DARLINGTON, S.C. — Alex Bowman is unsure when he can return to the track after fracturing his vertebrae in a short-track accident last month.
The Hendrick Motorsports racer has missed the past three events, including Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Bowman came to the track to reconnect with the team and gave an update on his health and what’s ahead.
“Every day is a little different,” Bowman said. “I feel way better than I did two weeks ago.”
He’ll return to the doctor Wednesday for more X-rays on the injury. Even with a good prognosis, Bowman doesn’t know when he’ll be back in the No. 48 Chevrolet again.
“We’ll see how it’s feeling and kind of go from there,” he said.
The initial diagnosis call was for Bowman to miss three to four races. He has six top-10 finishes in his 10 races so far.
Bowman is second Hendrick driver to miss time this season for an off-the-track activity. Past champion Chase Elliott missed six races this season after breaking his leg snowboarding. Elliott has run the past four races, his best finish a seventh place last week at Kansas.
Josh Berry has run eight races for Henrick, five for Elliott and the past three for Bowman.
Bowman said the injury hurts most often when he coughs, sneezes or laughs — anything when his body’s vibrations impact the injured area.
He returned to the gym for modified workouts last week. Bowman believes he could sit without too much discomfort in the car’s driver’s seat but believes the jarring, up-and-down jack movements would be painful.
Bowman has hated missing races, but has no one to blame other than himself.
“It’s pretty self-inflicted,” he acknowledged on the steps of the No. 48 hauler. “It was my choice to go sprint-car racing, and I knew what I was signing up for.”
