AVONDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Anthony Alfredo, 26, will be making his first NASCAR Cup Series start of the season, filling in for Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 Alex Bowman in the No. 48 Chevrolet.<\/p>\n
After becoming ill mid-race last week at the Circuit of The Americas road course Bowman was replaced in the car by Myatt Snider.<\/p>\n
The team announced this week that Bowman was still suffering from vertigo symptoms and have named Alfredo to steer the No. 48. In his fourth year as the Hendrick team\u2019s fulltime simulator driver, Alfredo has considerable laps around the Phoenix one-miler since it has served as the championship race the last six years.<\/p>\n
Alfredo, who races fulltime in the NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series wasn\u2019t at COTA to relieve Bowman last week having raced in Saturday\u2019s NOAPS race and having already flown home \u2013 not anticipating a problem for Bowman mid-race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say all the laps I\u2019ve run definitely make me more confident in where I need to be behind the wheel but racing\u2019s totally different,\u201d Alfredo conceded, noting he has a pretty good basis of what to expect at Phoenix with not only the simulator work but the eight races he\u2019s run in the O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series races here. He suffered a pair of DNFs in two 2021 NASCAR Cup Series starts at the desert miler.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say every week, just out of my due diligence, I try to be prepared aside from being comfortable on the sim; just watching the races, kind of studying what happens,\u201d he continued. \u201cYou just never know when that opportunity might come. So, I think being prepared every week is something I do. And that way, when this opportunity did arise, it didn\u2019t feel like it was totally sprung on me and I was not prepared. But certainly when I did find out, they gave me a lot of things to look over and study and give me the tools I need to prepare.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut working with the best people in the sport also makes that transition more seamless, right? I think they all know what they expect of me and I have access to more resources than I probably ever had. So, I\u2019m certainly excited about utilizing those.\u201d<\/p>\n
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