Lisa Hendrick’s wish to see all four HMS drivers compete in the Championship 4 this season won’t come true. Following the elimination race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Top 8 field initially had four drivers from Rick Hendrick’s team. At that point, Lisa’s hopes appeared to be alive, but later an inspection led to the disqualification of Alex Bowman from the race and eliminated him from the Cup Series. So what’s next for Bowman and HMS?

An appeal from the team seems like the next best thing to do. They even said that they have an answer soon on whether they will go ahead with an official appeal. The team has a good track record of overturning decisions that have gone against them in the past, but Denny Hamlin. believes they won’t succeed on this occasion.

Denny Hamlin shares reason why HMS may not succeed in Alex Bowman’s penalty appeal

Alex Bowman finished 18th in the race at The Roval, which meant he had qualified for the Round of 8 at the expense of Joey Logano. However, a post-race inspection revealed that the No. 48 Chevrolet was too light and didn’t meet the minimum weight requirements by 17 pounds. This led to his P18 finish being changed to the last place, ending his hopes of progression.

Explaining the decision, Brad Moran, the managing director of the Cup Series said, “Unfortunately, the No. 48 had an issue and did not meet minimum weight. We put the car to the side. We continued on. We gave them the opportunity to fuel the car as well as purge the water system and add water.  So we gave them every opportunity to make minimum weight.”

NASCAR’s rule book clearly states that the race car’s weight post-race “must be within 0.5% of the minimum overall vehicle 0eight” at the beginning of the race. Thus Hamlin, who is currently in the elimination zone in the playoffs, believes that HMS’ chances of winning a possible appeal are low.

“I just—I think they’re screwed. But I don’t know, you know.” Denny Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast Speaking about the disqualification of Alex Bowman, Hamlin explained, “I would say it’s pretty black and white. But I just never count out Hendrick when it comes to an appeal.”

Hendrick Motorsports has had good fortune when it comes to appeals. Back in 2023, NASCAR slapped Hendrick teams with $100,000 fines each for modified hood louvers at the Spring Phoenix’s pre-race inspections. In addition to the monetary fine, crew chiefs Cliff Daniels, Alan Gustafson, Rudy Fugle, and Blake Harris received 4 race suspensions, combined with each team losing 100 points and 10 playoff points. After the team appealed, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel overturned the ruling, removing the points penalty entirely.

The conversation progressed with the No. 11 driver discussing why Alex Bowman got disqualified at The Roval. “They’re more than 17 pounds underweight. I mean, that’s a big chunk,” he added. He explained how the team must have tried to get to the car to add weights during the inspection to avoid the penalty.

Hamlin mentioned the circumstances under which the weight issue could be overlooked, saying, “Well, if you didn’t hear, he said that they give a weight—they kind of give you a fudge factor there. He said 0.5% of the car weight as a kind of buffer, and that’s 17 pounds, and they didn’t even meet that.”

Moran had explained that they gave the HMS a complete opportunity to bridge the weight difference but to no avail. He mentioned, “We ran them back through. Unfortunately, they were light again. They are allowed a 0.5% weight break, which is for usage of fluids and so on. That’s about 17 pounds.”

Hamlin also shared how difficult it is to get the car’s weight down stating, “These crew chiefs, these teams, they fight for every pound that they can get out of that race car. These things are tanks when it comes to how heavy they are.” Ultimately, Hamlin spoke about the chance for Hendrick Motorsports to appeal the disqualification, saying, “So, I don’t know. I just—I would say it’s pretty black and white, like you’re saying, Travis, but I just never count out Hendrick when it comes to an appeal.”

HMS and Bowman had what appeared a solid reason for the underweight issue in case an appeal is lodged. Dashcam footage of Michael McDowell’s No. 34 Ford as he passes by Bowman revealed an interesting detail. The video shows an object seemingly coming off from Bowman’s No. 48 Chevy, just as McDowell overtakes him.

But despite this probable evidence, HMS made a surprise decision when it came to Bowman’s disqualification.

Denny Hamlin proven right as HMS declines to appeal Bowman’s decision

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It appears Denny Hamlin was right in his assessment that it was going to be difficult for HMS to win an appeal given the clear nature of the rule about underweight cars. On Monday, Hendrick Motorsports issued a statement saying they won’t appeal NASCAR’s decision to disqualify Bowman.

The statement read, “Hendrick Motorsports will not appeal the disqualification of the No. 48 car following Sunday’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL. NASCAR allows a clear margin to account for the difference in pre-and post-race weight. After a thorough review by our team and the sanctioning body, we simply did not give ourselves enough margin to meet the post-race requirement. Although unintentional, the infraction was avoidable. We are extremely disappointed to lose a playoff spot under these circumstances and apologize to our fans and partners.”

This is devastating news for Bowman as he had earlier revealed how Lisa Hendrick was keen on seeing all four of HMS drivers in the championship 4. Bowman revealed, “Mrs. Hendrick said she really, really, really, really wants all four of us in the championship race at Phoenix. And when she speaks, we listen. So, no pressure. Yeah, no pressure.”

Still, Lisa and HMS have the chance to cap off the team’s 40th anniversary in style by winning the championship. They still have three drivers in contention for the Cup Series title. Kyle Larson emerged victorious in Charlotte and sits top of the table heading into the Top 8. William Byron is placed fourth and finished third in the last race. Chase Elliott is outside the Top 4 in the seventh spot, but his fifth-place finish at Roval gives him hope of a better showing.

Now with just 4 races to go, who do you think will survive till the final top 4? Share your thoughts in the comments below.