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 said he 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 the 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 Hendrick, five replacing Elliott and the past three in Bowman’s place.
Bowman said the injury hurts most when he coughs, sneezes or laughs, anything where his body’s vibrations impact the injured area.
He returned to the gym for modified workouts last week. Bowman said 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 said he 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.”
Bowman said he wasn’t sure what to expect from Hendrick Motorsports leadership, particularly after it dealt with Elliott’s snowboarding accident. But he said the team and his sponsors have been supportive since the accident.
Bowman, who was hurt on his 30th birthday, said he believes that at some point he’ll go back to sprint car racing, but added that he is mindful that missing time in the Cup Series is not in his or his team’s best interest. Bowman missed five NASCAR races in 2022 because of a concussion sustained in an accident last fall at Texas Motor Speedway.
Bowman hopes that once he’s given clearance to drive, he can keep himself in playoff position. He and his team are 15th in points, chasing a spot in the 16-driver playoffs. He has watched racers such as Kyle Busch overcome in-season injuries to make the postseason.
Bowman said he feels fortunate his injury was not more serious. He recalled the accident, remembering how he rolled several times before landing hard and hearing the crack of a back like a person might in a chiropractor’s treatment.
“I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a chiropractor after hearing that sound,” he said. “Other than that, I’ve crashed a race car, I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again.”
The days leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline were a furious final sprint as contenders looked to stock up for a postseason run while rebuilding clubs added prospects and draft capital.
After the overnight Brock Nelson blockbuster Thursday, Friday lived up to expectations, with Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand and other high-profile players finishing the day on different teams than they started with. All told, NHL teams made 24 trades on deadline day involving 47 players.
Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 NHL trade deadline:
There are some who saw what the Carolina Hurricanes did at the trade deadline — or perhaps failed to do after they traded Mikko Rantanen — and believe they’re cooked when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, based on the projections from Stathletes, the Canes remain the team with the highest chances of winning the Cup, at 16.7%.
Standing before them on Sunday are the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Jets had a relatively quiet deadline, adding Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev, though sometimes these additions are the types of small tweaks that can push a contender over the edge. As it stands, the Jets enter their showdown against the Canes with the sixth-highest Cup chances, at 8.7%.
Carolina has made two trips to the Cup Final: a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and a win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. The Canes have reached the conference finals three times since (2009, 2019, 2023). Winnipeg has yet to make the Cup Final, and was defeated 4-1 in the 2018 Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights in the club’s lone trip to the penultimate stage.
Both clubs are due. Will this be their year?
There is a lot of runway left until the final day of the season on April 17, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide detail on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 43 Regulation wins: 12 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 17 Points pace: 54.3 Next game: vs. NSH (Tuesday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 8
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Hintz extended his stick toward Henrique, whose wrist shot sent the puck under Hintz’s visor during his club’s 5-4 loss to the Oilers. He was on the ice, with his face in a towel, as the team’s medical staff assessed him and helped him skate toward the dressing room.
After the loss, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Hintz was at a local hospital, receiving tests. The coach added that the initial report was fairly optimistic for Hintz, 28, who has 25 goals and 52 points.
“Everyone’s optimistic that it’s not ‘serious, serious,'” DeBoer said. “But we won’t know until we get testing.”
The short-handed Stars rallied from a 5-1 deficit before eventually losing. Trade deadline acquisition Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his debut for Dallas, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Matt Dumba also scored for the Stars.