Hendrick Motorsports Will Not Appeal Alex Bowman ROVAL Disqualification
Hendrick Motorsports has officially decided to not appeal a disqualification for Alex Bowman and the organization's No. 48 team following the team's No. 48 car not meeting the weight requirement in post-race inspection after Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
RELATED: Post-Race Inspection Foils Hendrick's Dream Round of 8 Scenario
PLAYOFF STANDINGS: NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings After Charlotte ROVAL
The team, which initially had all four of its cars locked into the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs prior to the disqualification, issued a statement on Monday, which says the team accepts the decision by NASCAR and took responsibility for not giving themselves enough leeway weight-wise in Sunday's race.
"Hendrick Motorsports will not appeal the disqualification of the No. 48 car following Sunday's race at the Charlotte ROVAL," the team statement explained. "NASCAR allows a clear margin to account for the difference in pre- and post-race weight. After a thorough review by our team and the sanctioning body, we simply did not give ourselves enough margin to meet the post-race requirement. Although unintentional, the infraction was avoidable. We are extremely disappointed to lose a Playoff spot under these circumstances and apologize to our fans and partners."
In post-race inspection after the conclusion of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Playoff elimination race, the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports car was one of 11 cars that underwent post-race inspection (all 11 Playoff cars that finished the race).
On the first pass through the inspection bay, the No. 48 car was found to be too light when it was pushed up the ramp and onto the scales. NASCAR immediately pulled the car to the side, and began working with the Hendrick Motorsports team to ensure the car was truly underweight.
The sanctioning body allowed the team to re-fill the car with fuel, even though the team had topped the car off prior to its initial post-race inspection attempt. NASCAR also allowed the No. 48 team to flush its coolant system, and was permitted to completely fill the cooling system with water.
After that was completed, NASCAR rolled the No. 48 back across the scales, where the car was again lighter than the 0.5% weight variance allotted by the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book. After re-weighing the car one final time for verification, NASCAR finally made the painstaking call to disqualify the No. 48 team.
In the immediate aftermath of the disqualification ruling, Hendrick Motorsports issued a statement on social media, which said the team was attempting to understand what caused the No. 48 car to weigh below the required amount at the end of the race, and that the organization would decide on Monday what course of action it would take.
Ultimately, the decision was made to not appeal the penalties.
With Hendrick Motorsports' decision to not appeal the disqualification of Alex Bowman from Sunday's race at the Charlotte ROVAL, the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 field is officially set heading into this weekend's round-opening event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the South Point 400.
The eight drivers who will officially continue competing for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship are Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano.
The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 begins this weekend with the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which is set for Sunday, October 20. That race will be televised by NBC beginning at 2:30 PM ET. The Performance Racing Network (PRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio call of the race.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.