Alex Bowman, who has missed the last four NASCAR Cup Series races because of vertigo, will return to the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 car this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bowman spent Tuesday in a street car turning laps on the Ten Tenths road course that is next to Charlotte Motor Speedway. He participated in pit-stop practice and did laps in a simulator Wednesday and was medically cleared to race.
“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 in a news release.
“It’s been tough being out of the car, but we all wanted to make sure I was 100 percent ready before returning. I feel really good, and I’m excited about being at the track with my team and getting back to racing.”
Bowman, who couldn’t complete the race at Circuit of the Americas because of the onset of vertigo, had a rough start in his first three races. He is 144 points out of 16th in the standings so it is unlikely he could rally over the next 19 races to qualify for the Chase.
He would need a waiver to be eligible for the title because of the rule requiring a driver to compete in all races. He is expected to receive one.
Bowman was replaced by Anthony Alfredo for Phoenix and then Justin Allgaier for the last three races.
”We’re proud of Alex and the way he’s handled this situation,” said HMS President Jeff Andrews said in a news release. “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 is used to dealing with injury. He missed five races in 2022 because of a concussion and three races in 2023 because of a broken back suffered in a sprint-car accident.
