Alex Bowman has been medically cleared to return to the NASCAR Cup Series and will return to the No. 48 car this Sunday at Bristol.
CONCORD, N.C. — Alex Bowman has been medically cleared to return to the NASCAR Cup Series and will return to the No. 48 car this Sunday at Bristol.
Hendrick Motorsports confirmed Bowman's return Thursday morning. The 32-year-old Tucson, Arizona native has missed the last four races, at Phoenix, Las Vegas, Darlington and Martinsville, while he has been recovering from vertigo.
Bowman first experienced symptoms of vertigo during the March 1 race at Circuit of the Americas. The symptoms caused him to leave the race early, at lap 71 of 95.
Since then, Bowman has been working with doctors to get better and has been regularly testing a street car with Hendrick Motorsports to see if he's okay to drive.
On Tuesday, he successfully turned laps at Ten Tenths Motor Club road course in Concord. The next day, he participated in pit stop practice, simulator testing and completed a medical evaluation. Ultimately, doctors cleared him for competition without restrictions.
“I’m grateful for the support I’ve had from Hendrick Motorsports, my sponsor Ally, our fans and the medical team throughout this process,” Bowman said. “It’s been tough being out of the car, but we all wanted to make sure I was 100% ready before returning. I feel really good, and I’m excited about being at the track with my team and getting back to racing.”
“We’re proud of Alex and the way he’s handled this situation,” said Jeff Andrews, president and general manager of Hendrick Motorsports. “He’s put a lot of work into his recovery and followed the medical team’s plan every step of the way. From the outset, our goal was to prioritize his health and have him return when he was fully recovered and medically cleared. We’re looking forward to seeing Alex back in his race car this weekend.”
Justin Allgaier drove the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet for Bowman at Las Vegas, Darlington and Martinsville. Anthony Alfredo filled in at Phoenix.
Bowman previously missed races in 2022 and 2023 due to health issues.
In 2022, he missed five races after sustaining a concussion in a crash at Texas Motor Speedway. Then, in 2023, he missed multiple races after a sprint car crash left him with a back injury.
With the new format this season, Bowman has a lot of work to do to make the Chase beyond just winning a race. He is 36th in points, 144 points below the Chase cutline, with 19 races until the Chase begins. He will have to make up an average of 7-8 points per race on the cutline to make the Chase.