Hendrick Motorsports continues to seek answers regarding the sudden onset vertigo that sidelined Alex Bowman this weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
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The Arizona native first experienced the symptoms before he had to exit the No. 48 Chevrolet late in last weekend's race at Circuit of the Americas. He underwent evaluation at the care center while Myatt Snider replaced him to close out the race.
Speaking with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this week, Hendrick Motorsports President Jeff Andrews said that the team still doesn't know what caused the vertigo.
"It really has just kind of come out of nowhere, so to speak," Andrews said during his appearance. "Alex has been seen and treated for some back and neck pain in the past, like I think most of these guys and ladies that strap into these stock cars and cinch those belts do after a fairly long career. But nothing out of the ordinary.
"Our staff hadn't been treating him any differently from another driver or athlete. Yeah, don't really have answers right now because it is so early on. I do know that he's working super hard to get through this; he's got a great team of specialists that are looking into this and looking after him.
"He's undergone several rounds of testing to pinpoint exactly what it is. So the good news is it's absolutely nothing concussion-related, anything like that, that should have a long-term effect. We're supporting him as he goes down the right path and sees the right people to get himself better.
"That's certainly our first priority, the health and safety of Alex Bowman, not only in one of our race cars but just his personal health as a whole. We'll support him however long this takes, and that seat will be ready for him when he's ready to get back in that car."
Hendrick Motorsports provided few details about Bowman's condition in the aftermath of the race at Circuit of the Americas. They did not let media members speak to Bowman or Snider.
The team revealed later in the week that doctors had diagnosed him with vertigo. He would not be able to take part in the race at his home track. Instead, Anthony Alfredo would take over the No. 48.
Bowman made an effort to get back to full health for this weekend's race at Phoenix. He took part in multiple days of medical evaluation. He also completed laps in a street car at the Ten Tenths Motor Club in Concord, North Carolina.
He just didn't ultimately feel ready to get back behind the wheel of the Cup Series car. This is significant considering the other ailments that he has fought through during his racing career. After all, this is a man who quickly returned from a fractured vertebra so he could compete in NASCAR's longest race, the Coca-Cola 600.
"I want to say one thing about Alex Bowman," Andrews told SiriusXM. "We have watched him struggle his way through and fight his way through some race weekends when he was not feeling well and in a lot of pain, and this certainly was another level beyond that in terms of when it starts to affect your equilibrium and (the) nausea that goes with that.
"I think he was willing to fight through that, but when it starts to affect your vision, that's when the team said it was time to get out of the car, which absolutely killed him and crushed him. So, we knew when Alex Bowman was wanting to get out of a race car that we needed to find someone else to get in there."
