“He almost couldn’t walk”: Alex Bowman’s crew chief describes his alarming situation before the Mexico race

Alex Bowman’s crew chief, Blake Harris, was impressed with how the Hendrick Motorsports driver fought a searing lower back pain and still finished inside the top-five in the Viva Mexico 250. The 100-lap event took place last Sunday, June 15, at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, a 2.674-mile road course located in Mexico City.

Bowman experienced one of the hardest hits of his racing career last week at Michigan International Speedway. His No. 48 Chevy Camaro rammed straight into the SAFER barrier head-on as a result of a contact between Cole Custer and Austin Cindric.

It left Bowman with a disappointing P36 finish and a sharp pain in his right lower back and leg to the point where even sitting on a regular padded folding chair was becoming difficult. And yet, the man delivered a P4 just one week later, marking his third top-five of the season.

Reflecting on how bad the injury was, crew chief Blake Harris told NBC Sports,

“To be honest, we didn’t know. Wednesday night for sure that he was going to be on the plane with us Thursday. I thought his recovery was going well and Wednesday me and another guy had to basically carry him because he got to a point where he almost couldn’t walk.”

However, Bowman knew he would be fine. He spent a lot of time recovering in his hotel bed. Meanwhile, his team had Xfinity Series driver Anthony Alfredo on standby for the Mexico City race. Thanks to Bowman’s grit, Alfredo's services weren't required.

Today, Alex Bowman sits 12th in the regular season point standings with 376 points to his name. He is currently the lowest-ranked driver at HMS.

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Back when Alex Bowman denied leaving Hendrick Motorsports amid “annoying” rumors

Last year, during the playoffs media day, Alex Bowman was asked about his plans for 2025. Some would find that odd as his current contract with Hendrick Motorsports keeps him behind the wheel of the No. 48 through the 2026 season.

However, before emerging victorious in last year’s Chicago Street Course race, which took place in July, the Chevy star had been winless for more than two years. That explains the rumor that Hendrick Motorsports was going to release Bowman and sign Justin Haley as a replacement.

Addressing the rumor about his future at HMS, Bowman said,

“That rumor has certainly been annoying. Obviously my contract is through the end of 2026. All I can tell you is like what my bosses have told me, and that is that there are no plans to change anything. Yeah, rumors are just rumors. Hopefully they’ll get their announcements done so my rumors stop, obviously. Yeah, as far as I know, I’m driving the No. 48 next year.”

Alex Bowman is still vying for his maiden win of 2025. 16 races into the season, the man has been able to log three top-fives and eight top-10s with 110 laps led. His next race, The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway, is scheduled for Sunday, June 22. Fans can watch it live on Prime Video (2 pm ET onwards), or listen to radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.