A Penalty Reshapes NASCAR Playoffs

By: Derek Pierce

At the conclusion of Sunday's race at the Charlotte Roval, the Round of 8 was set. After an incredible late race resurgence from Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano was the first driver to not advance to the next round by four points. The late race also had Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman sweating as they were less than 10 points above the line.

In the end, they had nothing to worry about. At least, that's what the 48 team thought until post race inspection. While weighing the car after the race, NASCAR found that their car didn't meet the minimum weight requirements. This infraction resulted in a DQ for Bowman, giving him a last place finish and wiping away the points that allowed him to advance. Now it's Logano that's taken his place in the next round.

It's expected that Hendrick Motorsports will appeal this penalty. Part of this appeal could be factoring any moment in which any ballast or another piece of the car had fallen off naturally during the race, causing them to fall outside of the weight threshold. One moment cited by many is when Bowman had jumped the curbing on the frontstretch chicane causing multiple pieces to come flying outside of his car.

If it they do find that it was ballast that fell from the car, that doesn't alleviate the team of any penalty. Though they would get their points back and subsequently be back in the playoffs, it will result in a four week suspension for multiple prominent crew members including the crew chief.

Bowman has been the highest scoring driver throughout the playoffs and could've been a major threat to make the championship race in Phoenix. Now we will have to wait until Wednesday to find the outcome of an appeal.

Some facts to note from when Bowman did advance:

• All four Hendrick Motorsports cars would've made the Round of 8. This would've been the third time ever a team has had four cars make this round. The first two being Joe Gibbs Racing in 2016 and Stewart Haas Racing in 2018.

• The Round of 8 was represented by the same drivers that were top 8 in regular point standings. With Bowman's elimination, it is the top 7 plus Logano in 15th.