A year after NFL nixed the idea, a Philadelphia Eagles No. 88 car paint scheme is a go

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer
The car Alex Bowman will drive at Pocono. (Via NASCAR.com)
The car Alex Bowman will drive at Pocono. (Via NASCAR.com)

An NFL rule banned Axalta’s planned use of the Philadelphia Eagles logo on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car a year ago. But thanks to an apology from Roger Goodell, the Eagles logo is back on Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 88 car in 2018.

Alex Bowman will drive an Axalta-sponsored car with the Eagles logo on it at Pocono later in July. Junior was supposed to drive an Eagles car at Pocono a year ago and the paint scheme was even revealed last spring.

Alas, never happened. The NFL said the car couldn’t be run because of a rule that prohibits NFL logos from being used to advertise other sports.

What changed?

Axalta’s chairman told the Sports Business Journal that Goodell apologized for the problem. That apology apparently means a rule change because we seriously doubt an Eagles car would be announced again if it wasn’t actually going to happen.

Car will honor Eagles’ Super Bowl win

Bowman’s car was unveiled Friday and will recognize the Eagles’ win over the Patriots on the rear of the car. The Eagles paint scheme is part of Axalta’s All-Pro Teachers program.

Bowman, who replaced Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 after the 2017 season, is 15th in the Cup Series standings through the first half of the 2018 season.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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