Jeff Gordon explains what led to Alex Bowman disqualification, how team will prevent it in future

Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon said Tuesday that Alex Bowman and the No. 48 team “cut it too close” in regard to the minimum weight of the car leading to their disqualification from Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte.

“Our teams, in order to just make the best-performing race cars every weekend for our drivers, we know that we’ve got to stay as close to those minimums as possible. In this case, the 48 car, they just cut it too close and missed it. That’s on us,” Gordon said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, via Dustin Long of NBC Sports.

NASCAR disqualified Bowman from the race after his car failed post-race inspection for being underweight, thus eliminating him from the Cup Series playoffs with just four races remaining. Bowman initially finished P18 at Charlotte, advancing to the Round of 8 with a nine-point cushion. The disqualification dropped him last in the 38-car field and gave Joey Logano the final transfer spot. Hendrick decided not to appeal the penalty.

The NASCAR Rule Book states: “After a vehicle has raced, the minimum overall vehicle weight of all vehicles must be within 0.5% of the minimum overall vehicle weight required at the start of the Race.”

Brad Moran, Cup Series managing director, said the 48 team was given the opportunity to fuel the car, purge the water system and add water. NASCAR re-scaled the car multiple times, and it never met the minimum weight.

Alex Bowman loses playoff spot after Charlotte Roval disqualification

Gordon said that Hendrick is assessing their processes and how to prevent further issues for their three cars left in the postseason.

“That’s what we do now,” Gordon said. “Lot of meetings have happened with [President and General Manager] Jeff Andrews, [Vice President of Competition] Chad Knaus, the crew chiefs, the car chiefs. We’re going to asses, probably adjust our procedures, our processes.

“We know that teams, they push the tolerances. … I know we’re not alone. All the teams do this in order to stay as competitive as we can possibly be every single weekend. You’ve got to look at all those processes and procedures to see how close are we cutting it. … The most important thing is making sure that all four of our cars moving forward are going to be able to meet those tolerances.”

Jeff Gordon: Alex Bowman disqualification ‘tough to swallow’

It’s certainly unfortunate for Bowman, who not only qualified for the playoffs by winning the Chicago Street Race but performed well in six postseason races. Before the disqualification, Hendrick was celebrating Kyle Larson’s dominant victory at Charlotte and all four cars advancing to the Round of 8.

That’s been undone by the post-race penalty.

“There’s a multitude of factors that make this tough to swallow,” Gordon said. “But one of the keys is the performance of the 48 team and what Alex has done. That team has had a lot of pressure on them. They’ve been building this team up, getting more depth, getting more comfortable with one another. Alex being healthy this year.

“They go win at Chicago and get themselves in the playoffs and performed at a high level through the playoffs. So, you hate to take that momentum and opportunity away. And I know they’re disappointed as well. … Those guys can go gain a lot of points and get high up [in the standings]. And keep the momentum going and win races and take that into next season. And hopefully, get the season started off right.”