By David G. Firestone
So the big story coming from the Charlotte Roval is that Alex Bowman got disqualified following post-race inspection. After the disqualification, Bowman was eliminated from the round of 8, and replaced by Joey Logano. According to Brad Moran, managing director of the NASCAR Cup Series”
“Unfortunately, the 48 had an issue (and) did not meet minimum weight. We put the car to the side. We continued on. We … gave them the opportunity to fuel the car as well as purge the water system and add water. So we gave them every opportunity to make minimum weight. We ran them back through. Unfortunately, they were light again. They are allowed a 0.5% weight break, which is for usage of fluids and so on. That’s about 17 pounds. We backed the car back off the scales, ran it back on and then, unfortunately, it was the same weight. So the car had a weight issue. All the other cars cleared inspection. The 48 didn’t, and that ends up in a disqualification.”
Earlier in the race, Bowman hit one of the curbs, which sent his car airborne, and pieces clearly came off his car. He managed an 18th place finish prior to the inspection. Fans on Twitter have been discussing the series of events, and most are of the opinion that Bowman shouldn’t have been disqualified, given the circumstances, and I agree. NASCAR set up these curbs, and almost instantly they were causing issues. This was really a problem waiting to happen, and Alex Bowman was the unlucky victim.
NASCAR’s primary focus should be safety, and over 17 pounds of parts flying off a car after hitting a curb isn’t a safe thing at all. Other drivers, pit crew members, or officials could have been hurt. The risk to other drivers and fans was everpresent as well with that incident.
In a move that really doesn’t surprise me, Hendrick Motorsports decided not to appeal. In their official statement:
“Hendrick Motorsports will not appeal the disqualification of the No. 48 car following Sunday’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL. NASCAR allows a clear margin to account for the difference in pre- and post-race weight. After a thorough review by our team and the sanctioning body, we simply did not give ourselves enough margin to meet the post-race requirement. Although unintentional, the infraction was avoidable. We are extremely disappointed to lose a playoff spot under these circumstances and apologize to our fans and partners.”
It sucks that Bowman’s championship hopes ended this way, but it is what it is. Sometimes life just spits in your face, and you can’t wipe it off. We’ve got four more races, so lets see how this plays out.
Sources Cited:
DGF2099-Main Page 