Noah Gragson in for Alex Bowman again at the Charlotte Roval
For the second week in a row, Noah Gragson will drive Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48 Ally Chevrolet in place of Alex Bowman.
The team announced Bowman was evaluated by physicians Tuesday afternoon. However, due to lingering concussion symptoms, he was not cleared to run the October 9 NASCAR Cup Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
Bowman was also not cleared to run the October 2 Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway, following a concussion sustained in the September 25 race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Jeff Andrews, the president and general manager of Hendrick Motorsports made the following statement in the release issued Tuesday evening:
“Alex’s health is our first priority. We’re focused on supporting his recovery and seeing him back in his race car when the time is right. Alex has a long career ahead of him, so we will invest the necessary time and take our guidance from medical experts. We’re putting no pressure on him to return before he’s 100% ready.”
Bowman is the third full-time Cup driver who will miss the October 9 Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
J.J. Yeley will fill in for Cody Ware, who is also out due to injuries sustained in a crash during the September 25 race at Texas Motor Speedway.
For the tenth week in a row, Ty Gibbs will fill in for Kurt Busch who is still battling concussion symptoms from a qualifying crash in July at Pocono Raceway.
Bowman will not advance to the Round of 8 in the driver playoffs but the No. 48 team could still advance in the owner playoffs.
The No. 48 team is 12th in owner points, 34 points out of a spot to advance. For the team to advance in the owner playoffs, it is likely Gragson will either need to win or have a strong performance and circumstances fall his way.
Gragson has no Cup road course starts but has 17 top-10 finishes in 20 NASCAR Xfinity Series road course starts. In his first race driving the No. 48, Gragson finished 19th overall after finishing ninth in stage one.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com