After the dust settled on a chaotic night of aggressive tire wear in the Bristol Night Race, Alex Bowman was one of four drivers, the other three being Austin Dillon, Shane van Gisbergen, and Josh Berry, eliminated from playoff contention at "The Last Great Colosseum".
Bowman finished eighth despite spinning earlier in the race, but he was 10 points below Austin Cindric for the final transfer position when the checkered flag waved. The first-round exit was surprising for Bowman, considering he had won the two most recent points at Bristol Motor Speedway and is tied for the second-most top 10 finishes (15) in the series this year.
Although Bowman was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to not advance out of the opening round, some concerns remain for an organization that entered the postseason with regular season champion William Byron and Kyle Larson tied atop the standings.
During a recent episode of his "Happy Hour" podcast, 2014 Cup Series champion and NASCAR on Fox analyst Kevin Harvick voiced his concern about the speed of the Hendrick Chevrolets and how Bowman's elimination on Saturday night backed that notion up.
Kevin Harvick expresses concern with entire Hendrick organization
"They haven't had the speed in the opening round like we expected," Harvick said. "I think when you look at the Hendrick cars right now, they just haven't fired off with any speed anywhere we've been. I think there was a little bit of hope at St. Louis, at a track where they hadn't run very well.
"But that was a tough first round. That was not what we expected. Especially, I mean, I picked Kyle Larson to win the race, and he was nowhere to be found all day. And when you're nowhere to be found at Bristol with Kyle Larson, you're off."
For Bowman, specifically, his playoff hopes were dashed in the opening race at Darlington Raceway, when his pit crew had a nearly 40-second stop. That was followed by more issues at Gateway and a speeding penalty from Bowman to compound it all and effectively force him into a must-win situation at Bristol.
"We saw the debacle on pit road with pit guns not being plugged in or whatever the final conclusion was," Harvick said. "But it was definitely an error in preparation and structural organization - organizational error in setting up what needed to be organized on the No. 48 pit box. Fundamental mistakes out of the No. 48 team. And it's like we talk about all the time: don't beat yourself. Don't beat yourself. I think if you're that group, you look at it and think, 'Wow, we really just took ourselves out.'"
As for the rest of the organization, Larson is tied for the series lead with 16 top 10 results and also has three wins. However, none of those have come since his win at Kansas Speedway in May, and he shockingly finished no better in 12th in the opening round of the playoffs despite leading 52 laps at Gateway.
Byron does not enter the round of 12 as the points leader despite leading the series in total points scored this year. He seemed to have momentum back on his side with a win at Iowa Speedway at the beginning of August. That win followed a trying summer stretch in which fuel mileage issues prevented him from capitalizing on the speed. But he, too, failed to record a top 10 finish in the first round and was never a factor in any of the three races.
Then there's Chase Elliott, who has now had two DNFs in his five more recent starts after beginning the season with 23 consecutive top 20 finishes. Aside from a much-needed third place finish at Gateway, Elliott was also a nonfactor in the opening round.
All three drivers are set to enter the round of 12 on the positive side of the round of 8 cut line, with Elliott (+5) the closest, but one mistake can immediately change the narrative.
On the flip side, Christopher Bell's Bristol Night Race win ended a six-month drought without a points-paying win for him and capped off a first-round sweep for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.
None of the three remaining Hendrick drivers have won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but Larson and Elliott have combined for eight wins at Kansas and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, so it would be premature to count them out yet.
After all, the championship is not won in the first playoff round, so as dominant as Joe Gibbs Racing have been, there are still six more races before the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, leaving many opportunities for organizations such as Hendrick to challenge Gibbs and get back on top.
Through three playoff races, however, they have not been much of a factor. With one of their four drivers eliminated after a mistake-filled opening round and their remaining three in search of some speed and momentum, the pressure is mounting as the second round of the playoffs gets set to begin in Loudon this Sunday, September 21 (3:00 p.m. ET on USA Network).