Alex Bowman Unveils 2019 NASCAR Nationwide Chevrolet Paint Scheme
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was also on site to lend a helping hand and host the event.
On Thursday at GoPro Motorplex in Mooresville, North Carolina, Alex Bowman pulled the covers off the No.88 Nationwide Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 he will drive in the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Along with Bowman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was also present at the event.
"He was still standing by it," Bowman joked about Dale Jr.'s presence. "I don't know. I feel like everybody's been really supportive and Nationwide's really embraced me as well as Axalta, Llumar, and Valvoline and everybody at HMS (Hendrick Motorsports) have been super-supportive. That hasn't been too bad."
Bowman said that the starting point for the 2019 Nationwide paint scheme was the patriotic No.88 design he ran at 2018 CocaCola 600 in May. After unveiling the design, both Bowman and Earnhardt Jr. approved the expanded sections of white on the side panels, thus agreeing that it will better showcase the tire marks and grime accumulated during a race.
"For me, I don't know that every driver's the same, probably not, but man, I had to like the car I was driving and I wanted to," said Earnhardt Jr. in an interview with NASCAR.com. During his driving career, Earnhardt Jr. estimated that he had a hand in the design of 95 percent of the cars he raced. "It made me want to drive it, made me want to race it, made me excited to do well with it."
Dale Jr. hung up his helmet and firesuit at the end of the 2017 Cup Series season but as an Ambassador for Nationwide, he lent his support as an emcee for social-media streams at the car's unveiling.
Prior to unveiling the paint scheme, Bowman rubbed bumpers with media members and fans on the 0.7-mile karting track. "It was fun. I tried to run into a couple of them to give them that authentic NASCAR experience," Bowman said. "It was cool."
