NASCAR: Look at what Hendrick Motorsports did on Twitter

Hendrick Motorsports announced on Tuesday that Alex Bowman is set to drive the #48 Chevrolet in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. They really did it twice.

In a move that had long been speculated due to Ally Financial’s primary sponsorship deal with the #48 team, Hendrick Motorsports announced Tuesday that Alex Bowman is set to vacate the #88 Chevrolet after the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season and move to the #48 Chevrolet to replace seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson announced after the 2019 season that the 2020 season would be his 19th and final season as a full-time driver.

The month prior, Ally Financial had extended their full-time primary sponsorship deal with the #48 team through the 2023 season.

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While it has yet to be confirmed who will actually be replacing Johnson in the team’s four-car lineup alongside Bowman, who has already driven for the team since 2018, Chase Elliott and William Byron, we now know that Bowman is set to carry on the legacy of the #48 Chevrolet once Johnson retires.

Bowman signed only a one-year extension back in mid-May, and his overall lack of sponsorship relative to Elliott and Byron, who are both under contract through 2022, resulted in it making sense to move him to the fully-backed #48 entry.

While Hendrick Motorsports didn’t officially announce this news back when it began to float around as a possibility in the spring, they did “announce” it before they officially announcement.

Prior to the confirmation, every single tweet Hendrick Motorsports published on Tuesday, October 6 literally spelled out that the announcement was on its way.

Take a look at the first word of each tweet.

Alex.

Bowman.

Will.

Drive.

The.

#Ally48.

In.

2021.

Put it all together, and you’ll see that “Alex Bowman will drive the #Ally48 in 2021.”

Sure enough, that news was confirmed with the final tweet of this sequence and with subsequent posts by the team.

Meanwhile, the wait to see who will actually replace Johnson in Hendrick Motorsports’ 2021 driver lineup continues. Will that driver drive the #88 Chevrolet, or will that car be renumbered?