Alex Bowman’s return to NASCAR Cup Series competition on Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway will come with no previous on-track time after rain canceled practice and qualifying.
Well, no on-track time at Charlotte, at least.
Bowman ran over 150 laps earlier this week at North Wilkesboro Speedway in a NASCAR-approved medical test. It was necessary for Bowman to be cleared to race after suffering a fractured vertebra in a sprint car crash late last month.
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The laps run at North Wilkesboro will not translate to Charlotte. Even still, Bowman is grateful to have had the seat time to get re-acclimated to the cockpit of his race car after sitting on the couch for a month.
“Yeah, for sure,” Bowman said on Saturday. “And honestly, as much as it was for me to get my head wrapped around what it was actually going to feel like, I feel like that was a part of getting cleared (was) having a doctor there and kind of going through that. Glad we were able to do that.
“Obviously, (we) would have liked track time (on Saturday) to kind of know what I signed myself up for (on Sunday), but yeah, I think it was definitely good to be able to do that.
“I ran a lot of laps in the simulator, which doesn’t really do a whole lot, but hopefully that gives me an idea of what my race car is going to be like. I think it was really good for me, mentally. Obviously, it was a requirement to get cleared, but just mentally to know what to expect feels good.”
There was not much Bowman could do to recover other than rest. The fracture was the T3 vertebra, which was high enough in Bowman’s back it did not require a brace. And Bowman was mobile throughout his recovery.
Josh Berry drove Bowman’s car in his four-week absence. But even as he returns, Bowman acknowledged he’s going to be dealing with some pain or discomfort for time to come and there are things he still does that bring that on. Bowman has been easing himself back into the gym, and particularly this week, he did not want to overdo it before the longest race of the year.
In the car during the test at North Wilkesboro, Bowman felt fine. He knows that doesn’t mean it’ll be the same as Charlotte. Something Bowman did fear is how it’ll feel when the team drops the jack on a pit stop, but they practiced that before this weekend, and Bowman said it didn’t hurt.
“I feel like I’m ready,” Bowman said of racing again.
Despite the time away, Bowman is still in playoff contention, having only dropped eight places to 17th in the championship standings. Bowman led the series in average finish before his injury.
“I don’t think it puts us at ease with the situation we’re in, points-wise, by any means,” Bowman said. “A lot can happen – you can have a lot of winners, and that can change really quickly. But I think what it does do is talk about the season we’ve had so far.
“Missed three points races, had a 60-point penalty and still be on the playoff cutline – it says how good of a season we were having before I did get hurt. Excited to be back, and hopefully, we can pick up where we left off and be strong right out of the gate.”