Alex Bowman has been disqualified from advancing into the Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs due to a post-race infraction that was discovered at the conclusion of the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, October 13.
During the post-race inspection process, Bowman’s No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry was found to be too light and not meeting the minimum weight specifications.
As a result, Bowman, who finished 18th during the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Roval, was demoted to 38th place, dead last, in the final running order. By being demoted to the last car in the running order, Bowman, who initially transferred into the Round of 8 by nine points after he won the second stage period and accumulated 10 stage points, ended up 20 points below the top-eight cutline.
Following the announcement, Brad Moran, managing director of the NASCAR Cup Series division, disclosed the ruling behind Bowman’s disqualification.
“So unfortunately, when we were running the No. 48 [car] through, it didn’t pass the minimum weight specs. So we pulled the car off to the side and we allowed [the No. 48 team] to fuel it, which they already did. We let them fuel it again. We let them run the pumps to make sure all the pickup boxes were full. We give the teams every opportunity to try to meet a minimum weight…We rescaled [the car]. It still didn’t meet the weight. We backed it off and we run it across one more time to confirm the weights were accurate and unfortunately, they did not meet the minimum weight. They are allowed half a percent of a weight break, which is about 17 lbs, give or take. That is what they’re allowed and it was more than that.”
With Bowman being disqualified from the Playoffs, he joins Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe as the bottom four competitors in the revised Playoff standings to not transfer into the Round of 8.
As a result, Joey Logano, who initially missed the Round of 8 cutline by four points, was awarded the final transfer spot into the Round of 8 as he continues his pursuit of his third Cup Series championship. Logano also caps off the Round of 8 field that includes teammate Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick, the latter of whom was battling Logano for a final transfer berth to the Round of 8.
Amid Bowman’s disqualification from the Playoffs, Hendrick Motorsports has yet to determine if the organization will appeal the penalty. Should the penalty stand, the 2024 season would mark the fifth time that Bowman has been eliminated from the Playoffs following the Round of 12.
The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to occur next Sunday, October 20, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the South Point 400. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
