On April 20, Hendrick Motorsports and Ally announced the No. 48 Ally Throwback scheme that would honor crew chief Greg Ives. The seafoam and grapefruit colors honor Ives’ late model driving days with a 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. Check out the special scheme here.
BOWMAN IS ‘TOO TOUGH’: Alex Bowman has seven previous starts in the NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington Raceway. The 28-year-old’s best finish of second came in May last season, when the sport returned after a two-month break due to the coronavirus pandemic. Bowman led for 41 laps after rolling off second, earning the second-most points in the event. During the three races held at the 1.366-mile venue in 2020, Bowman captured the second-most stage points (39) and led the sixth-most laps (42) among active drivers. Bowman has one start at Darlington in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he finished 17th in 2013 after 147 laps.
11 DOWN, 25 TO GO: After 11 races this season, Bowman has one win, two top-five finishes, four top-10s and one pole award (DAYTONA 500). The No. 48 Ally team has spent 1,313 laps running inside the top 10. Out of those laps, 649 have been inside the top five, which is 10th-most of current drivers. Bowman led the final 10 laps during the event at Richmond Raceway en route to his first short-track victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.
IVES IN DARLINGTON: For the ninth time in his Cup Series career, Ives will call the shots at Darlington for the No. 48 Ally team. The Bark River, Michigan, native’s best finish at the venue came in the first May event at the track last season when Bowman crossed the line second after leading 41 laps. Ives’ drivers have completed 99.8% of the total laps at Darlington and have one top-five finish and three top-10s at the facility. He was also the crew chief for Chase Elliott in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2014 when the team captured the victory after leading 52 laps. From 2006-2012, Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team. During that time, he was a part of one Cup Series win (2012) and four top-five finishes at Darlington.
PIT ROAD KNACK: After 11 races in the 2021 season, 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 13.66 seconds. The team includes fueler Jacob Conley, tire carrier Allen Stallings, jackman Dustin Lineback and tire changers Scott Brzozowski and Devin DelRicco.
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