Back in August, at Hendrick Motorsports’ playoff kickoff luncheon, Linda Hendrick addressed the team’s four drivers: “Rick and I really, really want this championship on our 40th anniversary year.” The demand didn’t end there, though. When Jeff Gordon prompted her, asking if she’d like to see all four of them for the final showdown in Phoenix, her response was simple: “1, 2, 3, 4. You pick out which spot you want to be in.” Well, after the Charlotte Roval race, it looked like things were going HMS’ way. But that was until Alex Bowman got disqualified.

The 31-year-old will be feeling hard done by. Despite finishing 18th, high enough to eliminate Joey Logano and occupy the final Round of Eight playoff spot, he was disqualified from the 2024 Bank of America ROVAL 400. Bowman’s No. 48 Chevy failed post-race inspection after failing to meet the minimum weight requirement, forcing him to settle for a 38th-place finish and out of contention for the title. As a result, Logano has taken over the postseason spot going into the business end of the season. However, all is not lost for Bowman.

With four races to go, the Arizona native has the opportunity to do something he has never achieved before. Having secured the most points (120) out of all the Round of 16 drivers, he could continue his rich vein of form and finish the 2024 Cup Series season strongly, paving the way for a brighter 2025.

Alex Bowman could salvage his season despite the Charlotte heartbreak

When the checkered flag was waved at the Charlotte Roval, there were plenty of celebrations going around in the Hendrick Motorsports camp. After all, Kyle Larson had secured his sixth win of the season, while the remaining three drivers had made it into the Round of Eight. Charlotte Motor Speedway is considered HMS’ home course, with less than two miles separating the track from the team’s headquarters.

The result meant that Rick Hendrick’s team became only the third side to have all its drivers make it into the third playoff round, after Joe Gibbs Racing in 2016 and Stewart-Haas Racing two years later. However, the jubilation was short-lived after Alex Bowman was disqualified for completely avoidable reasons. Despite having the option to appeal, Hendrick Motorsports decided against it, given the evidence that NASCAR had presented regarding the infringement.

In a video uploaded by NASCAR YouTuber Eric Estepp, he featured a statement released by HMS vice-chairman Jeff Gordan, which read, “Quite honestly, it’s just one of those things where NASCAR has minimum pre-race and minimum postrace weights, and our teams, in order to make the best-performing race cars every week for our drivers, we know that we’ve got to stay as close to those minimums as possible…”

“In this case, the 48 car, they just cut it too close and missed it. So that’s on us and pretty embarrassed by it and very disappointing after what was looking like a historic day.” Despite the brutal way Alex Bowman’s title hopes were snatched away from him, the Hendrick Motorsports driver still has the chance to finish fifth in points, which would be his highest-ever finish in the Cup Series. The Hendrick Motorsports driver is currently ninth in the driver standings, but strong finishes in the remaining four races will help him make the most out of a bad situation.

As per NASCAR’s rules, once a driver is eliminated from the playoffs, they return to the pool, and the sanctioning body determines positions from 5th to 16th based on performances in the final 10 races of the season. Even though it’s not the outcome Bowman had in mind, a fifth-place result will be a big achievement for the 31-year-old and his No. 48 Chevy team.

While it’s rare for Hendrick Motorsports to have such a significant infringement fall through its cracks, failing to meet minimum weight requirements is not unheard of in the Next-Gen era. In 2022, Brad Keselowski was disqualified from the 2022 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway for the same reason, while Justin Haley’s No. 51 Ford for Rick Ware Racing faced an identical fate at Circuit of the Americas earlier this season.

As for the Alex Bowman situation, HMS had the right to appeal NASCAR’s decision, but they chose not to. “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,” their statement read. But until this statement, veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr wholeheartedly believed HMS would appeal. Why?

Well, at one point in the race, Bowman’s car clipped the curbs and launched into the air. When the 31-year-old regained control of his car, he was scraping the wall, losing a bit of bodywork. Discussing this on the Dale Jr Download, Junior said, “So they crashed and parts were falling off that car… If he lost the weight on the racetrack, they are going to appeal this. They’re going to get Alex back in.” But that didn’t happen.

With the stakes being high and the margins being narrower than ever before, teams are looking for every little competitive advantage that they can get. In this instance, HMS took it a bit too far, even though Alex Bowman had a major points cushion going into the 2024 Bank of America ROVAL 400.

Gordon vows Hendrick Motorsports will learn from its mistakes

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Missed opportunity. That’s how Rick Hendrick and the rest of the team’s hierarchy will be viewing the outcome at the Charlotte Roval. NASCAR’s most successful team should have had all its drivers competing for the title in the Round of Eight, but an entirely avoidable infringement will not just leave a bitter taste in their mouths but will stop them from creating history. With four races to go and three drivers in contention, Hendrick Motorsports will readjust its procedures to ensure a repeat of the Alex Bowman incident doesn’t recur, especially with the championship on the line.

Reassuring fans and the team’s sponsors that the mistake won’t be repeated, HMS vice-president Jeff Gordon said, “We know that teams, they push the tolerances. I know we’re not alone. All the teams do this in order to stay as competitive as we can possibly be every single weekend. You’ve got to look at all those processes and procedures to see how close are we cutting it. The most important thing is making sure that all four of our cars moving forward are going to be able to meet those tolerances.”

Following Alex Bowman’s disqualification, Hendrick Motorsports held numerous meetings involving general manager Jeff Andrews, vice-president of competition Chad Knaus, as well as crew and car chiefs to investigate the infringement. With the team completing 40 years in NASCAR this season, the hope will be that one of Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, or William Byron lifts the elusive trophy at Phoenix Raceway later this year. All three drivers will be aiming to make it to Championship 4 and have a shot at NASCAR’s ultimate prize, but standing between them are three important races they will need to surpass.