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NASCAR star Alex Bowman will miss the next round of the playoffs after being DQ’d following the Charlotte race

Eira Gwyneth October 14, 2024

Alex Bowman thought he had secured a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs on Sunday when he finished 18th to win the second stage of the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

About two hours into the race, Bowman had to hit the brakes.

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Alex Bowman is shown during practice and qualifying for the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC, October 12, 2024. (Peter Casey-Imagn Images)

NASCAR determined in its post-race inspection that Bowman’s No. 48 car did not meet the minimum weight requirement. Officials disqualified Bowman, moving him back to 38th. This meant that Bowman did not earn enough points to make the playoffs and was eliminated from the Round of 8.

Instead, Joey Logano was relegated to last place on the next lap. Logano joined Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick.

Larson won the race for his sixth victory of the 2024 season.

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Kyle Larson, center, celebrates his victory in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC, on October 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Bowman won the Chicago Street Course race over the summer, earning a spot in NASCAR’s version of the postseason. In the final five races leading up to the Charlotte race, he achieved three top-10 finishes and one top-5 finish.

But his season will end disappointingly.

The Round of 8 includes three races. It begins next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, moves to Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 27th and concludes on November 3rd at Martinsville Speedway. After that, four drivers will move into the championship race.