Alex Bowman is back behind the wheel of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend, after four races on the sidelines. Bowman, who had been dealing with symptoms tied to a vertigo diagnosis following his early exit from the March 1 event at Circuit of the Americas, was medically cleared heading into this weekend’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
In a media availability on Saturday, Bowman opened up for the first time about the symptoms he experienced inside of his race car at Circuit of the Americas, the recovery process that he went through, whether he thought he’d be forced into retirement, and his outlook for this weekend’s race.
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“Yeah, obviously COTA wasn’t a lot of fun for me. Everything was fine until it wasn’t, obviously, in the car; dizziness, throwing up on myself, spinning, kind of all of the things. It wasn’t fun, and I was not pumped that I had to get out,” Bowman explained of his initial symptoms. “Obviously, I’ve raced through a lot of injuries, but was one where I was going to end up running into something or somebody, and the smart thing to do in that case was to get out.”
Bowman admitted that he initially thought his career was likely over when he had to exit the car with dizziness and after he had vomited on himself in the car at Circuit of the Americas.
“I mean, honestly, yeah,” Bowman answered when pressed on if he thought he was close to not racing again, “when I got out at COTA, I was like, this is probably it. That was what was going through my head. So, yeah, that sucked, and I’m thankful that I got another shot at it.”
Bowman credits a lot of time with a lot of different doctors, who put him through rigorous test after rigorous test, for getting him back in a position to race again this weekend. The frustrating part of it all, is that it’s nearly impossible to definitively say what caused his vertigo symptoms to appear at Circuit of the Americas.
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“I think it’s like anything, there’s more than one probably, just a multitude of different things that we kind of had to work through to get me back feeling well. So, honestly, we worked through so many different things it’s hard to pinpoint one exact thing,” Bowman explained. “But, you know, the good news is now I’m feeling really well and ready to go.”
His shot will come at Bristol, a track billed as “The World’s Fastest Half Mile”. It’s a high-banked concrete 0.533-mile oval, a track that the sensation of racing around have been compared to flying fighter jets around a gymnasium. Sounds like a great place to return after a bout with vertigo, doesn’t it?
“Yeah, it’s probably the worst place possible to come back to,” Bowman stated. “You know, I think not just from it’s physical, but it’s a track that is extremely difficult. The margins from the front to the back of the field are tiny.”
Ultimately, Bowman said he decided to return this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway because his medical team told him it was safe, and at the end of the day he’s a race car driver, and if a race car driver is told he can race, he’s going to race.
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While Bowman has always performed well at Bristol throughout his career, the eight-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner is tempering his expectations in his first race back behind the wheel.
“My expectations coming here, it’s one of my best tracks; two of the last three poles here, expect to contend for wins. I think expectations probably change a little bit this week,” Bowman said. “You know, if we could get out of here with a top-10, top-15, I think, on my side of things, I’d be happy. But I think today will be the hardest part, just getting back up to speed and trying to qualify after sitting on the couch.”
A positive sign for Bowman came on Saturday, as he wasn’t last on the speedcharts in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying. The driver clocked in 27th-fastest in qualifying for the Food City 500, just behind Josh Berry and Connor Zilisch, one of the hottest prospects in modern NASCAR history. And he’s just ahead of Erik Jones, and Kyle Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.
Bowman checked the first box off on Saturday, as he was able to successfully complete NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying, now, he’ll look to put in a full day’s work in the 500-lap Food City 500 around Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/racing-america as Alex Bowman Gets Second Chance After Thinking Career Was Over.
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