NASCAR star Alex Bowman has revealed he thought he might never race again after experiencing vertigo during the Cup Series race at COTA last month.
Bowman had to step out of his No. 48 Chevrolet on March 1, revealing ahead of this weekend's action at Bristol that he had been experiencing dizziness inside his car, and that he was vomiting all over himself before doing so.
It later transpired that Bowman was suffering from vertigo, and he would go on to miss the next four Cup Series events at Phoenix, Las Vegas, Darlington and Martinsville, before eventually being cleared to compete once again at Bristol this weekend.
READ MORE: Bowman had "dizziness" and was "throwing up" on himself during Cup race
Alex Bowman thought NASCAR career might be over
Speaking to the media ahead of Saturday's action at Bristol Motor Speedway, Bowman has now revealed that when he first stepped out of his car, it crossed his mind that his career could be over.
“I mean, honestly, yeah," was Bowman's answer when asked if he felt like he was close to not racing this year, or ever again, at any point.
"When I got out at COTA, I was like, this is probably it. That was what was going through my head.
"So, yeah, that sucked, and I'm thankful that I got another shot at it.”
Bowman's goals for 2026
Fortunately, Bowman is now fit enough to race again, but his absence from four and a bit races naturally sees him with a lot of work to do in the points standings.
At present, the Hendrick Motorsports star has just 23 points on the board and sits 36th in the Cup Series standings.
Bowman isn't focusing on the bigger picture, though. His goals right now are getting back up to speed and staying healthy.
“Yeah, I mean, just to keep myself feeling how I need to feel," he explained when quizzed on his aims right now.
"Obviously getting back up to speed is the biggest part. Cup racing is really, really hard. Every little bit matters so much that you can't be lacking anything. So, four or five weeks out, whatever it was, not being in a car, that's never good.
"Everybody else is always getting better and always leveling up, and you kind of miss out on that. So, just trying to catch back up.
"Obviously, it's been a rough year on the #48 side of things, so trying to get back rolling in the right direction for those guys. We're all working really hard to try to get things pointed in the right direction.”
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