Before the start of the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, Alex Bowman’s #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was taken back to the garage for inspection by NASCAR officials. This happened while other cars had already lined up on the grid for the race on Saturday, August 16.Bowman enters the penultimate regular-season race still battling for one of the final three playoff spots. He sits 15th in the playoff standings, 60 points above the cutline, between Tyler Reddick (+117) and Chris Buescher (+34). With just two races left, his results in the 400-lap event at Richmond could prove decisive in securing a postseason berth.In an X post, NASCAR reporter Colin Ward reported the pre-race incident on the #48 car at Richmond Raceway.“Bowman’s car was pushed back into the garage with a few officials around it. Mostly every car is on the grid now, and one of Bowman’s crew members just went sprinting back to the hauler,” Ward wrote.Alex Bowman will start the upcoming race in ninth alongside Michael McDowell in row 10. Meanwhile, RFK Racing driver Ryan Preece, who is 34 points below the cutline in 17th, will start on pole ahead of Tyler Reddick, AJ Allmendinger, and Denny Hamlin.Bowman is the only Hendrick Motorsports driver without a win this year. William Byron (#24) is the top-seeded driver in the standings with two wins, including the season-opening Daytona 500. Chase Elliott had one win, while Kyle Larson leads the Concord-based outfit with three victories.The Cook Out 400 at Richmond is set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. It precedes the regular-season finale happening at Daytona International Speedway next week.“Certainly stressful”: Alex Bowman on racing for playoff spotAlex Bowman admitted the fight for a playoff spot has been stressful, especially with the threat of new winners narrowing his chances. Regardless, he remains optimistic that the speed of his #48 Chevrolet could help him secure a postseason berth.Bowman told veteran NASCAR reporter Bob Pockrass (via X):“There certainly could be two winners. I think you have to look at it like there will be at least one winner or new winner. So yeah, certainly stressful.”“Aside from really the second half of stage three last week, we've been doing a lot of really good things. So gave up some points there, but other than that, we've been pretty strong and just got to keep digging,” he added.Alex Bowman drives the #48 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports - Source: ImagnAs of posting, the Arizona native has recorded five top-5 and 13 top-10 finishes this year. He also had two pole positions coming from Homestead-Miami Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.