48 Alex Bowman
Age: 27 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Greg Ives
Standings: 13th
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No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
SHORT-TRACK VICTORY: Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, brought home his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Richmond Raceway on Sunday afternoon. The Ally-sponsored driver led the final 10 laps of the 400-lap event to claim his first Richmond win and first-ever short-track victory at the Cup level.
FIRST-TIME WINNER: Primary sponsor Ally became a first-time points-paying winner on Sunday following the No. 48 Chevrolet team’s victory. It marked the first win for Bowman in just nine events with Ally and the No. 48 Chevrolet. The Michigan-based company visited victory lane in 2019 when driver Jimmie Johnson led four laps en route to a victory in the Clash at DAYTONA with Ally on board.
BOWMAN WINS, PETS WIN: Through the yearlong initiative between Ally and the Best Friends Animal Society, when Bowman wins a race a local animal shelter receives a $10,000 donation from Ally and an additional $1,000 from the driver. Last weekend, the two gave a total of $11,000 to the Richmond SPCA in Richmond, Virginia. The Richmond SPCA is an independent non-profit, no-kill humane society located four miles from Richmond Raceway. Every week, Ally and Bowman each make a $1,000 gift to a local animal shelter in the race market, which increases if the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet clinches a victory.
PLAYOFFS BOUND: Following Sunday’s win, Bowman and the No. 48 team all but clinched their spot in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. The team is currently ranked eighth in the playoff standings and 13th in the driver standings after nine events this season. Bowman has clinched a spot in the playoffs by virtue of a win each season since 2019.
ALL IN THE NUMBER: Just four drivers have visited victory lane with the No. 48 car in the Cup Series. Bowman now joins seven-time NASCAR champion Johnson (83 victories) as the only two drivers to win in the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. James Hylton (two) and Bill Norton (one) also have Cup wins in the No. 48 car.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: On Sunday, April 25, Bowman will celebrate his 28th birthday by racing at Talladega Superspeedway. Only three drivers have visited victory lane on their birthday, but it hasn’t been done since 2013 when Matt Kenseth won at Las Vegas. If Bowman wins Talladega, he will become the first driver to cruise to victory lane at the 2.66-mile superspeedway on his birthday.
TALLADEGA DAYS: Bowman has 11 starts at Talladega Superspeedway in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2014. The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet has one runner-up finish (2019), three top-10s and has led 45 laps total. Last season, Bowman brought home a seventh-place finish in the spring and a 14th-place result in the fall event. In 2013, he made one start at the track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and finished 13th after rolling off 14th. The Arizona native also made one start in the ARCA Series at the track in 2012 and finished 32nd.
SUCCESS IN 2021: The No. 48 team has run 643 laps (eighth overall) inside the top five and 1,281 laps (ninth overall) inside the top 10 this Cup Series season. Bowman is tied for seventh among drivers with the most top-five results (two) in 2021 and is tied for ninth for the most top-10 finishes (four).
IVES IN DEGA: No. 48 team crew chief Greg Ives will call the shots for the 13th time at Talladega on Sunday. The Bark River, Michigan, native has one win there with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2015 after leading 67 laps, along with three top-five finishes and six top-10 results. His drivers have an average start of 6.2 at the 2.66-mile facility. Back in 2017, Ives’ team started from the pole position, and in 2019 Bowman led seven laps en route to a second-place result. In total, his drivers have led 180 laps in 12 Cup events. Ives’ résumé also includes one win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the track with Regan Smith in 2013. He was a race engineer for the No. 48 team at Hendrick Motorsports from 2006 until 2012. During that time, he was part of two wins, two pole awards and seven top-10 finishes at Talladega.
THROWING IT BACK TO IVES: On Tuesday, Bowman and sponsor Ally took to social media to unveil their 2021 Darlington Raceway throwback paint scheme. The No. 48 team will honor Ives’ late model driving days with a paint scheme based on a car from his 1998 season that was purchased from the Coleman Racing family in Michigan. When Ives bought the car, the seller asked him to consider keeping the paint color the same and was later told of Jim Pagel, who ran the color and paint scheme in 1993. Pagel was a local stock car driver who lost his life on May 2, 1997, following a crash during qualifying at Wisconsin International Raceway. Bowman will also sport a throwback firesuit that looks similar to the one Ives received in 1998 as a gift from his late mother. Check out the special scheme here.
PIT PERFORMANCE: After nine events in 2021, the No. 48 pit crew continues to be the fastest in the NASCAR Cup Series based on average four-tire stop times. The five-man over-the-wall crew has an average four-tire stop time of 13.52 seconds. The team includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback and tire changers Scott Brzozowski and Devin DelRicco.
TRIO OF WINNERS: Courtesy of Alex Bowman’s win Sunday at Richmond Raceway, three different Hendrick Motorsports drivers have gone to victory lane in the first nine races of 2021, marking only the eighth time in NASCAR Cup Series history a team has done so. Hendrick Motorsports also accomplished it in 2007 and 2009, while Joe Gibbs Racing did it in 2016 and 2019. Other teams with three different winners in the first nine events: Roush Fenway Racing in 2005, Peter DePaolo Racing in 1957 and Carl Kiekhafer Racing in 1956. The earliest in a single season a team has won with four different drivers is race No. 12 by Hendrick Motorsports in 2007 and JGR in 2016.
TWENTY-SOMETHINGS: With William Byron (23 years old), Kyle Larson (28) and Bowman (27) already posting NASCAR Cup Series wins, Hendrick Motorsports has sent three drivers under the age of 30 to victory lane in 2021. It has occurred only two other times in NASCAR Cup Series history: Joe Gibbs Racing in 2009 and Hendrick Motorsports in 2020. No team has ever won with four different drivers under 30 in the same season. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, the defending NASCAR champion, is 25.
TALLADEGA INSIGHTS: Hendrick Motorsports holds the record for Talladega Superspeedway wins in the NASCAR Cup Series with 13, one more than Richard Childress Racing. The organization’s victories have come with seven different drivers: Jeff Gordon (six), Jimmie Johnson (two), Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brian Vickers, Terry Labonte and Ken Schrader.
SUPER STAT: With 28 total trips to victory lane, Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest organization on superspeedways in NASCAR Cup Series history. Its points-paying superspeedway wins have come with 11 different drivers, the most of any team at the behemoth tracks of Talladega and Daytona.
TWO TO TIE: Hendrick Motorsports entered the 2021 season within striking distance of one of stock car racing’s most enduring achievements: Petty Enterprises’ all-time team record for NASCAR Cup Series victories. The legendary Petty organization captured the wins record from Carl Kiekhafer Racing more than 60 years ago when Lee Petty took the checkered flag at Orange Speedway on May 29, 1960, for the team’s 53rd victory. Its 268th and final win was delivered by driver John Andretti on April 18, 1999. With Bowman’s win at Richmond, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 266 points-paying Cup Series wins since Rick Hendrick founded the team in 1984 and currently needs just three to break the record at NASCAR’s highest level.
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on Sunday’s win at Richmond Raceway: “Getting the win on Sunday was big is so many ways. It was a huge goal for our team to be able to get Ally into victory lane this season, and we are so pumped to get them their first points-paying victory. The 48 team has put together some amazing short-track cars the last two weeks and it has definitely showed. I drive these places so wrong sometimes, so it is truly on this team for bringing such a fast car. Being locked into the playoffs is a good spot to be in, but our approach every week is to win. There isn’t a sit-back-and-relax mode with Hendrick Motorsports or this 48 team. We are focused on winning each and every week for everyone back at the shop, our team and our amazing partners.”
Bowman on going superspeedway racing this weekend: “No one sleeps going to Talladega. Hendrick Motorsports always builds amazing superspeedway Chevrolets and I feel like every time we unload there, we have a chance to win. There are so many unknowns at tracks like this. You can be in contention to win at one moment and loading up a wrecked car the next. Working with our teammates is key, but you have to be able to work with everyone on track. Racing in ‘Dega this weekend is really special because this was Rowdy (Harrell’s) home track. If we could pull off a win this weekend, I know that would mean the world to him.”
Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on claiming the win at Richmond: “I felt like we had a really good long-run car and I think we passed a lot of cars on Sunday. Probably the most quality passes of anyone on the racetrack, honestly. We had great speed and that is credited to everyone here at Hendrick Motorsports, my engineer Tim O’Brien and car chief Austin Konetski. They put in a lot of hours and a lot of pride into their work. That definitely shows each week when we unload. The Ally pit crew does an awesome job. We had a tire get away, but that was on all of us. All in all, adversity was there and we overcame it.”
Ives on what the No. 48 Ally Throwback paint scheme means to him: “I enjoyed driving. I enjoyed the aspect of setting up the car, putting it on the track and feeling what it did. This paint scheme kind of chose me. I was so surprised that Alex, Ally and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports pulled this off and wanted to pay tribute to me. To me, I am going to deflect it back to all of those grassroots racers that give all of their time, energy and life to this great sport that we love called racing. Whether it is on the NASCAR level or a local short track. Hopefully, people can get behind the story and understand what it meant to me.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
