Rick Hendrick’s NASCAR Driver Doomed by Radio Collapse in Playoff Stunner at Bristol

The lights at Bristol Motor Speedway cast long shadows over the playoff battlefield, where every lap feels like a high-wire act. One glitch can shatter dreams in an instant, turning a strong run into heartbreak. Think back to the 2020 Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, where Chase Elliott grappled with a radio failure that silenced his connection to the crew and spotter for chunks of the race. He scraped by to sixth place.

Lessons like that remind us why backup comms gear is now standard kit in the garage, yet even the best setups buckle under pressure. At this year’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race, that harsh reality hit home for a key Hendrick contender, amplifying the chaos of cutoff night.

The elimination shocker

An X post by Jeff Gluck updated about Alex Bowman, piloting the No. 48 for Hendrick Motorsports, who saw his playoff run end abruptly despite crossing the line in eighth. He fell 10 points short of the cut, opening the door for Austin Cindric to advance into the Round of 12.

Austin Cindric makes Round 2 over Bowman by 10 points. https://t.co/vwEvsAxdGv

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) September 14, 2025

A crippling radio malfunction sealed Bowman’s fate, leaving him unaware of the tight points battle unfolding. Post-race, he shared with @AndrewKurlandTV, “My radio didn’t really work. I didn’t know we were close. Our guys did a good job calling the race. I wish we had a little more speed. I thought we got our car a little bit better.” This candid reflection reveals how the breakdown robbed him of vital updates, blocking any late pushes for extra spots. Austin Cindric, hampered by a fire in his No. 2 Ford that dropped him to 30th, still grabbed the lifeline, proving how Bowman’s comms woes shifted the entire playoff landscape.

Bowman dug deeper into the frustrations, pointing to tire management as another layer of the struggle. “Being out of tires at the end isn’t good, right? And honestly, we just played the hand that we could and stayed out. But if I had to pick one thing, you know, our cycle tire restarts were just really poor; I couldn’t go at all. Zero grip,” he explained. This ties back to the grueling conditions at Bristol, where tire wear demanded precise strategy, something Bowman’s team navigated amid prior setbacks, like a disastrous pit stop at Darlington that cost precious time and positions.

Staying out on old rubber meant sacrificing restart aggression, which ultimately compounded the radio issue and kept him from clawing back those vital spots. Even with the disappointment, Bowman tipped his cap to the crew’s resilience after a bumpy stretch. “So, hats off to our whole Ally 48 team. They did a really good job throughout the course of the day and, you know, trying to be better for a rough last two weeks. And I think we swung in the right direction, and we can continue to do that for the next when we have seven weeks left.”

This nod underscores the team’s push to rebound from incidents like the spin at World Wide Technology Raceway, where contact derailed their momentum. It’s a reminder that while the playoffs slipped away, the focus shifts to building speed for the remaining races, turning lessons from Bristol into fuel for future battles.

But Bowman’s wasn’t the only tough break that reshaped the field. Over on the other side of the garage, another driver faced an even more dramatic exit that ended his shot at advancing.

Berry’s fiery exit seals elimination

Josh Berry’s playoff journey came to a screeching halt early in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race when flames erupted from his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Starting strong in 10th and climbing to seventh in the opening stage, Berry suddenly dealt with smoke filling the cockpit around Lap 74, forcing him to pit two laps later as safety crews rushed in. He entered the weekend 45 points below the cutline, and this mechanical failure dropped him to a last-place finish, leaving him 56 points short of advancing.

Berry opened up about the chaos, saying, “We started getting some smoke in the cockpit, and then the longer I went, the darker the smoke got. And obviously by the time we got on pit road, it was completely black smoke. So yeah, obviously something caught on fire.” This account matches crew chief Miles Stanley’s assessment, blaming excess rubber buildup from severe tire wear, a common gripe in the field that night, which ignited near the header and spread. It’s the kind of freak issue that echoes past tire woes at Bristol, but for Berry, it capped a string of misfortunes, including an opening-lap spin at Darlington that also ended in last place.

Looking ahead despite the setback, Berry reflected on the bigger picture: “We’ve qualified well. We’ve had good cars. We just haven’t had the good finishes. That’s just part of it. I don’t think you could ever script three last-place finishes in the ways that we’ve gotten them over the last few weeks.” This shows his appreciation for the team’s speed, like their solid qualifying runs, while acknowledging the bad luck streak. With seven races left, including a return to Las Vegas, where they won earlier this season, Berry and the squad can channel this into motivation, proving that one fiery night doesn’t define their potential.