Alex Bowman is ready to get back behind the wheel of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro. He will return to the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway after recovering from vertigo.
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According to an announcement from Hendrick Motorsports, the Arizona native has received medical clearance to race once again. He achieved this during a multi-step process that began with him completing laps in a street car at the Ten Tenths Motor Club road course near the Hendrick Motorsports campus.
Bowman then took part in pit stop practice and simulator testing. He also underwent a medical evaluation before receiving clearance to compete.
The clearance comes earlier than expected. Hendrick Motorsports had previously announced that Bowman would miss races through this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway while continuing to recover from vertigo.
Bowman has missed every race since exiting the car at Circuit of the Americas in early March. Myatt Snider replaced him for part of the COTA race, Anthony Alfredo replaced him for Phoenix, and Justin Allgaier replaced him for three races.
"I'm grateful for the support I've had from Hendrick Motorsports, my sponsor Ally, our fans and the medical team throughout this process," Bowman said.
"It's been tough being out of the car, but we all wanted to make sure I was 100% ready before returning. I feel really good, and I'm excited about being at the track with my team and getting back to racing."
Now that vertigo is behind him, Bowman will try to turn his season around. He is outside the top 35 in points after three starts. His best finish was 23rd at EchoPark Speedway.
He will return to the No. 48 Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway, a track where he has six top-10 finishes and three top-fives. He has won the pole for two of the last three races at the Tennessee short track.
"We're proud of Alex and the way he's handled this situation," said Jeff Andrews, president and general manager of Hendrick Motorsports. "He's put a lot of work into his recovery and followed the medical team's plan every step of the way.
"From the outset, our goal was to prioritize his health and have him return when he was fully recovered and medically cleared. We're looking forward to seeing Alex back in his race car this weekend."
