Following the conclusion of the Bank of America ROVAL 400, NASCAR post-race inspection revealed that Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, did not meet minimum weight requirements, per NASCAR.com.
This came during what was a moment of jubilation for the No. 48 team, as they finished 18th place, enough to push them through to the Round of 8.
With this result, Hendrick Motorsports seemingly became the third team in history to have all four of their drivers in the Round of 8. This would mean that they made up 50% of the championship contenders. Only Joe Gibbs Racing in 2016 and Stewart-Haas Racing in 2018 has completed this accomplishment.
What would’ve made this performance more impressive, however, is that all four of Hendrick’s drivers are homegrown. In 2016, JGR saw Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards join them after leaving their old team, Roush Fenway Racing. In 2018, SHR saw Aric Almirola join the team after leaving Richard Petty Motorsports the season prior.
In comparison, Hendrick Motorsports’ only driver to not spend the entirety of their careers thus far in the Hendrick system is Kyle Larson, who has scored 23 of his 29 victories with the team since joining in 2021. In fact, this race saw Kyle Larson scoot away for the victory, pushing him to 30th place on the all-time wins list at the young age of 32 years old.
With the disqualification, not only is Bowman eliminated from the playoffs, but Team Penske’s Joey Logano will advance to the next round in lieu of Bowman after a lackluster season from the two-time former NASCAR Cup champion.
Logano won the series title in 2018 and 2022, and conveniently has made it to the Round of 4 every even-numbered year dating back to 2016. This trend looked like it would end this year, however with the disqualification of Bowman, many are jokingly asking if this can be a sign of this pattern being destiny rather than coincidence.
On October 20, the series heads to Las Vegas. The eight drivers in contention are:
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet
- Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
- William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
- Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford
Photo by Oleksandr Baiev on Unsplash
Originally Published at: https://www.fsuthevoice.com/bowman-dqed-nascar-playoffs-shaken/
Cameron Bebeau 
Leave a comment