Despite leaving the race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) due to illness in the middle of the third stage, when Myatt Snider filled in for him behind the wheel of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Alex Bowman was included on the entry list for this past weekend's NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway.
But during the week, Bowman was diagnosed with vertigo, and the entry list was changed to reflect the fact that Hendrick Motorsports sim driver Anthony Alfredo would be filling in for him.
To start Las Vegas Motor Speedway race week, Bowman was once again listed as the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet. However, for the second consecutive week, he has not been cleared, and the entry list has been changed.
This time around, it's JR Motorsports O'Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Justin Allgaier who is set to take his place.
NASCAR Cup Series entry list changes again
Allgaier, who was rumored to be the go-to option to replace Bowman for this week, has two races of experience as a Hendrick Motorsports replacement driver, having replaced Jimmie Johnson for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2020 and Kyle Larson for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2024.
He has competed in select Cup Series races in six of the past seven years, including in the 2025 and 2026 Daytona 500s for JR Motorsports.
There is still no timetable regarding Bowman's potential return, but this weekend's absence means that he will have missed multiple races for the third time in the past five years. He missed five races with a concussion he suffered in a crash at Texas Motor Speedway late in 2022, and he missed three races with a back injury he suffered in a sprint car crash in early 2023.
Bowman was 36th (last) in the point standings even before missing the race at Phoenix, following a disastrous start to the season that he could simply not afford, given the fact that Kyle Larson's preseason contract extension left him as the only Hendrick Motorsports driver without a contract that extends beyond the 2026 season.
Bowman, a former Las Vegas winner (2022), has not won a race since July 2024, when he won on the streets of Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday's Pennzoil 400 is set to air live on Fox Sports 1 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET. If you have not already done so, begin a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss it!