"It's pretty black and white": Alex Bowman makes his opinion clear as he breaks silence on HMS not appealing Charlotte DQ

Ahead of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway race, Alex Bowman has broken his silence about Hendrick Motorsports not appealing his disqualification for failing the post-race inspection at Charlotte Roval. The #48 Chevy didn't meet the minimum weight requirement, and the officials disqualified him from the race.

The Bank of America ROVAL 400 saw all HMS drivers- Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott, and Bowman lock in their Round of 8 spots. However, shortly after the unofficial result, Bowman's post-race infraction removed him from the title fight, albeit reviving the championship hopes of Joey Logano, who momentarily got eliminated by a four-point difference to Tyler Reddick.

HMS issued a statement saying it'll decide whether to appeal the decision on Monday (Oct. 14). However, after thorough scrutiny, Rick Hendrick's team realized it didn't leave "enough margin" to meet the post-race requirements, and hence, decided not to appeal NASCAR's ruling.

However, Alex Bowman remained tight-lipped on the issue until his run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The eight-time Cup Series race winner was asked if he was surprised by his team's decision, to which he replied and said (via Bob Pockrass on X).

"Yes and no. I think I understand where everybody was at on that, and we just overstepped the margin. Like it's pretty black and white at that point. So, yeah, it's part of life," Alex Bowman said (0:09).

The #48 driver then commented on whether he felt his car was underweight during the 109-lap battle.

"There is no way that you can feel that as a driver. Beyond that the car was super bad after I rushed over the curbs, we kind of sucked the rest of the day. So yeah, certainly nothing that I would've felt as a driver and it wasn't a good day for us," the HMS driver added.

Bowman finished in 18th place but his post-race infraction sent him to the last place in P38.

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"I was not expecting that": Dale Earnhardt Jr. commented on Alex Bowman's Charlotte DQ

Following Alex Bowman's Charlotte dismay, Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacted to HMS' decision not to appeal NASCAR's call. The legendary driver thought that the #48 team would "appeal the hell out of it." But to his surprise, they didn't.

It's worth mentioning that Bowman's Chevy briefly went airborne after running over the newly installed turtles on the reconfigured 2.28-mile track. Moreover, the rubbers on the turns resembled a "concussion" feeling to many drivers who steered over them. Thus, it is probable that Bowman's Chevy lost some parts and weight after it got impacted by the turtles underneath.

Earnhardt Jr. said the falling parts during the race could've prompted HMS to appeal the decision. He elaborated on Bowman's DQ and said (via Dale Jr. Download):

"Parts are falling off that car and so I mean parts fall off cars, they continue racing. So I'm thinking the same thing with Alex, if he lost the weight on the racetrack, it's, 'Damn, they're going to appeal the hell out of this. They're going to win. Alex will get back in.' No, we found out today they're not going to appeal. I was (surprised) too...I was not expecting that. Usually, with everything on the line, Alex's championship hopes, they rest on the idea that they can somehow appeal this and they didn't even try to appeal it," Junior said.

While Alex Bowman is out of the playoffs, Kyle Larson and William Byron are above the elimination line, with Chase Elliott in the bubble.