TULSA, Okla. – Three years removed from his most recent appearance as a driver at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, Alex Bowman has a simple goal for his efforts this week at Tulsa Expo Raceway.

“We’re just trying to avoid sucking here,” Bowman joked to SPEED SPORT as he looked over his No. 55x Valvoline-sponsored entry Tuesday afternoon.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular for Hendrick Motorsports is making his return to the Chili Bowl this week for the first time since 2016, driving one of his own cars as he attempts to make his maiden appearance in the Saturday A-main.

Bowman has brought two cars to Tulsa this year – one for himself and one for C.J. Leary – and noted that after being a car owner for Leary recently, his desire to return to the Chili Bowl as a driver was fueled by his own competitive fire.

“It just killed me not running. It’s pretty stress-free being an owner, you would think, but then when you get here you’re still stressing out about making sure everything is running right,” Bowman noted. “Last year was a disaster for us, so I feel like if we can get both cars to run all week … we’ll have a good shot.”

For Bowman, who finished 13th in his E-Feature the last time he raced inside the Tulsa Expo Center, the biggest challenge he expects to encounter during the week is racing around other cars.

“I feel like I can probably go OK by myself, but I’ll struggle in traffic,” he admitted. “We’re just trying to take what I feel like I’ve learned on the car owner and setup sides with C.J. (Leary) all winter and turn that into helping me on the driver side of things.

“I’m going to try like heck, and if we make the (preliminary) feature, I’ll consider that a really good night. I’m glad to be back, though. I really am.”

Bowman plans to lean on his more-experienced teammate, as well as friend and fellow competitor Chad Boat, so that he can soak in as much knowledge as possible as he traverses this year’s Chili Bowl.

“I feel like I have a decent amount of help surrounding me,” said Bowman. “C.J. is obviously really smart and we’ve got a lot of smart people around our pit area working on this thing. Mickey Meyer does a really good job of setting these cars up for us. I’ll try to lean on Leary and some Chad Boat guy … and try to be a sponge, I guess.

“It’s really weird because I used to be able to do it and know what to do, but when you don’t think about it for a long time and then come back to it, you find yourself having to learn it all over again and I guess that’s where I’m at right now.”

Bowman’s No. 55x entry this week is sponsored by Valvoline, which is serving as the primary backer of both of his team cars and is also a primary sponsor on his No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

That kind of a link between the dirt world and the NASCAR world is something Bowman considers to be “pretty special.”

“It’s really neat to see the crossover and ties between my program here and our NASCAR program with Hendrick Motorsports,” he admitted. “Valvoline loves this deal. They’re a really great brand to work with, they’re a lot of fun and they build some really cool content around this program. We enjoy having them, for sure.

“Axalta and Nationwide have pitched in some support too, and we even have some of the guys from HMS that have time in helping to get these cars set up. It’s one big, really cool collaboration.”

At the end of the day, the Arizona native is keeping his hopes modest and realistic.

“I have a lot less expectations for this week than I do on a Cup weekend,” said Bowman. “In the Cup Series, that’s obviously your day job and it’s what matters most, but when you come here … it’s just the most fun week of the year. It’s an absolute blast … a party with a race attached to it, and then you wake up on the morning of your prelim night and you’re like, ‘Oh man, I have to go and race now!’

“It’s funny because you don’t think about it until it’s here, but we just have to go and get after it.”

And make no mistake, this isn’t planned just as a one-off appearance, either. Bowman hopes to return to the Chili Bowl with his driver’s suit in future years as well.

“The final say is up to Mr. H (Rick Hendrick), but I want to be back here again. If we run well, it will make that conversation a lot easier.”