Alex Bowman forced to get out of car mid-race due to illness

Circuit of the Americas is one of Alex Bowman’s best tracks, but Sunday’s result was far from what he wanted. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was struggling behind the wheel, feeling extremely ill.

Bowman also desperately needed points after a rough first two races, which left him 32nd in the championship standings. As the COTA race progressed, he told the team that he simply could not continue. He did manage to score a handful of stage points in Stage 1 after staying out to grab seventh place. But after that, he faded to the back despite having one of the best average finishes of all drivers at the Austin road course.

“I don’t know if I’m going to make it,” radioed Bowman with 25 laps to go. He was running 28th at the time. Soon after, he fell outside the top 30.

“It’s your call” spotter Kevin Hamlin replied. Crew chief Blake Harris was also talking to Bowman, telling him it was okay if he needed to get out of the car.

The team then told Bowman: “There’s no difference in finishing right now or not. Points don’t matter, whatever you need.”

And so, with just over 20 laps to go, Bowman drove the #48 Chevrolet behind the wall and brought it to the hauler, where he climbed out. He was already running at the very back of the pack before that.

Myatt Snider got behind the wheel of the #48, finishing the race for Hendrick Motorsports. NASCAR surveyed the driver change, and approved of the mid-race swap. Snider is an experienced driver in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and a proven winner there, but he has never actually raced a Cup car before.

Snider was working as a pit spotter for NASCAR on FOX during Sunday’s race before getting the call to drive for Hendrick.

The #48 car was running 36th, five laps down, when Snider took over. They remained there for the rest of the race, as the only car that failed to finish was the #19 of Chase Briscoe. Per NASCAR rules, Bowman will be credited with the finish and the points scored by Snider.

Bowman was later checked and released from the infield care center, leaving under his own power.

After the race, Hendrick Motorsports released the following statement: “It was an unexpected situation. Alex wasn’t feeling well enough to continue, so we made the call to get him out of the car. It came on suddenly. He was seen in the care center and received fluids, but we don’t have anything further to share at this time. We’re grateful to Myatt for stepping in on such short notice.”

Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet