Alex Bowman is confident that he can add to the legacy of seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson with his No. 48 car.
After Johnson’s retirement from full-time Cup racing, his No. 48 Chevrolet was handed over to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Bowman, who switched from his No. 88 car. Then, Kyle Larson was signed for the No. 05 car to complete the four-driver lineup.
With the shuffle of the car number for Bowman, he also has inherited the responsibility of continuing the legacy of the No. 48. Speaking about which he said:
“I feel like obviously taking over the #88 from Dale Jr was something that probably helped prepare me for this quite a bit. But obviously being teammates with Jimmie for the last couple of years has been really special.”
“I learnt so much from him, it’s been unbelievable to have that guide to lean on and to learn from. So to take over the No. 48 is incredibly special, obviously with the accomplishments that he had in this car.”
“So gonna do my best to just continue to add to the legacy of this car, and excited to share that really with my race team, you know.”
“The No. 48 means a lot to Greg, he obviously won a lot of championships as a race engineer with this car. So for him to become crew chief of it is really cool, and all the guys are excited to get going,”
While Johnson’s last couple of years were not his best in the Cup Series, and he failed to qualify for the playoffs in his last season too, his career is a lot bigger than what these years suggest.
As for Bowman, after qualifying for the 2020 playoffs, he has made it to the playoffs for the third consecutive season. He had personal season bests in top 10s (15) and laps led (440).
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