As Alex Bowman continues to recover from his bout with vertigo, which resulted in him leaving the NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in the middle of the third stage and missing this past weekend's race at Phoenix Raceway, there is no official word on his status for this coming weekend's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hendrick Motorsports included Bowman as the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet on the entry list for this 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Las Vegas, Nevada oval, but they did that at Phoenix as well before announcing Anthony Alfredo as his replacement. Bowman won at Las Vegas in March 2022.
On the team's website, they put out on article stating that Justin Allgaier is set to pilot the No. 48 car this weekend. However, that article was later deleted.
Hendrick's paint scheme preview on its website says Justin Allgaier will be in the No. 48 car this weekend at Las Vegas. https://t.co/PFrKpt6b0Q https://t.co/4DMydmrqx4
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 11, 2026
Alex Bowman replacement leaked?
But the link is up and running once again, and it still states that "Justin Allgaier, filling in for Alex Bowman, will roll in the No. 48 Ally livery."
Yet while the names of Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron are all listed beside the photos of their No. 5 Chevrolet, No. 9 Chevrolet, and No. 24 Chevrolet, respectively, the No. 48 car simply states "A look at the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet", with neither Bowman's nor Allgaier's name included.
No official announcement has been made by the team, although all signs do seem to point toward Allgaier filling in.
The fact that the article was published, deleted, and re-published with Allgaier's name, coupled with the fact that Bowman has yet to be cleared and was initially included on the Phoenix entry list as well, indicate that he will be looking to continue his recovery for at least another week.
Allgaier has competed in two races for Hendrick Motorsports throughout his career, filling in for Jimmie Johnson at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2020 after Johnson believed he was issued a false positive COVID-19 test, and then again for Kyle Larson at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2024, when Larson was competing in the rain-delayed Indy 500.
Allgaier, who competes full-time for JR Motorsports in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, won at Las Vegas in March 2025.
Fox Sports 1 is set to provide live coverage of the Pennzoil 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway starting at 4:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 15. Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and catch all of the action!