NASCAR: Two championship bids end with injuries

Two drivers have now lost their ability to compete for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship due to concussion-like symptoms stemming from single-car crashes.

Hendrick Motorsports and Alex Bowman confirmed that the latter will not return to the #48 Chevrolet for this Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

Like he did in this past Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, Noah Gragson is set to fill in for Bowman behind the wheel of the #48 Chevrolet.

Bowman continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms he has suffered since his single-car crash at Texas Motor Speedway two Sundays ago.

While the 29-year-old Tucson, Arizona native was able to finish that race in 29th place and the wreck didn’t look like much, he stated that it was the “hardest hit” of his racing career, reigniting a discussion on the safety of the Gen 7 car.

The news of Bowman’s absence from Sunday’s 109-lap Bank of America Roval 400, which is the third and final race of the round of 12, at the 17-turn, 2.28-mile (3.669-kilometer) Concord, North Carolina road course was confirmed on Tuesday after he underwent another medical evaluation.

With Bowman being one of the 12 round of 12 drivers, this announcement ends his championship eligibility for 2022, making him the second driver to see his title bid ended due to concussion-like symptoms stemming from a relatively minor-looking single-car crash.

The same can be said for 23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch.

Busch remains sidelined following a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway back in July. Ty Gibbs is set to stand in as his replacement for the 12th consecutive race this weekend.

Because he won at Kansas Speedway back in May, because there were no more than 16 regular season race winners, and because he maintained his spot in the top 30 in the standings despite missing the regular season’s final six races, Busch would have been one of the 16 playoff drivers had he not opted to withdraw his name from the mix due to not being ready to return.

That opened up a spot for Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney to become the only winless driver to qualify for the postseason on points, and he has taken advantage.

Blaney, a former winner at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, sits in second place in the round of 12 standings and is poised to advance to the round of 8 for the fourth time in the last six years.

As for Bowman’s absence, nobody is replacing him in the round of 12. With Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott locked into the round of 8 following his win at Talladega Superspeedway, there are 10 drivers battling for the final seven round of 8 spots in the round of 12 finale.

NBC is set to broadcast the Bank of America Roval 400 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval this Sunday, October 9 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and don’t miss it!