A black-and-white scheme from the 2012 season will return for Throwback Weekend as Alex Bowman celebrates a pivotal win.
The Arizona native and Ally Racing revealed on Thursday that the No. 48 will showcase a special scheme at Darlington Raceway on April 6. The car will have a tribute to Jimmie Johnson's black No. 48 Kobalt Chevrolet, which he used to secure a milestone win for Hendrick Motorsports.
Photo credit: Ally Racing
The updated scheme features the same black base with white door numbers and white logos. Instead of Kobalt, Bowman's car features logos for Ally. The rear of the car has a HendrickCars.com logo in white. This replaces the Lowe's associate sponsor logo that took up space on Johnson's Cup car.
This scheme holds special significance for Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports, and for multiple reasons. One of the biggest was that Johnson won at Darlington Raceway for the first time since his 2004 season sweep. He also locked up a crown jewel in the process.
The other reason why this win is significant is what it meant to the organization. Hendrick Motorsports scored win No. 199 on Oct. 9, 2011, at Kansas Speedway. HMS then went winless the rest of the 2011 season and well into the 2012 season.
Johnson finally snapped the streak on May 12, 2012. He led 134 laps and held off Denny Hamlin at the end to score HMS's 200th Cup win. He followed up the feat by presenting team owner Rick Hendrick with a helmet autographed by every driver who had made a start for the team, or a surviving family member if the driver had passed away.
"I want to thank all of the drivers, crew chiefs, and everybody else," Hendrick said after the race, per the team website. "I can't believe we won 200 of these things. I can't believe it took this long after 199.
"I want to thank the fans for supporting us all these years. This is a big deal for all of our people."
Of course, the organization has since surpassed this milestone. HMS now has 314 Cup Series wins, including two this season.
Bowman, in particular, has accounted for eight of these wins. He will attempt to add another at Darlington as he showcases the special black-and-white tribute scheme.