane Smith in the last eight of the In-Season Challenge after overcoming Austin Cindric at Chicagoland, and joked: “Had a whole lot of personality with me versus Cindric on that one. But yeah, it definitely pays a lot of money, so you’ve gotta pay attention to it.

"But at the same time – I feel like it’s my answer to every single question that I get asked – but we’re just super focused on trying to turn things around and get pointed back in the right direction on this team. That means a lot more than the in-season deal for us.”

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