CONCORD, N.C. – Once Alex Bowman was tabbed to driver the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE toward the end of last season, he worked with primary sponsor Ally to bring together two of his passions: helping animals and racing.
Together, they partnered with Best Friends Animal Society to give back to each city where a race will be held on the 2021 schedule by donated to an animal shelter in that community.
“Best Friends is a really cool organization, and their goals are amazing,” Bowman said. “Obviously, I am a big dog guy, so to be able to help some animals find homes is really special and trying to end kill shelters by 2025 is a great goal.”
Bowman debuted the purple and orange Best Friends paint scheme on his No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro at Phoenix Raceway on March 14. Bowman and Ally agreed to help shelters that were close to the racetracks on the Cup schedule with two combined donations.
“The first thing that Ally did when we teamed up to start the year was ask me what I cared about and things that I wanted to do,” Bowman said. “We teamed up with Best Friends and we have been able to pick a shelter at every track and donate $1,000 from Ally and $1,000 from myself to that shelter and, if we win, the donation goes up to $10,000.
“I have been able to give three shelters so far $10,000 and, hopefully, we can increase that number a little bit. Best Friends is a really cool organization and their goals are amazing.”
To date, Bowman and Ally have donated a combined $66,000 for 19 different shelters across the country. After Bowman’s three wins at Richmond Raceway, Dover International Speedway and Pocono Raceway, Ally gave the additional $10,000 to Richmond SPCA in Virginia, Brandywine Valley SPCA in Delaware and Animal Food Bank of Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania.
“(I’m) just glad to have a partner like Ally that is passionate about things that are real to me and that I can enjoy being a part of,” Bowman said. “It’s been a lot of fun; I have been able to go to a couple of shelters this year and it’s been great to get to spend some time with some animals.”
After the two-week break from racing, Bowman will have 14 more races to help support his furry friends. The 28-year-old driver heads to Watkins Glen on Sunday, Aug. 8 to race for another win in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season and support his best friends.