It’s that time of the year when rivalries between teams and drivers come to light. All it takes is just one incident to spark beef among the team camps, and something similar is brewing up between Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports. The only big difference here is that it’s the team sponsors involved in a war of words, and it may cause an on-track confrontation.

The crux of the matter in this case is Alex Bowman’s disqualification from the playoffs. The #48 Chevy Camaro was underweight in the post-race inspection after the Round of 12 cutoff race at Charlotte Roval. Initially, an 18th-place finish saw Bowman gather enough points to advance to the semi-final stage. However, NASCAR’s intervention saw him placed 38th and lose his points advantage. This decision turned the tides in favor of Joey Logano, who went from lamenting his exit from the playoffs to suddenly fighting for a win.

Perhaps the big shocker was Hendrick Motorsports’ decision to not file an appeal following the ruling. This story soon became the talk of the town, and there was a bitter feeling among the Alex Bowman camp regarding this decision. Bowman’s primary sponsor, Ally’s Chief Marketing Officer, Andrea Brimmer, took to X to express her disappointment. “Woke up this morning – after hardly sleeping – not feeling any better. Gutted for @Alex_Bowmanand the @allyracing team who have fought for every point this year and deserve to be moving forward.”

Although this post didn’t have any hidden message or subtle jabs towards a team or driver, Roush Yates Engines, Team Penske’s partner, made the most of this opportunity. And their response on X celebrating the two Penske drivers’s advances in playoffs did ruffle some feathers. “Not one but two @Team_Penske @FordPerformance Mustangs advance on to the #NASCARPlayoffs Round of 8! Excellent, because we’re all better off with an ally.”

HMS drivers looked to be a real threat to Team Penske’s ambition of clinching three championships in a row. However, the numerical advantage isn’t the same. Instead of four Hendrick drivers, there will only be three going up against Joe Gibbs Racing, 23XI Racing, and Team Penske. This jab by Team Penske’s engine partner has ignited a debate among the fans. And HMS supporters even labeled this message by Yates engine as outright disrespectful.

Fans are looking forward to a new rivalry between Alex Bowman and Joey Logano

During the pre-race tech, the Next Gen cars have a minimum weight limit of 3300 pounds, depending on the weight of the driver. The same process repeats upon completion of the race. Unfortunately, in Bowman’s case, officials declared his car underweight. There is a tolerance of 0.5 percent, about 17 pounds, to allow for any natural loss from competition as parts and pieces break, along with fluctuating levels of the fluids. Given that HMS didn’t appeal the decision, there might have been a case of the team pushing the limit. For rival fan bases, this ruling certainly was something to celebrate, and the tweet by Roush Yates further heightened the drama with one fan saying, “Banger tweet. Really carries some weight.”

It is just hard to ignore the cryptic message and jab by Roush Yates’s engine directed towards the #48 team. The mention of an ally at the very end of their message was aimed at Bowman’s sponsor. Some fans would like to argue that this is indeed the first case where NASCAR has stamped its authority and delivered a verdict according to the rule book. But seeing Ally’s argument of Bowman deserving to move forward didn’t sit down well with a section of the fanbase. And they were glad to see Roush Yates’ rebuttal on X, “No need for sunscreen, plenty of shade over here.”

It’s hard to see Hendrick Motorsports out of all the teams make a mess of the technicalities of their race cars. Over the years, they cemented themselves as a real powerhouse organization, and on the eve of their 40th year anniversary, they looked set to dethrone the Penske drivers in 2024. But this ruling is like a dark spot in what looked like a perfect season for them so far. This opened the door for rival team sponsors to rub salt in their wounds, and this took a race fan by surprise. “Man… if that ally plug was intentional, that’s cooooooold lol 💀”

Alex Bowman did nothing wrong and had no involvement in setting up his race car. This ruling was indeed like a kick in his guts after he managed to turn the ship around during the playoffs. Despite being the most consistent performer in the playoffs, he will have to make way for Logano, all because of a technical fault. Bowman doesn’t seem to come off as a driver who reacts to provocation. But this sarcastic jab by Yates Engine might see him retaliate on the racetrack as a fan predicts, “Bowman is going to crash every Ford that happens to look at him.”

Joey Logano is known for clean racing; he’s gotten into trouble throughout his NASCAR career. While he’s had his way on most occasions, he found himself on the receiving end of things. Matt Kenseth, embroiled in a heated rivalry with the Penske star back in 2015, dumped him at Martinsville Speedway. Although Logano had no hand in Bowman’s DQ, the war of words between the sponsors could prove detrimental to his championship hopes. “Alex Bowman is going to pull a Matt Kenseth at Martinsville to ensure Logano doesn’t make the final 4, lol,” a fan predicted.

The fans certainly appreciated the apparent rivalry between Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske. And now that the two sides are involved in a war of words, it will be interesting to see how the drivers react against each other on the racetrack. Do you think Bowman and co. will send a response in this war of words?