Hendrick Motorsports has confirmed that Alex Bowman will be back behind the wheel of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He has been battling symptoms of vertigo for the past month.
The 32-year-old had to get out of the car mid-race at COTA, with Myatt Snider bringing the car to the checkered flag. After Anhony Alfredo filled in for him at Phoenix, Justin Allgaier has driven the car at Las Vegas, Darlington, and Martinsville.
“I’m grateful for the support I’ve had from Hendrick Motorsports, my sponsor Ally, our fans and the medical team throughout this process,” said Bowman in a release from the team. “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.”
Hendrick says Bowman made some laps in a street car at the Hendrick-owned Ten Tenths Motor Club road course earlier this week. He also took part in sim testing and pit stop practice and a full medical evaluation afterwards.
“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.”
Bowman currently sits 36th in the championship standings with 23 points, and is 144 points away from the cutline, so it will be a difficult task to point his way into the Chase over the next 19 races.
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