Hendrick Motorsports looked to be heading into the Round of 8 with all four drivers after the race at Roval. However, the team lost its numerical advantage after NASCAR officials found something fishy with Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevy. Despite clearing the tech ahead of the race and the qualifying rounds, the car couldn’t pass the post-race inspection.

As a result, NASCAR dropped the hammer on Bowman and HMS by disqualifying them from the race. Unable to meet the points required to advance further in the competition, this penalty ruled out the #48 from the championship race. As highlighted by NASCAR, Bowman’s car was underweight, and the team couldn’t meet the weight criteria despite multiple checks.

Officials often reprimand teams and drivers for unapproved adjustments, but an underweight car is a rare sight. This topic had become the talk of the town, with questions being raised about NASCAR’s decision. While a few were stunned to see Hendrick Motorsports refusing to appeal this decision. But Kevin Harvick was able to provide a clear picture of what transpired and shared his honest take on the debacle.

Kevin Harvick suggests the blue rumble strips could be the cause of Bowman’s misery at Roval

The reconfiguration of the Charlotte Roval was mired by controversy, as it felt like NASCAR was trying to manufacture chaos and aggression. One of the big talking points became the turtles, the rumble strips installed on the tweaked chicane on the front stretch. Although NASCAR did replace the portion with shorter strips to mitigate the impact, it didn’t exactly help the drivers.

Alex Bowman’s #48 Chevy was sent flying after hitting those blue turtles, and upon landing, the car also hit the outside wall. During this sequence, the hard impact also saw the car damage a few parts that landed on the racetrack. And this point was brought up by Kevin Harvick when he shared his opinion on the Bowman’s DQ.

“I don’t know what the scenario is here; obviously everybody’s holding their cards pretty tight just because of the fact they know that there’s appeal coming, I would assume. Hendrick said that it’s not something they can win, so the one thing that I will tell you and I watched it in person yesterday was the 48 car hit one of those blue turtles and launched up in the air a fair amount of distance.” Harvick said while speaking on episode 65 of the Happy Hour podcast.

However, he did suggest that the team could’ve tampered with the weight of the car, given that NASCAR gave them a fair opportunity during the inspection. “So it’s like 17 pounds that you get off the total weight of the car. NASCAR lets them make sure the car is full of gas, they let them fill the engine system back with water. So they’re giving them every chance that they can to make weight. Unless something fell off the card, there could be something there to the car.”

Meanwhile, Joey Logano, who was crestfallen after falling short of his goals, was able to rejoice after locking himself in the Round of 8.

Team Penske is still a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs

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There was a lot of uncertainty about what the outcome of the Bowman’s situation would be. Despite NASCAR’s ruling, HMS had the opportunity to appeal the decision and argue its case. But surprisingly, they chose not to appeal and accepted their fate, losing one of its four drivers from the championship race. This made the playing field level, as Team Penske will be able to field two cars and contend for a third straight Cup Series title.

Logano had almost accepted his fate and believed his season was done. “It is hard not to think about Richmond a little bit right now. The positive of it is that we are still in the owners championship, so we can confuse all the fans from here on out about drivers and owners championships. The money is in the owners, so we will keep fighting for the money.” The Penske star said this after the race.

However, after hearing about HMS’s decision to not file an appeal, he couldn’t believe his luck and took to X to announce his continued run in the playoffs. “On to the “Round of 8” #NASCARPlayoffs #22Crew.” Perhaps this was the slice of luck the #22 team needed this season. They haven’t been at their usual best, but now’s the time for the team to rally around and stage a comeback late in the season. And again, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Logano went on to clinch the championship.