Getty Alex Bowman celebrates another Busch Light Pole Award at Daytona International Speedway.
Alex Bowman has used NASCAR‘s Throwback Weekend as an opportunity to celebrate the people who help him contend for wins. He will do so once again in 2023 as he runs a scheme for spotter Kevin Hamlin.
The scheme, which primary partner Ally Racing revealed on May 3, is a throwback to the 2007 season. The No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro will have a tribute to Hamlin’s No. 42 Dodge Charger that he drove for Chip Ganassi Racing. This is the stock car that featured Texaco and Havoline logos on top of a white, gold, red, and black design.
Spotter Kevin Hamlin has been a long-time friend and ally of @Alex_Bowman’s career.
We’re excited to honor Kevin with an #Ally48 #NASCARThrowback design at @TooToughToTame that highlights the scheme he raced in the 2007 #NASCAR Xfinity Series season. #PersonALLY
“I’m really pumped we’re able to honor Kevin Hamlin this year on the Ally 48,” Bowman tweeted after Ally Racing revealed his scheme. “Wouldn’t be here without this guy.”
While Hamlin will be atop the spotter stand for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on May 14, Bowman will not be behind the wheel of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro. He will be at home while continuing to recover from a fractured vertebra. Josh Berry will be the driver of the Ally Racing machine.
Bowman & Hamlin Have Celebrated Multiple Wins
GettyThe No. 48 team celebrates a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hamlin, who spent multiple years spotting for Kasey Kahne and the No. 5 team, moved over to the No. 88 team at the start of the 2018 season. He joined forces with Bowman as the Arizona native replaced a retiring Dale Earnhardt Jr., and he began a successful tenure.
The partnership has featured multiple celebrations for the No. 88/No. 48 team. Bowman has secured all of his seven career Cup Series wins with Hendrick Motorsports while making the playoffs every season.
Bowman’s first win took place during the 2019 season. He won at Chicagoland Speedway before the track left the NASCAR schedule, and then he won at Auto Club Speedway the following year.
The standout campaign was in 2021. Bowman won four races after switching from the No. 88 to the No. 48. His list of successes included Richmond Raceway, Pocono Raceway, Dover Motor Speedway, and Martinsville Speedway.
A concussion and a fractured vertebra have shortened Bowman’s 2022 and 2023 seasons, but he and Hamlin have still celebrated another win. They captured the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway early in the 2022 season after a late caution and a battle with teammate Kyle Larson.
Hamlin Provided Further Comments About the Scheme
GettyKevin Hamlin makes a pit stop during the 2007 season.
“I was absolutely blown away when Alex, Ally, and my friends at HMS surprised me with this a couple of weeks back,” Hamlin wrote on Instagram. “We ran okay with this car in 2007 at CGR, but for me, I feel like this paint scheme represents taking a leap of faith and following a dream.
“In 2004 Mandi and I packed up and moved from WA to NC with nothing, after about a year in NC with no family and very little money, we got lucky with some help from loved ones (the Smith family, @brendan62) and we were able to get an opportunity at Chip Ganassi Racing thanks to the eye of Lorin Rainer. This scheme is a throwback to my favorite driver growing up (other than my dad), Davey Allison. Davey drove for Lorin’s dad back in the day, so this entire thing wrapping up like this is crazy.”
The Washington native made seven starts in the 2007 Busch Series — now Xfinity Series — season while driving the Texaco/Havoline car. He made his first start of the year at Nashville Superspeedway and finished 18th. He went on to make another start at Nashville before heading to Kentucky Speedway, the Milwaukee Mile, World Wide Technology Raceway, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, and Michigan International Speedway.
Hamlin completed all but one of these starts in the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger, and he delivered top-10 finishes at both World Wide Technology Raceway and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. 16 years later, he will see the scheme return with a different primary partner, and he will try to guide its driver to a win.