Entering his contract year at Hendrick Motorsports, a three-year deal he signed in 2023 that expires after this season, Alex Bowman had put together back-to-back strong years. He stood ninth in the 2024 standings with a win at Chicago, 13th in 2025 with 16 top-10s. There was genuine momentum, and everyone was excited to see the paths brighten after two years of genuine worry. Then COTA happened.

Only 70 laps into the DuraMax Texas Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, Bowman radioed crew chief Blake Harris, saying, “I don’t know if I’m going to make it.” He pulled behind the wall during Stage 3, as FOX Sports pit spotter Myatt Snider stepped in his place, becoming the first relief driver used in the Cup Series since 2020. Bowman was taken to the infield care center and later diagnosed with vertigo.

Now, during an interview with The Athletic, Alex Bowman shared more about his actual experience inside the cockpit.

“Have you ever drank way too much and got the spins? That’s it. Except I couldn’t lay on the couch and hang my leg off the side of the couch to fix it. That’s honestly the easiest way to describe it. I was obviously throwing up all over myself. I was dizzy. I was spinning. It wasn’t a lot of fun,” he explained.

Bowman had said something similar at Brisotal earlier: “I mean, everything was fine until it wasn’t obviously in the car — dizziness, throwing up on myself, spinning, all the things. So it wasn’t fun. Not pumped that I had to get out.”

It was, in fact, so scary for him that he thought he was going to wreck somebody on the track, and upon leaving it, he didn’t know if he would ever return to racing.

“Obviously, I’ve raced through a lot of injuries, but that was one where I was going to end up running into something or somebody, and the smart thing to do in that case was to get out,” Bowman said, per FOX.

“Honestly, yeah, when I got out at COTA, I was like, this is probably it. Like, that was what was going through my head. So yeah, that sucked. Thankful that I get another shot at it.”

Bowman also addressed a misconception that he was suffering from vertigo symptoms throughout the entire four-week absence, clarifying that the vertigo episode happened only at COTA. His recovery and return time were about getting medically cleared, not recurring attacks. And per FOX Sports, Bowman spent time in a street car at the Ten Tenths road course in Concord, completed simulator work, and ran pit-stop practice before getting the green light to return at Bristol.

And all the while, he was anxious about the position he kept putting HMS in: “I’ve put HMS in a tough spot multiple times now… since 2022, 2023, and now this. They’ve probably given me more grace at times than I deserve.”

There’s history attached to that piece of statement. Since 2022, Bowman has missed races in three of five seasons due to injury:

• 2022 — Five races missed after a concussion from a hard crash at Texas Motor Speedway during the playoffs, costing him his playoff spot
• 2023 — Three races missed after a fractured vertebra sustained in a sprint car crash at 34 Raceway, with Josh Berry filling in
• 2026 — Four races missed due to vertigo (Phoenix, Las Vegas, Darlington, Martinsville), with Anthony Alfredo and Justin Allgaier rotating through the No. 48

And while it is good news that he has returned to racing this year, Bowman’s performance has still not answered the biggest question looming over his head.

Will Bowman get a contract extension with HMS?

Heading into 2026, Bowman’s contract with Hendrick Motorsports was the biggest concern he had to address through his racing. The signs were not looking good for him, and there were rumors about him being replaced on the team. Before the vertigo episode, Bowman was already dealing with how his finishes looked in front of his teammates.

When he returned to action, he did display some prowess at Talladega and Texas, but that glory was short-lived. After two consecutive P3 finishes at those two events, Bowman’s curve took a dive.

When he was still undergoing recovery, Jeff Gordon had implied that Hendrick Motorsports was still considering him as an option to continue with. But Gordon’s comments also suggested that they had given up on championship hopes when it came to Bowman.

And with Josh Berry becoming a free agent, and silly season officially in the wind, the questions have reached another level. Per rumors, Jesse Love might replace Berry, and that might trigger a chain reaction within the garages.