BROOKLYN, Mich. – Friday, on what would have been former Hendrick Motorsports driver Tim Richmond’s 64th birthday, Alex Bowman and Axalta made an exciting announcement to mark the occasion.
This September at Darlington Raceway, Bowman will pilot a No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 throwback paint scheme paying homage to what Bowman considers the “most iconic car” that Richmond drove.
The red-and-gold ride was revealed via a video on social media.
“I was always a big Tim Richmond fan,” Bowman said in the video. “I’ve kind of joked around about wanting to do a Tim Richmond throwback for as long as I’ve been driving for Hendrick Motorsports.”
Now, thanks to Axalta, he’s got that opportunity.
“Having Axalta willing to do that is really cool,” the driver said. “To bring those iconic colors back, it’s really neat. The car looks great, the firesuit looks really cool as well, so, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick shared that Richmond was “one of the most talented drivers” he had ever seen, who “could do anything with a car.”
He said Bowman reminds him a bit of Richmond in the way that he’s fearless inside the race car.
And the owner hopes there’s another similarity between Bowman and Richmond when the Southern 500 arrives on Labor Day weekend.
“I’m excited about seeing that paint scheme at Darlington, because the last time it was there with Tim Richmond, he won the race,” Hendrick said. “And Alex is on a roll now, so I’m waiting for Victory Lane in Darlington with that paint scheme.”
Take a closer look at the No. 88 Axalta Chevy below.