Hendrick Motorsports accepted the disqualification of No. 48 Chevrolet driver Alex Bowman following post-race inspection this weekend at the Charlotte Roval.
The 5 p.m. ET Monday deadline to appeal the DQ came and went, and Hendrick did not move to challenge the ruling.
Bowman was DQ’d because his car did not meet the minimum weight requirement after the race — and the penalty cost Bowman the final spot in the Cup Series playoffs’ Round of 8. Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday that Bowman’s team had “cut it too close.”
“You just look at this race in general and the amount of contact, we wanted to really inspect the car fully to see was there enough damage or was there something that got dislodged from the car,” Gordon said. “So NASCAR was great through the whole process. You can’t really inspect much of it at the race track, so we weren’t really sure, but they took it over to the tech center, looked at it (Monday) and thoroughly examined it and didn’t find anything.
“So quite honestly, it’s just one of those things where NASCAR has minimum pre-race, minimum post-race weights, and our teams in order to just make the best performing race cars every weekend for our drivers, we know that we’ve got to stay as close to those minimums as possible, and in this case, the 48 car, they just cut it too close and missed it, and so that’s on us.”
Had Bowman’s original result stood up, Hendrick would have all four of its teams qualify for the Round of 8. Kyle Larson, William Byron and Chase Elliott remain alive for the season-long championship.
“Pretty embarrassed by it and very disappointing after what was looking like a historical day and one of the most exciting days that we’ve had at the race track, being a home race and everything and celebrating in victory lane and all four, and that all got wiped away,” Gordon said. “So we looked at all the facts, and we didn’t feel like there was really anything that we felt comfortable appealing, and we’re going to move on.”
Gordon praised Bowman and his team for the job they did throughout the season.
“So you hate to take that momentum and that opportunity away, and I know they’re disappointed as well, and I also know that they’ve got points to gain and get as high up in the points as they can once you see what plays out in this next round,” Gordon said. “Those guys can go gain a lot of points and get high up and keep the momentum going and win races and take that into next season and hopefully get the season started off right.”
Joey Logano received the eighth and final spot in the next round of the playoffs in Bowman’s place.
