“Gave them every opportunity”: Alex Bowman suffers brutal playoff blow as "issue" in post-race inspection rebounds Joey Logano for the title fight

Alex Bowman has been removed from the championship fight after his #48 Chevy failed to pass the post-race inspection. As a result, Joey Logano, who missed the advancement by four points, has re-entered the hunt for the Cup Series trophy.

The Bank of America ROVAL 400 witnessed Kyle Larson bag the win and all Hendrick Motorsports drivers advancing to the Round of 8. The #48 HMS driver kicked off his run from 17th and settled in 18th place. Bowman narrowly survived the elimination and was supposed to begin his Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

On the other hand, despite starting fourth and finishing eighth, Team Penske's Logano got eradicated from the title fight. The #22 Ford driver was edged out by Tyler Reddick, who salvaged an 11th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course and dethroned Logano by a mere four points.

However, the tables have turned, favoring the two-time Cup Series champion as tragedy struck Bowman after the 109-lap battle, with his Chevy failing to meet the minimum weight requirements.

Cup Series director Brad Moran explained why Alex Bowman has been kicked out of the playoffs. He said (via Bob Pockrass on X).

"Tonight all top 5 were playoff cars. As we were running them through, unfortunately, the 48 had an issue, did not meet the minimum weight. So, we put the car to the side and continue on. We let the team fuel the car, they felt they were low on fuel. We gave them the opportunity to fuel the car, as well as purge the wire system, and add water. We gave them every opportunity to make minimum weight. We run them back through, unfortunately, they were light again," Moran said (0:29).

NASCAR's race director expects an appeal from Hendrick Motorsports that would decide the title fighter- Joey Logano or Alex Bowman.

NASCAR insider speculates Alex Bowman's brief airborne moment as the reason for failing inspection

During the Bank of America ROVAL 400 race, Bowman's #48 Chevy momentarily went airborne after hitting the turtles on the final turn chicane. While other NextGen cars steered over the rubber installment, they didn't lift as much as the HMS driver did. NASCAR insider Austin Konenski noticed the incident and speculated it might've contributed to Bowman's playoff fall-off.

The summer break repavement job of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course saw multiple amendments. In addition to creating a longer infield between Turns 6 and 7, leading into a tight hairpin of Turn 8, the chicane on the front stretch was reshaped to enhance the braking zone challenge.

Thus, because of repavement and turtles installed on the chicane, drivers had a tough time maneuvering through them. One among them was Martin Truex Jr., who talked about "feels like you got a concussion" and going "airborne" after practicing at the reconfigured track.

Konenski shared his take on Alex Bowman's brief airborne moment and wrote (via X).

"It’s pure speculation, but could this moment from Alex Bowman be part of the reason why he failed inspection?" Konenski wrote.

Joey Logano has re-entered the playoffs thus far and will run with his teammate Ryan Blaney. On the other hand, Austin Cindric is officially out of the playoffs.