(Photo: Riley Thompson | The Podium Finish)
CONCORD, N.C. — After a month-long absence, Alex Bowman is back.
On April 25, Bowman suffered a compression fracture to his vertebra in a sprint car crash at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. Josh Berry, who replaced Chase Elliott earlier in the season, subbed for Bowman in three points-paying races and the NASCAR All-Star Race.
According to a Hendrick Motorsports release, Bowman tested at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Tuesday in a series-approved medical evaluation and turned 170 laps. NASCAR granted a waiver to keep Bowman eligible for the Playoffs.
In hir first race back behind the wheel, Bowman will have a grand challenge. He’ll need to survive 400 laps and 600 miles in the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race of the year.
“I feel like I’m ready,” Bowman told the media on Saturday. “I feel like kind of the little bit of pain that I’m going to be stuck with, I’m probably going to be stuck with it for quite a while. So this week, versus next week, versus the following week – it kind of is what it is.
“For the most part, I’m back to normal. Kind of easing back to getting back into the gym and training hard. I didn’t want to kill myself training all week this week trying to be ready for the 600, and then show up [Sunday] super sore and worn out already. Just trying to be smart with things.”
Bowman’s injury did not require any surgery and he rested early on. As time progressed, Bowman said, the pain increased the more stationary he stayed, so he tried to stay busy by walking.
While testing at North Wilkesboro, Bowman said that he didn’t have any additional pain. The team practiced dropping the car off the jack during pit stops and that also went pain-free.
“I was terrified to drop the jack. We did it and it didn’t hurt at all,” Bowman said. “The thing that I thought was going to hurt the most didn’t hurt at all, so that makes me feel good. I don’t think I would get away with 600 miles on one set of tires, so dropping the jack is going to be a requirement.”
Before the injury, Bowman was on one of the best stretches of his career. He started out the 2023 season with six top 10s in 10 races and led the series with the best average finish at 10.3.
After missing three races, Bowman dropped to 17th in driver’s points, just five points behind Chase Briscoe for the final playoff spot.
Josh Berry drove the No. 48 car the last four weeks and won the All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro. (Photo: Kevin Ritchie | The Podium Finish)
“We just have to do what we were doing,” Bowman said. “We had a massive points penalty, missed three points races and we’re still on the cutoff line. So if we can just go back to how we were running, I know we can do it. Obviously, we want to go win races and I think that comes with how we were performing. But yeah, just have to go kick some butt.
“I haven’t competitively driven a racecar in a month, so just trying to understand where my rusty areas are going to be and where I’m still good. Lap time-wise, we were plenty competitive in our test, but that’s by yourself … So just trying to see where we stack up whenever I do get back into the car and kind of go from there.”
In just the fifth time HMS has its entire lineup healthy this season, Bowman will have work to do. After rain led to the cancelation of practice and qualifying, Bowman will start Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 in the 31st position.
In 11 starts on the Charlotte oval, Bowman has four top 10s. His best result, fifth, came in the 2021 edition of this race. He’s confident that his team can overcome a poor starting position for a strong result.
“I have one of the best crew chiefs on pit road, best race team on pit road, top-five best pit crew on pit road – there’s no reason why we can’t accomplish it,” Bowman said. “If I can drive the racecar at the level that I think I’m capable of doing and we have a good car when we take off, there’s no reason we can’t win from 31st. I think for me, I want to make all the laps and I want to have a good, solid top-10 day coming back from breaking my back. But yeah, there’s no reason that with our race team and our capabilities that we can’t win from anywhere we start every week.”
Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 is set for 6 p.m. ET on FOX. Wiliam Byron is on the pole.
