NASCAR: Another driver change announced for Talladega

Noah Gragson was originally set to drive for Beard Motorsports in this Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, but that won’t be the case.

Hendrick Motorsports announced on Thursday that Alex Bowman will not compete in Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

While he was able to continue running after his single-car crash at Texas Motor Speedway this past Sunday and finished in 29th place, he has since experienced concussion-like symptoms stemming from the impact.

It was confirmed that JR Motorsports Xfinity Series driver Noah Gragson is set to replace the 29-year-old Tucson, Arizona native behind the wheel of the #48 Chevrolet in this 188-lap YellaWood 500 at the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama oval.

But Gragson had already been set to drive the #62 Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports in this race.

Beard Motorsports only compete in the four superspeedway races on the schedule, and the 24-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native competed in the first three.

He was scored in 31st place after crashing out of the Daytona 500 in February and finished in 20th at Talladega Superspeedway back in April before going on to secure a career-high fifth place finish at Daytona International Speedway in August.

With Gragson instead set to replace Bowman, Beard Motorsports have confirmed that one of his own JR Motorsports teammates, Justin Allgaier, is set to drive the #62 Chevrolet in this Sunday’s race instead.

Allgaier has made one Cup Series start this year, with that coming in the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway back in April. Driving the #77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, he was scored in 36th place after a crash.

His most recent start at Talladega Superspeedway came back in October 2021, when he also drove the #77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports. He was scored in 40th place after a crash.

Tune in to NBC this Sunday, October 2 at 2:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now!