“They were guilty”: Kevin Harvick speculates why HMS didn’t appeal to save Alex Bowman from exiting the playoffs

After Alex Bowman failed to meet the minimum weight requirement during a post-race inspection at the Bank of America 400 at the Charlotte ROVAL, NASCAR disqualified him from the race, essentially leading to his exit from the playoffs. Hendrick Motorsports chose not to appeal this decision, which sparked reactions across the NASCAR community. Former champion Kevin Harvick weighed in, sharing his thoughts on HMS's decision.

Alex Bowman drives the #48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, competing full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series. Throughout his career, Bowman has earned eight wins in NASCAR's top division, and one victory in the Xfinity Series.

In a recent episode of Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour podcast, the former NASCAR champion backed Hendrick Motorsports' decision not to appeal Bowman's disqualification from the race. He suggested that the team recognized they were in the wrong, supporting their choice to accept NASCAR's ruling without further contention.

"I was surprised but it also told me that they were guilty. I think at that point when you know that you don't have a leg to stand on, you just have to kind of go and say 'Okay well, we messed up', and I love the fact that Jeff Gordon just said 'Hey we cut it too close, and we put ourselves out there and that's it' and thats kind of the end of the story," Harvick said.

"You get a tolerance after the race and that number was lower than NASCAR gives the teams every week[...] It's a tough calculation but I think that when you put yourself in those positions of cutting it that close, you have to know the consequences, and this consequence was pretty big," he added.

Bowman's disqualification paved the way for Team Penske's #22 driver Joey Logano to the Round of 8. If Bowman had retained his result, Hendrick Motorsports would have had all four of their drivers competing for the Cup Series title, a rare achievement for any team.

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“Just as surprised as anyone": Chase Elliott makes his feelings known about Alex Bowman's DQ setback

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott recently commented on his teammate's disqualification from the Bank of America 400 at the Charlotte ROVAL. He believed that it wasn't Alex Bowman's fault, and he was just as surprised as anyone.

Elliott was in conversation with Dalton Hopkins of Frontstretch, where he said:

“Just as surprised as anyone, and disappointed and bummed for Alex and also for Blake [No. 48 crew chief] and their whole team because, in my opinion, I think they’ve done a really nice job over the last couple of months."

“It sucks. At the end of the day, it wasn’t anything of Alex, wasn’t his doing, you know. So just disappointed, bummed for him. Hope he can just keep his head up and continue to perform and do the things they’ve been doing,” Elliott added.

Ahead of the Straight Talk wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami, HMS drivers Kyle Larson and William Byron are above the championship 4 cut-off line. Meanwhile, Elliot is in the chase for a spot to compete at Phoenix Raceway.