Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, enters his car during qualifying for the Nascar … [+]
Nascar is crossing over with the world of video games once again. This time, it’s thanks to Ally Financial
ALLY
The Ally Arena, a Fortnite Creative experience that launched in March, now features the Ally 48 Island, shaped like Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet. To celebrate the launch of the new Fortnite experience, Bowman will sport a fresh Ally Arena paint scheme this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
“It’s really cool to see Ally find ways to continue to make Nascar more inclusive,” Bowman said. “The car is super bright and has all the different characters from the game which I think is really neat. But this scheme isn’t out of character for Ally – they are really good at going all in on their programs and I think that is another reason I am really proud to be working with everyone on that team. They don’t go halfway on anything, and this scheme is another example.”
Alex Bowman will drive the Ally Arena Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway
The new scheme, Bowman believes, will help create new interest in Nascar for avid Fortnite players. And this isn’t the first Nascar team this year to sport a video game-themed paint scheme. Tyler Reddick piloted a Rocket League scheme at Michigan in early August.
“I love it because we’re always looking for ways to bring new fans into our sport,” Bowman said. “We’ve had a few paint schemes that featured other professional sports, including the Detroit Pistons at the Michigan race earlier this month, but this is the first time for gaming. The fans really love the different iterations of the No. 48 Chevy Camaro, so it adds another level of excitement to race day.”
Magnetry formed the concept of the 48 Island in Fortnite Creative. They also developed the designs for the paint scheme and Bowman’s firesuit.
Ally Financial first joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2019, when the firm partnered with Jimmie Johnson for the entire season. Ally also backed Johnson in 2020, his final season as a full-time Nascar driver.
After Johnson’s retirement, Hendrick moved Bowman to the No. 48 car after he piloted the No. 88 car and replaced Dale Earnardt Jr. following his full-time retirement. Ally wanted Bowman as its driver.
Bowman has five wins with the No. 48 Ally team since he took over the ride in 2021. The Ally partnership has gone so well that it is now supporting Bowman’s dirt track team, Alex Bowman Racing. The company has helped multiple passions of his.
“It’s really cool to be able to represent Ally,” Bowman said. “They have been really supportive of me when I am racing in the Nascar Cup Series and also being a great partner for ABR and my dirt program.
“When I first joined the No. 48 team, Ally asked me what was important to me, and I told them helping save homeless pets was at the top of my list. That partnership has been super successful, and we have been able to help countless pets find homes across the country in the last two years.”
This year, however, Bowman missed three races – and the All-Star Race – due to a fractured vertebra in a sprint car accident in late April.
Through the first six races, Bowman was the regular season championship leader and had a handful of top 10s. However, in the weeks leading up to his injury, he and teammate William Byron were penalized 60 points each for illegal modifications made to the area where the windows and windshield are after the race at Richmond.
Since Bowman returned to the racetrack at Charlotte Motor Speedway in late May, he’s only earned one top-10 result, which was a fifth-place finish at the Indianapolis road course in mid-August.
Now, with one race remaining before the playoffs begin, Bowman finds himself on the outside looking in. He needs to win on Saturday evening at Daytona to qualify for the postseason for the sixth straight season.
“It’s frustrating because our team has had a ton of speed, we have run well, pit stops have been super competitive and then something happens at the end of the last few races that takes us out of contention,” Bowman said. “Our team has stayed focused and battled through it all and that is something to be proud of, but we definitely have had an uphill fight this season.”
Bowman’s last chance to qualify for the playoffs comes on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona on NBC.