NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
APRIl 11, 2026
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and Jeff Andrews, President and General Manager of Hendrick Motorsports, met with the media onsite at Bristol Motor Speedway in advance of Bowman’s return to NASCAR Cup Series competition.
Media Availability Quotes:
Alex, just kind of walk us through what these past few weeks have been like, starting with the COTA race?
Alex Bowman: “Yeah, obviously COTA wasn’t a lot of fun for me. Everything was fine until it wasn’t, obviously, in the car; dizziness, throwing up on myself, spinning, kind of all of the things. It wasn’t fun, and I was not pumped that I had to get out. Obviously, I’ve raced through a lot of injuries, but was one where I was going to end up running into something or somebody, and the smart thing to do in that case was to get out.
So, yeah, just spent a lot of time with a lot of different doctors and had a lot of different help to go about the best rehab process possible and kind of best practices going forward and everything to get back to where I needed to be to get back in the car.”
Was there doubt or concern that, this is vertigo so you don’t know, like what your career was going to be like and when you could come back?
Alex Bowman: “Yeah, I mean I think the biggest thing is with vertigo, just trying to find what was causing everything, why it happened and what the right path going forward was. So there was definitely, for me, concern there. But at the same time, just trying to get back feeling well enough to do life. Fortunately, I had a lot of really great people around me that helped me a ton. The boss flew me around to different places that I needed to be and kind of all the things that we needed to do to give me the best help that we could get, and now, I’m feeling really good. I’m thankful to be back feeling well.”
Can you say what the cause was?
Alex Bowman: “I think it’s like anything, there’s more than one probably, just a multitude of different things that we kind of had to work through to get me back feeling well. So, honestly, we worked through so many different things it’s hard to pinpoint one exact thing. But, you know, the good news is now I’m feeling really well and ready to go.”
Did you ever feel like you were close to not racing again this year or ever?
Alex Bowman: “I mean, honestly, yeah — when I got out at COTA, I was like, this is probably it. That was what was going through my head. So, yeah, that sucked, and I’m thankful that I got another shot at it.”
When you went through those couple different tests at Ten-Tenths, what exactly are you looking for in the car as far as the sensation goes, what you need to feel, what you don’t want to feel, all those different things?
Alex Bowman: “The biggest thing was not getting dizzy. I mean, that was the main thing, right? So, yeah, we had gone to Ten-Tenths there that first week. I could run a couple laps, but then I was ready to throw up and dizzy and not feeling well. Just being able to drive, put myself through those G-Forces and to feel well through it. You know, obviously did karting, pit practice, a ton of different workouts, interval stuff and different stuff with different doctors. So, yeah, feeling really good.”
Why come back this week? Obviously, this is a really physical track, steep banks, short laps.. why get back this week?
Alex Bowman: “Because they said I could (laughs). I mean, yeah, I’m a racecar driver, so you tell me I’m clear and I’m going to go do it. Yeah, it’s probably the worst place possible to come back to. You know, I think not just from it’s physical, but it’s a track that is extremely difficult. The margins from the front to the back of the field are tiny. You look at qualifying here, and every hundredth is multiple spots, for the most part. I haven’t qualified a car in a month. I’m trying to get back up to speed. My expectations coming here, it’s one of my best tracks; two of the last three poles here, expect to contend for wins. I think expectations probably change a little bit this week. You know, if we could get out of here with a top-10, top-15, I think, on my side of things, I’d be happy. But I think today will be the hardest part, just getting back up to speed and trying to qualify after sitting on the couch.”
You touched on it there, but what are your goals or expectations just for these next few weeks to get back into the rhythm of competing?
Alex Bowman: “Yeah, I mean, just to keep myself feeling how I need to feel. Obviously getting back up to speed is the biggest part. Cup racing is really, really hard. Every little bit matters so much that you can’t be lacking anything. So, four or five weeks out, whatever it was, not being in a car, that’s never good. Everybody else is always getting better and always leveling up, and you kind of miss out on that. So, just trying to catch back up.
Obviously, it’s been a rough year on the 48 side of things, so trying to get back rolling in the right direction for those guys. We’re all working really hard to try to get things pointed in the right direction.”
It seems so unfair, Alex, that things have happened to you, and it’s just hard to believe how you can handle it time after time. One of the reasons is Hendrick Motorsports really seems to stand behind you to go through things like this. Jeff, can you talk about that? And then, Alex, what Hendrick meant for you to be able to come back with another issue and have them ride it out with you?
Jeff Andrews: “Certainly, Alex Bowman has always been the driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, and we never had questions about whose seat that was. I think we said that early on, that we would follow 100% of the medical guidelines that we were given, and then plan Alex’s return when it was medically cleared, and then as well when Alex said he was ready. For us, Alex is part of our team. He’s a key teammate for us and has been an integral part of our company for quite some time, so we were willing to do what we needed to do to wait for him and get him back, and at the right time. I think it’s a testament to Alex with how hard he worked to be back a week early. I mean, these guys are athletes and there’s a lot of stories out there about athletes working hard and overcoming adversity and getting back in racecars sooner than expected.
We’re happy to have him back; proud of the work he put in, ready to go racing here these next 19 weeks and we’ll see where the points fall.”
Alex Bowman: “Yeah, for me, to answer the second part of your question; it just meant a lot to have everybody at HMS’s support and also everybody at Ally, Chevy and everybody that makes this deal possible, right? I’ve put HMS in a tough spot multiple times now in the last, you know, five years or whatever it’s been. So, yeah, they’ve probably given me more grace at times than I deserve, so super thankful for that just ready to get back rolling.”
What assurances do you have that a reoccurrence won’t happen?
Alex Bowman: “Yeah, I think just being able to do everything I did this week in the car. We’re able to kind of do things that recreated it pretty much every week for the last month or whatever it’s been. And this week, all those things, I was able to go through without recreating it. So, yeah, I think just narrowing down what caused it or what we think caused it and doing all the preventative measures that we can. I feel super confident that I’ll be good to go.”
The simulator sometimes gets the strongest racers who are tip-top shape sideways, you know, physically. What was it like for you getting back into the simulator?
Alex Bowman: “Yeah, I wish the sim was harder than it is for me. I feel like I’ve spent so much time in there over the last 10 years that I was totally fine in the sim. I was right up to speed; honestly, faster than the rest of the guys in the sim, which drives me crazy because then they’d kick my butt on Sunday’s (laughs). But, yeah, I felt fine in the sim. Should be good.”
It’s never easy to see someone else in your car. What were your thoughts on how Justin Allgaier and Anthony Alfredo performed and what was your conversation with them on keeping up to date on how the No. 48’s performing this year?
Alex Bowman: “Yeah, I tried to be in the team operations center when I could or I had my little home base set up at home at other times too. Just tried to stay plugged into the race team. Both of them worked super hard and did a great job. So, you know, I think it’s no secret that it’s been a rough year on the No. 48 team, and the two of them worked super hard to give it all they had. I’m appreciative of all their help. I spent a lot of time talking to Justin (Allgaier) today before I came in here, too. So, yeah, those guys were super helpful and really appreciate it.”
A lot of people were really interested in Anthony Alfredo getting to drive the No. 48 at Phoenix, and then once the longer absence was announced, the pivot was to Justin Allgaier. What went into deciding which driver ran which race? I know there was some talk about Alfredo having a lot of sim experience at Phoenix, specifically… was that it or just kind of what went into it?
Jeff Andrws: “Yeah, I think it was a culmination of things. I mean, obviously timing — I would say the seat that’s in the car because, you know, that’s not as easy of a job as it used to be in these cars to get guys comfortable and fit into the car. Obviously, Anthony (Alfredo) fit in Alex’s seat and it was a little bit easier to adapt there, especially with Phoenix being a short week and trailers having to leave early part of that week. But, yeah, like you mentioned there, Anthony did a tremendous amount of work for us during the championship weekend at Phoenix; a lot of laps around that track on the simulator. So, we felt that, short term, that was our guy to go get and then, you know, at that point in time, we didn’t obviously know how long this was going to last with Alex and when we’d have him back in that car.
So, you know, the next step there was Justin (Allgaier), who’s obviously kind of been our guy when it comes to standing in and filling in for us. There were some good tracks that were in line for Justin, as well. So, really, just can’t thank the both of them enough. They did a great job and were great teammates. Like Alex said, he was certainly involved with both of them, talking with them and back in our shop on Monday morning meeting with them during a debrief. Proud of the job they both did for us in those circumstances.”
I know this is a difficult time for you being out. How did you stay mentally strong there? Was it the reassurance, like Jeff talked about, from Hendrick Motorsports and knowing that you are the driver of the No. 48?
Alex Bowman: “Yeah, I mean, I think making sure I didn’t get bored was the biggest thing. Just trying to stay busy, whether it was little projects here and there. I was in the gym doing rehab stuff so much that I was pretty occupied with that. You know, honestly, just occupying myself and trying to feel better. The weekends sucked, but I just being able to try to help the team when I could and staying plugged in. I think just keeping myself busy was the biggest thing that I did.”
Will you continue to have Justin, Anthony, or anyone on standby, the reserve driver, if conditions call for it?
Alex Bowman: “That’s probably a better question for Jeff. But, yeah, I feel really good and honestly just focused on approaching the weekend the best I can. I don’t have any plans to get out of the car anytime soon.”
Jeff Andrews: “Yeah, I would say from our perspective, Alex has been cleared without any restrictions, so we do not have a backup driver on call this weekend. We’re approaching it as a normal weekend and looking forward to 500 laps on Sunday.”
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