Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman was forced to miss his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race this past weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He also missed the previous weekend's race at Phoenix Raceway, just one week after removing himself from the race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in the third and final stage due to illness.
Bowman was diagnosed with vertigo after the COTA race, and there has never been a true timetable for his return. However, up until now, his absence has been day to day; he was on the initial entry lists for both the races Phoenix and Las Vegas before being ruled out late.
Now we're looking at not only week to week, but month to month.
Alex Bowman out for at least another month
Bowman is set to miss at least four more races, including two this weekend at Darlington Raceway. He had been planning on making the first of his two scheduled O'Reilly Auto Parts Series starts behind the wheel of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, but that will not happen. He is still in line to run the race at Nashville Superspeedway in late May, should his health allow.
Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, who ran the No. 88 Chevrolet at Las Vegas and won, is set to step in for Bowman on the O'Reilly Series side this weekend.
As for the Cup Series, Bowman will miss at least the next three races, and given the fact that there is an off weekend for Easter between the second and third races of that stretch, that puts him out for at least another month.
Full-time JR Motorsports O'Reilly Series driver Justin Allgaier, who filled in for Bowman at Las Vegas, is set to drive the No. 48 Chevrolet this weekend at Darlington Raceway, next weekend at Martinsville Speedway, and then two weekends after that at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bowman can return as early as the race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, April 19, but even that is far from a guarantee.
Hendrick Motorsports do have the ability to apply for a playoff waiver on Bowman's behalf, but there really isn't much of a point. Even before he missed the past two races, Bowman was 36th (last) in the point standings, and he's now 94 points below the playoff cut line. His most recent victory came in July 2024.
With no more "win and in" following a long-awaited playoff format change, Bowman ascending into the top 16 in the standings after missing at least five races would be nothing shy of miraculous, and that's if he only misses five races.
Sunday's Goodyear 400 is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 from Darlington Raceway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and catch all of the action!