Did You Notice? … It was several hours after Sunday’s (Oct. 13) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway before NASCAR officials announced Alex Bowman had failed post-race inspection? Long after fans left the track and Joey Logano went home, the sport switched out a playoff driver and put a new one inside the Round of 8.
Let me be clear at the outset: NASCAR did a tremendous job detailing a tough call that concluded Bowman’s car had missed weight. Managing Director Brad Moran faced at-track reporters, trotting out step-by-step details which included multiple opportunities for the No. 48 team to prove them wrong.
A sport that often falls short in this area should be applauded for being as transparent as possible. But in the end, Bowman and Hendrick Motorsports couldn’t show the car was legal. The dropped weight left NASCAR no choice but to disqualify the No. 48 team, changing the outcome of this postseason as we know it.
It’s hard to understate how monumental this move has been. Could you imagine waking up this morning, having watched the Yankees win a MLB playoff game, only to find out they lost because one of their pitchers had sticky stuff in their glove?
Let’s take that a step further. Not only did it take hours for baseball to announce this penalty, there’s no replays or conclusive video that show there was sticky stuff in a glove. It means you can’t see the pitcher breaking the rule with your own eyes; you just have to trust referees managing the game made the right call.
That, in essence, has always been the problem with NASCAR penalties, a disadvantage completely outside their control. The inability for fans to see hard data behind how a rule was broken breeds additional distrust you don’t see from stick-and-ball sports.
Sure, in sports like football and hockey, penalties are debated all the time. But cameras and replay systems are around to reaffirm (or strike down) a referee’s call. You can argue for hours with someone whether it was really pass interference, or offensive holding, or whether a fumble was really an incomplete pass.
You can’t argue whether or not a driver has sped because … you don’t really know, do you? You can’t see a speedometer that shows Driver X was really 10 miles over the limit in Section 8. You just have to trust officials have reliable information, using it to stick to the letter of the law.
Here’s what the law told us about Bowman no one wants to come out and say: he cheated to an 18th-place finish. Sure, there may be perfectly reliable explanations as to why the car didn’t make weight. HMS Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon made clear this week the team is “embarrassed” they put themselves in this position.
“Very disappointing after what was looking like a historical day and one of the most exciting days that we’ve had at the racetrack…” Gordon said on SIRIUS XM NASCAR Radio Tuesday morning. “That all got wiped away.”
But their decision not to appeal because they weren’t “comfortable” is an admission they didn’t play by the rules. That’s the definition of what cheating is.
Why hasn’t Bowman’s exclusion been a bigger deal? My feeling is because he was eighth best out of the eight drivers remaining in the field. Two months ago, Bowman was even rumored to be out of his ride, leading just three of the first 26 races and closing out the regular season with five straight finishes of 26th or worse.
It’s taken a solid playoff performance for Bowman to finally quiet the critics. You have to feel for a driver who had no control over the weight issue and was arguably the most surprising performer during this postseason; he led all six races, had three top-10 finishes and showed a level of speed we hadn’t seen from him since a concussion suffered at Texas Motor Speedway in late 2022.
Moving forward, though, his exclusion still puts NASCAR in a tough spot. We’ve been here before in a much more serious way; back in 2013, the Spingate controversy that was considered blatant playoff manipulation led to an extra team, driven by Jeff Gordon, added to the postseason field. One of the Michael Waltrip Racing teams found guilty, Clint Bowyer‘s No. 15 car, was also allowed to remain championship eligible.
The concern was either of those teams would win it all, creating a permanent asterisk and magnifying the scandal even more. (Neither one was ever a serious contender).
It puts Logano in an awkward position if he continues his streak of reaching the Championship 4 every other year. The only way he gets there is now because someone else didn’t play by the rules; does that make him a worthy champion? Even if Logano comes out and wins the final four races?
Some people will never think so.
But it’s another hypothetical I’m more worried about. What if this race were the Round of 8 finale? Or, God forbid, the championship race itself? Officials examining Bowman’s car would be placed in the awkward position of disqualifying the title winner. They would be doing it hours after the race ended and long after millions of fans had turned away from coverage.
That has to be a worry over these final four races, especially with every team pushing the gray area in what’s arguably the strongest eight-driver playoff field NASCAR has had under this format. (Until Bowman’s penalty, all drivers who would be 1-8 in the standings without any playoff resets advanced to this semifinal round). Three of those contenders come from the same HMS organization busted for breaking the rules.
That’s why I think, moving forward, NASCAR has to consider any and all ways they can increase transparency. The quicker they can expedite post-race inspections, the better, whether that comes through more officials on site (creating more stations) or a more efficient process. Maybe they can post cameras in the post-race inspection area so anyone can see what’s happening in real time. As much detail as possible surrounding why they feel Bowman’s car missed weight, along with the on-track advantage it provides, will help fans understand why they had to make this monumental call.
NASCAR knows from experience it’s so important to maintain some baseline of trust between officiating and everyone else in the sport. Once you’ve lost that … you’ve got sponsors, fans, even the drivers themselves questioning its legitimacy.
Did You Notice? … Quick hits before taking off…
- Parker Kligerman probably feels like he has his own beef with NASCAR officiating after watching an Xfinity Series win slip away. But a caution called a little later than normal – perhaps to heighten the drama – is still the right call when there’s a major crash with a car unable to drive away. The fact it’s an underdog leading shouldn’t change when to throw a caution any more than when debris “magically occurs” during a boring moment in the race.
- Surprised Ryan Preece is expected to continue full-time in Cup next year with a RFK Racing-supported entry? Don’t be. Preece has an average finish nearly five positions better than his average start in 2024, showcasing an ability to pass and get better as the race goes on. And he did it with a Stewart-Haas Racing team that’s going to shut down after the season. His +4.7 is better than all but three drivers in the series: Justin Haley (+6.0), Daniel Hemric (+5.0) and Kaz Grala (+4.8). Hemric and Grala, by the way, remain free agents for 2025.
Follow Tom Bowles on X at @NASCARBowles
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.