Alex Bowman cleared to return to NASCAR competition at Charlotte

By JENNA FRYER The Associated Press

$FILE - Alex Bowman looks on during driver introductions before the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Bowman has been cleared to return to racing this weekend for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after missing four events with a fractured vertebra. (AP Photo/John Raoux)$

FILE - Alex Bowman looks on during driver introductions before the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Bowman has been cleared to return to racing this weekend for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after missing four events with a fractured vertebra. (AP Photo/John Raoux)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/John Raoux]

Alex Bowman has been cleared to return to racing this weekend for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after missing four events with a fractured vertebra. Bowman was injured April 25 while competing in a sprint car race in Kyle Larson’s new racing series in West Burlington, Iowa. He was NASCAR’s Cup Series points leader at the time and has dropped to 17th in the standings. NASCAR has granted Bowman a waiver to participate in the playoffs should he qualify. He is five points out of the final qualifying position with 13 races remaining in the regular season.