Alex Bowman wasn’t sure he was going to make the trip to Mexico City because of lower back pain suffered in “the hardest hit of my career” at Michigan last week.

As late as Wednesday — the day before he was scheduled to leave for NASCAR’s first points-paying Cup Series race of the modern era outside the United States — the Hendrick Motorsports driver was so sore he didn’t know if he’d be able to get in the car.

He was still sore after two days of practice at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, but it was after he got out of his No. 48 Chevrolet and not while he was driving. Bowman said his hit registered 50 G-force.

“I don’t know if on paper that’s the biggest (hit) I’ve ever taken, but it’s the most painful one I’ve ever taken, for sure,” Bowman said Saturday. “Even compared to when I broke my back, it’s way more pain than that was.”

Bowman last Sunday slammed hard into the wall at Michigan in a head-on impact at approximately 150 mph. The hit was so fierce that it lifted the rear wheels in the air. Although nothing was broken, he has severe lower back pain on his right side that shoots into his leg.

The 32-year-old kidded he’s been a bit of a “crash dummy” of late: Bowman missed five races in 2022 with a concussion suffered at Texas, and he broke his back in a 2023 sprint car crash that led Rick Hendrick to ban him from further extracurricular racing.

Although he’s ranked 13th in the Cup Series standings, he didn’t want to miss a race considering the recent slump Bowman is going through. He has finished 27th or worse in seven of the last nine races and has five finishes of 35th or worse.

Even though Bowman made it to Mexico City and says he feels fit enough inside the car, Anthony Alfredo is on standby in case Bowman can’t complete today’s race on the 15-turn, 2.42-mile layout.

Alfredo, a full-time driver in the Xfinity Series, does simulator work for Hendrick Motorsports. He has 42 starts in the Cup Series, including one start earlier this year at Talladega Superspeedway.

Bowman, who qualified 29th, hopes to be able to complete the race.

“The goal is to get all the laps in and go from there,” Bowman said. “It hasn’t been a fun week at all. Wednesday was probably the worst day, but we’re here and ready to go. It’s all in the right side of my lower back and then through my lower right leg. Everything is really tight. It’s all muscular. Definitely a lot of pain.”

Shane Van Gisbergen won the pole for today’s race in Mexico City in a rain-shortened qualifying session.

The New Zealander got in three qualifying laps and took the top spot with a lap of 93.904 mph to put his No. 88 Chevrolet from Trackhouse Racing out front.

Van Gisbergen proved to be a master of racing on a wet road course in his NASCAR debut when he won on the rain-drenched street course in Chicago in 2023. That victory led to a career change for Van Gisbergen, who was an Australian V8 Supercars champion but made the move to NASCAR after shocking the Cup Series with his Chicago win.

Ryan Preece in a Ford for RFK Racing qualified second and was followed by Ross Chastain, Van Gisbergen’s teammate at Trackhouse. Ty Gibbs in fourth was the highest qualifying Toyota driver.

Suarez wins Xfinity race in Mexico City

Daniel Suárez came from last place on the grid in a backup car to win the The Chilango 150 in Mexico City.

After victory spinouts, the 33-year old native of from Monterrey, Mexico climbed out of his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, stood on the car’s roof, pounded his chest and pointed upward to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez grandstands — shouting to the thrilled crowd in his native Spanish and thanking his loyal fans for their support.

“It’s everything I was looking for, just a special day,” said an emotional Suárez, the 2016 Xfinity Series champion, who led a race best 19 of the race’s 65 laps and beat Taylor Gray to the checkered flag by .598-second in a backup car the team rebuilt after he crashed in the morning qualifying session.