In 2016, the NASCAR Cup Series world was stunned when its most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was sidelined with concussion-like symptoms after 18 races. The only silver lining of what ended up being a season-ending injury was the opportunity of a lifetime for a 23-year-old complete unknown.
That driver was Alex Bowman. He split Earnhardt Jr.'s ride with Jeff Gordon for the remainder of that season, and then stepped into it full-time in 2018. And now, 10 years later, the shoe is on the other foot.
Bowman, for the third different time in the past five years, has been forced to miss races (plural) with an injury, this one involving symptoms of vertigo. With only one win since March 2022, the writing is already on the wall for his time at Hendrick Motorsports. This might be the final nail in the coffin.
The end of Alex Bowman's Hendrick Motorsports chapter is all too similar to his predecessor's
For those who remember Earnhardt's situation in 2016, his absence was significant because it was not just one injury. It was the buildup of several hard hits and bruises that had accumulated over time, aggravating the matter until it became impossible to ignore.
Sadly, for Bowman, it feels like deja vu all over again. He missed five races with a concussion in 2022 and has taken some nasty hits over the years. Most notably, his crash at Michigan International Speedway last June had him visibly shaken up.
With Bowman now missing his second race in a row, it has become a serious concern that his absence is more week-to-week than it is day-to-day. Vertigo, a form of severe dizziness that impairs vision and focus and can also cause hearing loss and headaches, is nothing to mess around with. It is often related to post-concussion syndrome.
Simply put, it's not something that's safe to be driving with. Even once Bowman returns, it's unfortunately very likely that this could become a recurring issue, just as Earnhardt's concussions were. His contract at Hendrick Motorsports is due to expire following the 2026 season, and the organization already employs a rising O'Reilly Auto Parts Series star in Corey Day.
Whether anybody wants to admit it right now or not, we all know where Bowman's situation is ultimately headed. Perhaps he'll get one more year to finish out his Hendrick Motorsports tenure on a better note while Day's development uses some refining, but this is the beginning of the end.
And in a dark twisted way, it's ending the exact same way it began.