NASCAR: Alex Bowman decision could eliminate another playoff driver

When the checkered flag flew at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval two Sundays ago, eight drivers advanced to the round of 8 of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Yet the first driver to advance to the Championship 4 was not among those eight.

Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman initially advanced to the semifinal round of the postseason for the first time since 2020, but NASCAR determined that his No. 48 Chevrolet was underweight in post-race inspection. He was disqualified, and the points he lost dropped him below the cut line.

Instead, Team Penske's Joey Logano advanced. And in the first race of the round of 8, the driver of the No. 22 Ford advanced even further, winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to secure his spot in the Championship 4.

As a result, Bowman's disqualification could end up eliminating another driver not named Alex Bowman.

Three spots remain in the Championship 4, and two races remain in the round of 8, guaranteeing that at least one spot will go to a driver on points. Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell, who actually scored more total points at Las Vegas than Logano did, overtook Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson for the points lead.

Had Bowman advanced, Logano obviously would not have. So Logano's Las Vegas win would have meant that nobody clinched a Championship 4 spot in the round of 8 opener.

Bowman would have started the round of 8 with seven playoff points, giving him 4,007 points and placing him in eighth place in the standings. He scored 37 points at Las Vegas, so he would be tied with Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin for the fourth and final Championship 4 spot at 4,044 points. Bowman would own the tiebreaker, since he finished higher than Hamlin (eighth) at Las Vegas.

But hypothetically speaking, let's say that, even had Bowman advanced to the round of 8, he wouldn't have ended up with the point total (or a win) required to get him to the Championship 4.

This means that four drivers not named Bowman would advance to the Championship 4. But because Logano made it to the round of 8 and then the Championship 4, there are only three spots still available rather than four.

So whoever that fourth driver ends up being will have effectively missed out on the Championship 4 due to a disqualification that had nothing to do with him.

Let's look at an example.

Let's say that Bell wins at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Larson wins at Martinsville Speedway, and the top two non-winners in the standings are Hamlin and Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron.

Had Bowman advanced, those four drivers would all be moving on to the Championship 4. But because of the disqualification, Logano advanced instead. With only three spots still available, the battle for the fourth Championship 4 spot would come down to Hamlin and Byron on points.

So in a roundabout way, Bowman's disqualification could end up keeping another driver, perhaps one of his teammates, from advancing to the Championship 4 as well.

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