Alex Bowman will not sit in the JR Motorsports' No. 88 this weekend in the O’Reilly Auto Parts race at Nashville. The team has decided to replace him with Kyle Larson.

As per the plan, JRM had divided the No. 88 to share among its five drivers. Bowman was set to race in Darlington and Nashville, and now he will have missed both races.

This last-minute omission from the Truck Series has now become a pattern for Bowman. The situation traces back to March at Circuit of The Americas when Bowman suddenly experienced severe vertigo symptoms during the Cup Series race.

Reports have commonly claimed that in the middle of the high-intensity race, he was suddenly dizzy and feeling nauseous.

This forced Hendrick Motorsports to place him on leave immediately, during which he missed multiple races in the Cup Series while undergoing rehabilitation.

After such an arduous journey, he was ready to return to Bristol, but even still, concerns about his health haven’t completely disappeared.

Missing this race at Nashville suggests that the No. 48 team is still not fully clear of this condition. Add to this the fact that Bowman is already deep in the Cup standings after missing four races and faces a very uphill battle for the playoffs.

His replacement driver, Larson, already substituted for Bowman at Darlington and, with his limited experience at O’Reilly, is still dominating this season. Let’s see how the veteran driver’s record is in the Truck Series.

Kyle Larson’s Truck Series dominance

Despite only being a part-time driver in the Truck Series, Kyle Larson has pulled some heavyweight titles. He already owns four monumental victories at historic tracks, namely Rockingham, where he earned his first Truck win, the infamous Eldora Speedway win, as well as victories at North Wilkesboro and Homestead-Miami while racing under the banner of Turner Scott Motorsports and Spire Motorsports.

The driver has a lot of poles, dozens of finishes in the top 10, and is also capable of leading continuous laps. Take, for example, Bristol, where Larson didn’t win this season but dominated by sweeping both stages and leading a race high 230 of 300 laps before losing in strategy to Connor Zilisch.

Or even Texas, where he led 93 laps on the way to an easy victory for JR Motorsports. Larson also captured pole position at Darlington and led over 100 laps there before losing late.

Across NASCAR, Larson presents as a driver who can make unmatched speed on short tracks and surfaces that are harsh on tires. His domination at times is unparalleled, and it is for that exact reason that even if called at the last moment, he is almost guaranteed to perform well, thereby explaining JR’s decision.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Uday Jakhar

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason