Ally CMO ‘gutted’ by Alex Bowman Roval disqualification

Alex Bowman’s disqualification from the Bank of America Roval 400 and subsequent removal from the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs has one of his biggest supporters feeling distraught on Monday afternoon.

Andrea Brimmer, Ally’s Chief Marketing Officer and a huge fan of the No. 48 wheelman, has been outspoken regarding her support for Bowman throughout his time in NASCAR. After he was hit with a penalty due to the post-race weight of his car, Brimmer took to social media to share her frustration with the situation.

“Woke up this morning – after hardly sleeping – not feeling any better,” Brimmer posted on X. “Gutted for @Alex_Bowman and the @allyracing team who have fought for every point this year and deserve to be moving forward.”

Thankfully for Bowman and his supporters, there’s a potential avenue to restore his standing in the playoffs. Hendrick Motorsports could appeal the decision, but there’s no guarantee it would be reversed, even though dashcam footage from another driver showed what appeared to be a significant piece dislodging from Bowman’s car over a bump in the course.

It’s possible that piece was enough to cause the weight discrepancy that got Bowman disqualified from the race, which caused him to therefore fall out of the top eight of the playoff standings on points.

Regardless, nothing is a given for the No. 48, as NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran explained why the move was made, and what led to the disqualification of the No. 48 car to add some more context on the situation, 

“Unfortunately, when we were running the No. 48 through, it didn’t pass the minimum weight specs,” Moran said. “We pulled the car off to the side and we allowed them to fuel it which they already did. We let them fuel it again, we let them let them run the pumps to make sure all the pickup boxes were full.

“We give the teams every opportunity to try to meet minimum weight. We also have them plug in the water and run the water through the system to make sure they’re full of water and then we re-scale it. Sill didn’t meet the weight. We backed it off and we run it across one more time just to confirm the weights were accurate. Unfortunately, they did not meet the minimum weight. They are allowed half of a percent of a weight break which is about 17 pounds, give or take. That is what they’re allowed and it was more than that.”

No matter what, the situation is an unfortunate one for Alex Bowman and the No. 48 team, after they enjoyed the euphoria of what they thought was them clinching their spot in the Round of 8. There’s still a sliver of hope for the driver, Andrea Brimmer and the rest of Ally’s team, but only time will tell what happens.