Alex Bowman's 2026 season may as well be over after unfortunate injury update

A Tuesday update regarding the health of Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman may have put a dagger into the season of Bowman and the No. 48 HMS team. 

Hendrick Motorsports announced Tuesday that Bowman will miss the next three Cup Series races at Darlington, Martinsville and Bristol. Bowman has missed the last two races at Phoenix and Las Vegas with vertigo symptoms. 

Justin Allgaier, who filled in for Bowman at Las Vegas, will pilot the No. 48 Chevrolet in those three races.

Alex Bowman's season is essentially over

Missing five races would be incredibly detrimental for Bowman regardless, but given his incredibly poor start to the season, his chances of making the Chase and competing for a championship are extremely low. 

Bowman is last (36th) of full-time drivers in the standings, accruing only 23 points through the first three races of the season. 

He's already 232 points behind points leader Tyler Reddick and 94 behind Shane van Gisbergen, who is currently the 16th and final driver in the provisional 16-driver Chase field through five races. 

If Bowman were to return at Kansas Speedway on April 19, he would need a waiver from NASCAR, which he'd almost assuredly receive for medical reasons, and a herculean effort to make up ground and be in the top-16 by the end of the 26-race regular season.