Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman was evaluated for back pain after his extremely hard crash in this past Sunday afternoon's NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway, and his status for this coming Sunday afternoon's race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez had been in question.
Fortunately for Bowman, he did not suffer a concussion like he did three years ago at Texas Motor Speedway, when he also suffered a hard hit, and after undergoing evaluations for back pain, the plan is for him to drive the No. 48 Chevrolet this weekend.
But Rick Hendrick's team do have a backup plan in case Bowman is not able to take part in this 100-lap race around the 15-turn, 2.429-mile (3.909-kilometer) road course in Mexico City, Mexico.
Alex Bowman backup driver confirmed for Hendrick at Mexico
Anthony Alfredo, who currently does simulator work for Hendrick Motorsports, is on standby.
The team says that Alex Bowman was evaluated for back pain after his crash at Michigan but is slated to race this weekend. Anthony Alfredo, who does all the team's simulator work, will be on standby for him this weekend. https://t.co/8tllajWoMH
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 12, 2025
Alfredo has made two Cup Series appearances so far this season with Beard Motorsports but only made one start at Talladega Superspeedway, as he failed to qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
He currently competes full-time for Young's Motorsports in the Xfinity Series and is set to compete in Saturday's Xfinity Series race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
While Bowman would undoubtedly be given a playoff waiver if he were to miss a start, all that means is that he would not be ineligible for the postseason should he manage to qualify.
He has not yet won a race to clinch a playoff spot and really cannot afford to score zero points over a race weekend at this point, given the fact that he is currently just 13 points above the playoff cut line, well down from where he was after a solid start to the year, following a run of three straight finishes of 29th place or worse.
Bowman is 13th in points but 15th in the playoff picture, placing him ahead of just one other driver currently positioned inside the provisional 16-driver postseason field.
Amazon Prime Video is set to provide live coverage of the Viva Mexico 250 from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, June 15.