Alex Bowman’s NASCAR Cup Series seat is safe, with the 32-year-old set to return to the No. 48 for Hendrick Motorsports once he has recovered from vertigo.
During last weekend’s DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix, Bowman struggled with illness. On Lap 71 of the action in Austin, he was replaced by Myatt Snider, with Bowman later being diagnosed with vertigo. As a result, he is set to miss this weekend’s drive for Hendrick Motorsports at Phoenix Raceway, with Anthony Alfredo set to stand in for Bowman.
It remains unclear as to what triggered Bowman’s bout with vertigo, with Hendrick Motorsports president Jeff Andrews explaining his driver’s recent diagnosis has nothing to do with prior concussions. “It’s very odd,” Andrews recently said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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“No, there was nothing – there was no indication prior to the race. Several of us talked to Alex for quite a while, not only through the weekend but then again on Sunday. So, at some point during the race, this started to set in with him and became progressively worse.”
The Hendrick Motorsports president also noted that while he had seen Bowman battle through illness and injury during race weekends in the past, his battle with vertigo was a major concern given its impact on him.
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“I want to say one thing about Alex Bowman,” added Andrews.
“We have watched him struggle his way through and fight his way through some race weekends when he was not feeling well and in a lot of pain, and this certainly was another level beyond that in terms of when it starts to affect your equilibrium and nausea that goes with that.
“I think he was willing to fight through that, but when it starts to affect your vision, that’s when the team said it was time to get out of the car, which absolutely killed him and crushed him.
“So, we knew when Alex Bowman was wanting to get out of a race car that we needed to find someone else to get in there.”
Andrews added: “It really has kind of come out of nowhere, so to speak.
“Alex has been seen and treated for some back and neck pain in the past, like I think most of these guys and ladies that strap into these stock cars and cinch those belts do after a fairly long career.
“But nothing out of the ordinary. Our staff hadn’t been treating him any differently from another driver or athlete.”