NASCAR driver Alex Bowman, Charlotte FC’s Adam Armour visit Huntersville school
Two rooms on the second floor of Lake Norman Charter in Huntersville had two pretty special guests on Thursday afternoon.
In one of those rooms, there was Alex Bowman. The NASCAR Cup Series driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports sat in a white rocking chair and read a book to a bunch of excitable second-graders. The book? Planet Zee and the Money Tree, a children’s story aimed to help kids learn the basics of saving and spending money. (He interspersed the reading with questions. He came across the word “unicorn” once, and as he turned a page, he asked the class, “So how many of you have unicorns?” All hands shot up.)
In the other room, just down the hallway, there was Adam Armour. The defender for Charlotte FC was reading the same book to a different set of second-graders, having a similar amount of fun. (After the reading, Armour asked what kids would buy if their money grew on trees. Among the best answers he received: “A dog.” “Two dogs.” “A whole horse stable.” “A dog and a bunch of Lego sets.” And “a water bed.”)
Ally Bank is a primary sponsor for both the 48 Cup Series team and Charlotte FC, and Ally dispatched the two stars to foster financial literacy in the community.
“We’re here to help teach students about financial education,” said Natalie Brown, senior director of corporate citizenship for Ally. She added, “It really supports our focus on economic mobility.”
The Observer caught up with Bowman and Armour on Thursday afternoon after they spent time with their respective classes.
Bowman talks Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR offseason
Bowman isn’t new to using his platform and his partnership with Ally to make community change. The driver was named the 2022 Halifax Humane Society Humanitarian of the Year for his work supporting animal shelters and similar organizations across the country.
Bowman’s offseason began about two weeks ago, after the Cup season finale at Phoenix Raceway Nov. 6. It was a strange ending: Bowman made the Round of 12 playoffs and was racing well before a crash in the wall at Texas sidelined him with a concussion and effectively kicked him out of the championship chase. He then returned for the season finale at Phoenix and didn’t finish after wrecking in Stage 3.
“Phoenix was great. It was great to get back in a racecar,” Bowman told The Observer on Thursday. “Obviously, you know, there were a lot of nerves going into that from the concussion, and just wanting to know that I could still do it. It wasn’t the greatest weekend for us. Our race was actually headed in a really good direction, I feel like. We had some pit stop struggles, but we were gonna end up 8th to 12th, and then obviously got crashed by the 34, which was a bummer. But to be honest with you I’m almost glad that I know I can crash and be OK because I just had something in the back of my mind that I was worried about. And I felt fine through that.”
The race at Phoenix was the final race he ran with Greg Ives, a longtime crew chief who announced in August that he’d retire at the end of the 2022 season. The 48 will be crew chiefed by Blake Harris, who was with the No. 34 car last season.
What should we know about Harris?
“I’m excited to work with him,” Bowman said. “We kind of had our list of names, and I was like, ‘Blake is the guy. That’s who I want.’ I’m really glad that everybody at HMS has jumped on board and been really supportive. Honestly, even Greg was a part of that. I think he’s super hardworking, super motivated, and he wants to be super successful right off the bat.”
Armour talks rehabbing from injury, MLS break
Armour underwent successful ACL reconstruction surgery in May, the team announced, and he’s been working to get back from that ever since. He played in all six matches he was healthy for and scored Charlotte FC’s first goal in franchise history against Atlanta United.
Charlotte FC’s offseason began in early October. The team’s inaugural year was replete with hope and fun and ended up being one match short — some players might argue a few minutes short — of a playoff berth.
Much of the team has returned home, but Armour, a Raleigh native, has stuck around Charlotte to continue rehabbing his knee, he said.
“Personally, for myself, I’ve been rehabbing and looking forward to next year,” Armour told The Observer. “But for the team as a whole, we’re very optimistic about next year. Like, we are going into it knowing what to expect. We know we have a solid, core group of players.”
A lot has happened already for the Queen City team. Charlotte has hired its second coach in Christian Lattanzio and extended the contract of sporting director Zoran Krneta, two “ambitious people” who “want to take the club and move it in the right direction,” Armour said. The team has also been forthright about the increase in spending it expects in Year 2, a prospect Armour is excited about as well, he said.
What will it take for Charlotte FC to make a playoff run in 2023? Armour smiled.
“I think the biggest thing for us, judging off of this season, is just the consistency,” Armour said. “We had those moments where we were playing at home, we’re feeling like we can beat anybody in the league on any day. So I feel like just consistently being able to grind out results, we can be a strong contender for the MLS Cup.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2022 at 5:06 PM.
