As the old saying goes, “If you ain’t cheating’ you ain’t tryin’,” but in the case of Alex Bowman’s #48 Chevrolet, the team may have tried just a bit too hard.
The Round of 12 concluded last Sunday, and despite the fact that we finished the round out with a superspeedway race and a road course, much of the cutoff drama happened off-track. When we collectively left our couches after Kyle Larson had scored a dominant win, it was with the understanding that Hendrick Motorsports had all four cars in the Round of 8. Thanks to a heroic late-race push on fresh tires by a partially-damaged Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano found himself pointed out of the playoffs.
For much of the race after Stage 2, the first four or five playoff spots were more or less set, barring catastrophic failure. Chase Briscoe’s underdog playoff run came to an end due to an unfortunate tire failure. Austin Cindric found himself in a must-win situation after getting wrecked while leading at Talladega. Daniel Suarez was also in dire need of a miracle, and while his road course chops are nothing to scoff at, it just wasn’t his day a the newly-reconfigured Charlotte Roval.
With Larson leading easily, most of the action during stage 3 revolved around the four-way battle between Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, Logano, and Reddick. Eventually, Hamlin and Bowman had found themselves with a slight cushion, with the biggest battle on track happening between a surging Reddick and a fading Logano. Reddick edged out the two-time champion, and with that, just one solitary Penske car was in the playoffs.
Then, during post-race inspection, it was discovered that Bowman’s #48 Ally Chevrolet was light. Far too light for NASCAR’s liking, in fact. According to reports, NASCAR officials gave the #48 crew every chance to make weight by topping off fluids and making the most of the 0.05% buffer – around 17 pounds. Unfortunately for Bowman’s team, it simply wasn’t enough. The #48 was disqualified, and Logano found his way back into the playoffs with a renewed determination to bring home championship #3. According to Jeff Gordon, the team simply pushed the envelope a bit too much in attempting to make the car as competitive as possible. They did not appeal NASCAR’s decision.
Meanwhile, with Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick in the round of 8, they both still face another battle with NASCAR themselves. As the antitrust case looms, NASCAR released a scathing statement in which they describe the suit as “meritless,”the antitrust claims as “baseless,” and go on to claim that 23XI and FRM are merely trying to “extort” the sanctioning body. Unfortunately, it looks like this fight will rage deep into the offseason, regardless of whether Denny Hamlin or the #45 Toyota he co-owns with Michael Jordan secures the 2024 NASCAR Cup Championship.
Photo: Newsweek
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