Hendrick Motorsports star admits 'stressful' season has taken its toll entering NASCAR playoffs

Alex Bowman has denied being exhausted by a tough first 26 races of the season, but admitted that his summer has been stressful.

Bowman and his No. 48 team scraped into the final playoff spot last weekend thanks to Ryan Blaney's narrow win at Daytona, with the former admitting after the race that he owes the 2023 champion big time.

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The postseason kicks off on Sunday night at Darlington, with The Track Too Tough To Tame hosting the first race of the Round of 16 before the Cup Series heads to Gateway and Bristol to cut the playoff field down to 12.

The mental reset of switching from regular season mode to playoff mode may actually benefit Bowman, who admitted to Fox this week that chasing points and worrying about the playoff cut line has been less than relaxing.

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Bowman: It hasn't been a relaxing summer by any means

Speaking at the playoff media day this week, he said: "It has definitely been a stressful summer. We've been performing at a super high level, but at the same time sometimes this week is where things ramp up.

"Things have been ramped up for us for quite a while now. I wouldn't say I'm exhausted, but it certainly hasn't been a relaxing summer by any means."

Of course, Bowman enters Sunday's race on the outside looking in once again, sitting dead last of the remaining 16 drivers on playoff points.

The 32-year-old is just five points from the cut line, but has Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Josh Berry directly ahead of him to pass before he can think about a safe route to the Round of 12.

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