Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Ally Financial Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, will not be competing in the next three NASCAR Cup Series events, the championship-winning organization confirmed on Tuesday.
Bowman will be sidelined for events at Darlington Raceway (March 22), Martinsville Speedway (March 29), and Bristol Motor Speedway (April 12). Following those three races, Bowman and Hendrick Motorsports will reconvene to make a decision about races afterwards.
The Tucson, Arizona-native began experiencing symptoms of vertigo during the NASCAR Cup Series event at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) on March 1, and after consultation with medical professionals, has been sidelined from competition for the previous two weekends.
“Alex continues to experience symptoms, so we are following the guidance of the medical team and giving him the time he needs to recover,” said Jeff Andrews, president and general manager of Hendrick Motorsports. “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.”
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Justin Allgaier will serve as the fill-in driver for Hendrick Motorsports throughout the next three events at NASCAR’s top-level. Allgaier, a native of Riverton, Illinois, has been to Victory Lane at each of the next three racetracks in NASCAR’s second-tier division.
JR Motorsports, a partner team of Hendrick Motorsports and the organization in which Allgaier drives for in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, has provided the 39-year-old driver with the necessary approvals to drive the No. 48.
“Justin is a true professional, and someone we have tremendous confidence in,” Andrews said. “He’s had success at the upcoming tracks, and we appreciate him stepping in to help the No. 48 team. We’re also grateful to our partners at JR Motorsports for understanding the situation and making Justin available.”
Allgaier, filling in for Bowman at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Sunday, finished inside the top-25 after accruing two speeding penalties on the first round of green-flag pit stops, and failing to get the cautions to fall their way to make multiple attempts at taking the wavearound work.
Bowman was scheduled to compete in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at Darlington, as well, but will not do so. Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s O’Reilly Series event at Las Vegas, will drive the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports.
The Goodyear 400 will take place on Sunday, March 22, at 3:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
