Alex Bowman at Atlanta – Motorsport America Photo
NASCAR Wire Reports – Alex Bowman will miss at least the next three races of the NASCAR Cup Series season as he continues to recover from vertigo, Hendrick Motorsports announced Tuesday. Bowman has been sidelined for the last two races after he exited the No. 48 Chevrolet early during the March 1 Cup Series event at Circuit of The Americas.
Myatt Snider was called into duty at COTA, while Anthony Alfredo and Justin Allgaier filled in for Bowman at Phoenix Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, respectively. Alfredo finished 33rd in the Straight Talk Wireless 500 while Allgaier came in 25th in the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube.
Allgaier will fill in for Bowman again this weekend at Darlington Raceway and in subsequent weeks at Martinsville Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.
“Alex continues to experience symptoms, so we are following the guidance of the medical team and giving him the time he needs to recover,” Jeff Andrews, president and general manager of Hendrick Motorsports, said in a team release. “We see how hard he’s working to get back behind the wheel, and we’re looking forward to his return when he’s medically cleared. Everyone at Hendrick Motorsports is 100% behind Alex.”
Bowman is 36th in the Cup Series standings, 232 points behind leader Tyler Reddick and 94 points behind Shane van Gisbergen, Daniel Suárez and AJ Allmendinger, who are tied for 16th place. The Chase returns as NASCAR’s postseason format this year, and the top 16 drivers in the regular season standings make The Chase.
Bowman is coming off a 2025 season where he made the postseason and finished 13th in the standings.
The 32-year-old from Tucson, Arizona, has eight wins, 46 top fives and 112 top 10s in 364 career Cup starts over 12 seasons. His best finish in the final standings was sixth in 2020 for Hendrick Motorsports, where he has been as a full-time driver since 2018.
Bowman was also slated to compete in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race for JR Motorsports in the No. 88 Chevrolet at Darlington Raceway on Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Kyle Larson, Bowman’s Hendrick teammate and winner in the same car last weekend at Las Vegas, will replace him at Darlington. Allgaier, the 2024 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion, competes full-time for JR Motorsports in its No. 7 Chevrolet.
“We continue to wish Alex a speedy recovery as Kyle Larson will substitute in the No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend at Darlington,” JR Motorsports said in a social media post. “We also wish Justin the best of luck behind the wheel of the No. 48, we will be watching.”
Allgaier will return to the No. 48 car for his 86th career Cup start in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).