NASCAR CUP SERIES
PHOENIX RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
MARCH 6, 2026
Anthony Alfredo met with the media onsite at Phoenix Raceway Friday afternoon. Due to a vertigo diagnosis this week, Alex Bowman will not be competing in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Alfredo, an extensive simulator tester for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet, will be filling the seat of the No. 48 Chevrolet for this weekend’s event.
Media Availability Quotes:
To start, quite the storyline, quite the call-up for this race this weekend. What are your initial thoughts as we get ready to embark on this?
“Yeah, it feels more real being at the track; getting suited up and getting comfortable in the car. But first, I want to send my best wishes to Alex (Bowman). I know he’s pretty bummed this weekend. I’m sure I know I would be in that position. It’s difficult driving someone else’s car, but proud to be the one to represent him, the Ally 48 team and all the men and women at Hendrick Motorsports. It means a lot that they believe in me to put me in this position. It’s a lot of responsibility, but it’s a huge opportunity, and I look forward to making the most of it.”
With you being the sim driver for HMS, would you say that you’re the most prepared that you may possibly have ever been for a race in the Cup Series? What does a successful race look like for you this weekend?
“Yeah, two great questions. I think first, on the sim side of things, obviously, that is what made this a good fit. I already have an established relationship with all four teams; the crew chiefs, the engineers, and working with Blake Harris and the whole 48 team. They already know how I communicate. We have existing chemistry. This is my fourth year as a full-time sim driver for them. I drive the simulator every single day during the week and run through every possible set-up imaginable and every possible adjustment you can make to each of those for all them to be successful and for Hendrick Motorsports to remain the dominant organization they are in the NASCAR Cup Series.
So that makes the transition a lot easier, for sure, because as you mentioned, I have a lot of laps here. I have a tremendous amount of laps at every track, but with this being a championship race the past three years, I have more here than anywhere else. We honestly haven’t left any stone unturned, I’d say, as far as correlating from sim to reality and tuning the cars.
So I’m looking forward to seeing what that truly feels like now, but also applying all the things I’ve learned in the sim to this opportunity on the track. But there’s a whole lot of other aspects to it because we test in a controlled environment on the sim, and now, I’ll be around other cars in traffic and, of course, executing the race as a whole, which was your next question.
I think for us, it’s just nailing the fundamentals, right? A lot of people have been in this position and I’ve gotten some really great advice of things they would do differently. All the people around me that put me in this position have given me a lot of information and tools to go out there and be successful. So the biggest thing is running a clean race, all the laps, putting ourselves in position and executing the basic fundamentals. If you do that, you’d be surprised where you end up a lot of times. That’s certainly my priority.”
You just mentioned that you are regularly in a simulator. Nevertheless, when you’re coming to the race and you work on a simulator on a regular base, are there still some unknown areas in the car when you go on the racetrack? And the second question, I suppose you spoke to Alex(Bowman)…. how different is your setup from Alex’s setup?
“So we’re actually really close. When he comes in to run some laps during the week prior to races, we don’t really move anything in the simulator. I got in his car; the pedals and the steering wheel are exactly where I would have chosen to have them. I’m wearing one of his fire suits, actually, so that was kind of a lucky fit, I guess.
But yeah, that side of things is close. As far as the ergonomics of being in the car versus the simulator, they’re very close and realistic. But in the car, you have a lot of tools that you don’t use or have in the simulator, just switches and fans and all these things, obviously, you have to have for running a race. That’ll be a little bit different. That was part of my things I needed to study up on and be prepared for. But a lot of that comes through communication from the team throughout the race over the radio, so I’m not too worried about that.
And I would say all the laps I’ve run, I think, definitely make me more confident where I need to be behind the wheel. But racing is totally different. Like I said, that controlled environment, not having the ambient temperature change, a track temperature change, rubber being laid down, all those things are different. But I also feel like that applies to the experience I’ve had here in the multiple races I’ve run in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. So I have a pretty good basis of what to expect as far as that goes.”
Typically you are the reserve driver, right? So, were you at COTA and then were you told, hey, you can go or like, or did you just weren’t there?
“Yeah, well, I raced Saturday and then went home, of course. I am prepared for situations when we need it. That was a unique set of circumstances. I felt like the team did what they had to do to finish and they did a great job with that. But this week, we obviously were prepared for this weekend, whether or not I was going to be getting in the car or not for me to be here. But unfortunately, you know, Alex isn’t able to be here and I’ll be in the car all weekend.
So for me, the good part is I’ll be able to get laps tomorrow and learn and get acclimated, whereas getting in the middle of the race for anybody would be very challenging, and that’s going to help me do a better job Sunday.”
When did you start preparing that you might be in the car? Did you know Monday or Tuesday that there was a possibility since he had gotten out of the car early on Sunday?
“I would say every week, I just out of my due diligence, try to be prepared aside from being comfortable on the sim; just watching the races, kind of studying what happens. You just never know when that opportunity might come. So I think being prepared every week is something I do. And that way, when this opportunity did arise, it didn’t feel like it was totally sprung on me and I was not prepared. But certainly when I did find out, they gave me a lot of things to look over and study and give me the tools I need to prepare.
But working with the best people in the sport also makes that transition more seamless, right? I think they all know what they expect of me and I have access to more resources than I probably ever had. So I’m certainly excited about utilizing those.”
Obviously, your preparation doesn’t seem in doubt. But just the moment when you get in this car finally, how do you get in the moment, get in the zone and not let the stress or the pressure of what you’re actually doing overwhelm you?
“That’s a tough question. I think honestly, it goes back to people. Like I said, having all these people to lean on, as far as giving me advice of what to expect, what’s expected of me and preparing me the best they can, has made me feel way more comfortable. I mean, maybe I’ll feel a little different Sunday, but right now, I feel really great. I’m not nervous. I feel prepared. I feel comfortable in the car. Everything’s how I would like it. I know where everything is that I need to use, as far as being able to operate it and drive properly. So that’s got me in a better headspace today than say earlier in the week.
Right now, this morning, getting set up in there and fitted and comfortable, I’m not worried about any of that. So step one is being comfortable in the car. But step two is going to be applying all the things I’ve learned over the week and all the things I’ve studied and prepared for. Like each track’s different, right? So some of the preparation that maybe I wouldn’t normally have when I am planning on getting in the car is just the pit road stuff, communication, strategy. All that’s kind of different because you don’t have all those ins and outs, necessarily. But this is a track I’m familiar with and it’s going to be really interesting to see like how the sim correlates for me and us as an organization. I think I can do an even better job going back there Monday; getting back in the simulator and making it better for next time. It’s not a championship race anymore, but I still feel like with the Chase format, you can’t also throw away any opportunity. So we want to be able to get better every week. The 48 team has had a challenging start to the year, so for me, I just want to go out there and help them have a good race and build a notebook.”
I wanted to ask you more from an emotional standpoint. You had a rough start to the season with Daytona. How do you kind of look at this? I mean, of the highs and lows competitive wise, this has got to be really nice for you…
“It’s one of those things that’s just weird, right? I don’t want to see anyone in the position Alex is in, so it’s hard for me to be excited. That makes it certainly disappointing because a lot of people are asking me how excited I am, and I’m not excited that I have to fill in for someone who’s not able to be in their own car this weekend. But it is, of course, a huge opportunity for me to go out there and do a good job and maybe turn some heads. But I don’t even feel like I have to prove anything to anybody. Honestly, I don’t think they would have picked me if they didn’t think I could do it, right? So it’s not about that. I think it’s more going out there and just doing what’s asked of me and doing a good job behind the wheel filling in.
But yeah, it’s certainly exciting. A big moment for me. I think my career has been challenging, as far as the on-track side of things. Working with them as a sim driver has been a privilege, and I take a lot of pride in what I do for them. It’s a lot of effort. I sit in a dark room with no windows all day during the week. But I choose to do it because I enjoy it and I like seeing them get better. I’ve always hoped that one day it could lead to something… maybe not like this, but just help my career get further along. So now I have that opportunity. I don’t want to take it for granted, so I’ll try to soak it in, even though it’s obviously been a little bit chaotic the past couple of days. But I feel like it’s everybody’s dream of driving for a team like Hendrick Motorsports and working with all the men and women that make it possible. So it’s going to be an awesome experience for me, and I look forward to the challenge that awaits.”
You’re in a Hendrick Motorsports car at a track that HMS has done very well. Never know who’s watching in these races. We’ve seen drivers in your position end up getting the right people to say, hey, I’m going to give him a shot full time. With that out there, how much do you even think about that?
“Honestly, I try not to because I don’t think it works out for a lot of people that put that sort pressure on themselves. It’s not an audition. It’s more about filling in and doing a good job for this team. So I’m focused on just executing well for them. And if something comes of it down the road, then that would be awesome. But most importantly, I have a job to do, and I’m focused on that. It is a cool opportunity, and not a lot of people have it. Like I said, I want to make the most of that, but it’ll be just about execution this weekend and seeing where that goes.”
Could this possibly open an opportunity, say, with another Hendrick Motorsports ride in another series down the road or even this season?
“I have no expectation of anything like that. Like I said, this is a one-race opportunity for me. We’re here in Phoenix, and I’m focused on this one race. We’ll see where it leads, but I’ve got a full-time opportunity in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series now that I’m going to be focused on this afternoon and tomorrow once I get out of the Cup car. We’ll just have to go one race at a time.”
Restarts are always a topic of conversation here at Phoenix because of the broad expanse of the dogleg. Is the sim able to recreate that scenario, or is that just an area where you’re going to have to rely on your experience?
“It’s mostly experience. I mean, that’s not something we try to model or simulate because we’re more worried about just the mechanical aerodynamics effects of the car and making the car go faster, right? A lot of that falls into the driver’s hands and race prep. So that is one of the many things I’ve studied. And like Jeff asked earlier, how do you get prepared? Well, Phoenix restarts are huge. It’s a tremendous part of the race, which lane you choose. A lot of it’s circumstantial, but I think there’s a lot that falls into the driver’s hands, too. So understanding what I can do to advance my position on those restarts or different tire strategies and which lanes those guys choose will be really interesting, especially because this race last year was chaotic with the tire wear. And now, we have more horsepower, less downforce, and a new body on our Chevrolet’s. Starting the year at two superspeedways and a road course, there’s not a lot of information still, so there’s a lot for us to build on and correlate moving forward. That’ll be really great for me to help Hendrick Motorsports with as a group.”
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