NASCAR Cup Series star facing playoff exit after 40-second pit stop disaster

Hendrick Motorsports had a disastrous start to NASCAR Cup Series playoff season on Sunday, and Alex Bowman was the poster boy.

Things did not go well at Darlington for big guns Chase Elliott (17th), Kyle Larson (19th) and William Byron (21st), but Bowman took things to another level as his No. 48 Chevrolet came home in 31st.

Bowman’s day was completely ruined in one moment with a disastrous pit stop which took all of 40 seconds, leaving him two laps down on the field.

A malfunction with the air gun used to change tires in pit road was to blame for the incident, which ruined any chance of a big day for the Hendrick star, who only just made it to the playoffs on points.

The end result sees Bowman now in real danger of an early playoff exit - he needs a win or to make up 19 points in the next two races to make the Round of 12.

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Alex Bowman on Darlington disaster

Speaking afterwards, he told Ally Racing: “It wasn’t because of a lack of effort, but it was an unacceptable day."

“We weren’t great when we unloaded, didn’t qualify well, and lost track position that we had… It was just a s**t day, but it could have been worse, for sure.”

Bowman was not the only Hendrick driver to endure problems on pit road on Sunday, with a loose wheel impacting Byron’s prospects of a strong finish.

His crew chief Rudy Fugle was left fuming afterwards, raging: “We’re embarrassed. We’ve got to execute a lot better all around. Nothing comfortable. We didn’t do s*** today.

"We’ve got to improve and get better and race our ass off every week or it’s going to be a long offseason.”

The playoffs move on to Gateway this coming weekend as Hendrick regroup after what was a very bad Sunday night for all concerned in Darlington.

READ MORE: NASCAR officials penalize multiple playoff stars at Darlington

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