Playoff Whiplash

There are two main questions I have after last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.

Who had to deliver Alex Bowman the bad news, and who had to do it the second time?

It’s not often when Hendrick Motorsports — the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Lakers of NASCAR — have to admit a mistake.

According to the winningest team in the sport’s history, that’s what happened.

The only reason Bowman was disqualified from Sunday’s (Oct. 16) race and was booted from the Round of 8 — while his three teammates get to go for a title — is Hendrick done goofed.

“Hendrick Motorsports will not appeal the disqualification of the No. 48 car following Sunday’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL,” the team stated Monday (Oct. 14). “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.”

Hmmmm.

I thought it was odd that Bowman’s name wasn’t included at the end of that statement.

Yes, Bowman’s fans and his sponsors deserve some sort of mea culpa after the emotional whiplash of Bowman driving his way into the third round, only to be plucked from it with a couple of hours.

But imagine being Bowman.

After weeks of having unfounded rumors thrown around about his potential future with the team, Bowman shut everyone up and did so without even winning a race.

He never finished worse than 18th through the first five playoff races and had one top five and two top 10s. He made it. He was on to the Round of 8 for just the second time in his career.

Even now, with four races left in the season, Bowman is one top five and one top 10 away from matching his career bests (eight and 16, respectively, in 2021).

But …

Somebody had to tell Bowman about his disqualification on Sunday, and I would hate to be the person who told him it was his own team’s unintentional fault.