Alex Bowman seeking redemption in 2024 with a 'plum-good' Ally paint scheme
After a hot start in the 2023 season, Alex Bowman soon found himself sidelined from NASCAR action after breaking his back in a sprint car wreck. With a new year, a new one-of-a-kind paint scheme, and the confidence that he’s put in the work – Bowman is ready to tackle 2024.
For Alex Bowman, the Ally sponsorship means a lot. They are the sponsor of the No. 48 car, a relationship that has worked out for both parties. A new, digital camo paint scheme was released last week to the delight of Bowman fans everywhere.
Ally executive director of brand and sponsorship marketing, Bridget Sponsky, knows the fans come first when deciding on a paint scheme. For these Ally NASCAR fans, the plum color of the 48 is everything.
“We are taking into account what the fans are saying, what we’re hearing them want out of a paint scheme,” Sponsky said in a recent interview with On3.
Alex Bowman is a part of the creative process on these paint schemes. A driver who is well-connected with fans, Sponsky knows how important a paint scheme is to help with that connection on and off the track.
“He loves this paint scheme,” Sponsky explained. “Obviously, that is an indicator for us as we’re going through that design process, as we went through it with Sean [Bull], we have to make sure Alex is comfortable with it because that is gonna obviously affect his performance.”
When Ally started planning this scheme, they had an idea in mind. They wanted it to be unique and exciting. Make it for the fans. So, they hired an artist that could make that happen.
Connecting with artist Sean Bull
The digital camo scheme has never been done in NASCAR. From far away, it’s one “plum-good” design. However, there are more details than meets the eye.
Ally brought on Sean Bull, a designer from the UK. Bull has primarily worked in the F1 space. Never before has he designed a NASCAR paint scheme. In fact, he’s used to just calling them liveries.
“I have no real knowledge of it we don’t get it here in the UK on any broadcast at all. But I have the knowledge of the icons of NASCAR and stuff like that and more recently because I’m interested in liveries or paint schemes to you guys,” Bull said.
An artist like Bull has a ton of experience. He’s worked on tiny details on those sleek and slim F1 cars. However, a bulky Chevy Camaro is a whole new ball game. The square footage, the “canvas” space if you will, was unlike anything he ever did before. Alex Bowman really liked how it turned out.
“It’s always better to have a car you like to look at, right?” Bowman said in a conversation with On3. “Yeah I think it’s – while it doesn’t turn into performance per se, or anything like that – to me, it’s important to have a car you like. Or knowing me I’m gonna complain about it all year.”
Instead of Bull having to adhere to the lines of an F1 car – hiding the aero look from other teams, he was able to highlight the aspects and lines of the Camaro.
Sean Bull and Alex Bowman did meet in Miami this season to talk about the design. For those wondering, Bull says Bowman has a “British sense of humor.” As you can imagine, that was a positive for the designer.
Alex Bowman is in the ‘best shape’ of his life for 2024
A few weeks off from NASCAR and Alex Bowman is already feeling better. He isn’t getting into a cramped car or simulator multiple times a week. Still, there is a lot of work to be done in the offseason.
Looking back on the last year, Bowman knows what he’s capable of. He started out the year strong. He was racking up top-5 and top-10 finishes – then the wreck happened. It’s not hard to see why Bowman had difficulties this season.
“We were so strong to start the year, obviously led the points for a bit and were really good week in and week out, really up until I got hurt,” Bowman said. “Then the wheels kind of fell off from there. I think everybody looks at our 2023 season and is like, ‘Man, you guys struggled.’ But the reality is, when we were firing on all cylinders we were the most consistent car and one of the best cars every week.
“Post-injury, a lot was going on. We’re trying to catch up, I feel like our cars as a whole fell off a little bit at HMS, we weren’t where we needed to be and I’m coming off breaking my back.”
As for the 2024 season – Alex Bowman is already working. In fact, he feels really good about his offseason prep.
“I’m looking forward to 24, there’s a couple of changes that I think are going to be really good. I’m feeling better I think having a couple of weeks not so compressed in the race cars has been good for me. From a fitness aspect, I’m probably in the best shape I’ve ever been in right now. Things are good, training really hard.”
Alex Bowman is ready. He’s in the best shape of his life and the best paint scheme of his life, if you ask me. Now, the road to Daytona is all that matters.
Extending his record at Daytona
For the last six Daytona 500s, Alex Bowman has been on the front row of the Daytona 500. It is a NASCAR record and one that Hendrick Motorsports takes pride in. Of course, Bowman would like to finish on the front row of the Daytona 500.
However, when it comes to the qualifying record, the driver knows it’s more of a big deal than it appears. Consistency in NASCAR is hard to come by and the Hendrick team has made sure they keep giving Bowman cars that keep making fast laps.
In the six years he’s been on the front row, he’s only managed a single top-5 finish. His average starting position in those six years, 1.5. Bowman’s average finish? P19.
“Man, I don’t know. I know that’s really important to Mr. Hendrick,” Bowman said. “It’s cool for the partners. For me, it’s like, it’s an interesting thing for me because I don’t have anything to do with it, right? … It’s all the race car, and I love having – the record’s cool and everything and I would love to do it again, but I don’t know. We’ll see when we get there.
“Honestly, I would like to have a race car that races well in the duel so I can race a little bit more. We obviously haven’t had that opportunity for a bit. But yeah hopefully we can get on the front row again and not have to worry about the duel but at the same time, I would like to race it.”
65 days until Daytona.