Photo courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports Alex Bowman (left) and Greg Ives (right) pose with the winner’s trophy in victory lane at the Auto Club Speedway after winning the Auto Club 400 March 1, 2020.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Every person has certain dates in their life that hold a special significance, and for Bark River native Greg Ives, that date is March 22, 2004. It was the day he was hired by Hendrick Motorsports.

Now, at the start of his 17th season with the organization, Ives moves back to what was quite a successful part of his early career. The 48 car.

“The 48 means a lot for me. It helped open doors to get me opportunities to pursue my crew-chiefing career,” Ives said. “If I wasn’t on that team, it might not have happened. I owe a lot to that number, (and) a lot to Jimmie Johnson and obviously Chad (Knaus).

“Him and I got along well. He took me under his wing and saw talent in myself and was able to extract it and refine it and allow me to become a crew chief and Hendrick Motorsports.”

Even with the success he experienced as part of that crew, Ives isn’t feeling much additional pressure returning to the 48.

“We had a great run from 2006 to 2010, with five straight (championships), but that’s ten years ago,” he said. “Jimmie had two more championships after that, which was great, but in this day and age — in competition at this level — it’s kind of ‘What have you done for me lately?’

“Jimmie had an amazing career. He represented the 48 in and out of the car. He was just as good off the track as he was on the track.”

Moving to the 48 car with Ives is driver Alex Bowman, and, essentially, the same team they had with the 88 car.

“Basically, it’s all the same guys,” said Ives. “I said to them: ‘If you feel like this isn’t just a number change, then you might want to look at yourself in the mirror and see if you have to put in a little more effort in.'”

Since Bowman took over the 88 in 2018 following Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s retirement, the team has sat on the front row of the Daytona 500 every year. This includes the 2018 pole. Earnhardt also qualified on the front row in 2017.

Ives believes they could have a shot at the front row this year.

“We have a great history of qualifying well. I wish I could take the credit for that but … I’ve assembled a great team around me to know where we need to push the limits,” he said. “The quality of cars Hendrick Motorsports produce, from the engine shop to the chassis shop to our speedway specialists, (they) do a great job of paying attention to all the details.

“A lot of things have to fall in line for you to not only get the front row and the pole but do it as consistently as we have. I feel our chances are great, but as soon as you start getting complacent, that’s when those tides can turn. We’re pushing hard and trying to do everything we can to get where we need to be.”

Last year the 88 team found victory lane early in the season, winning the third race in the 2020 campaign at the Auto Club Speedway. They finished the year strong, with seven top 10’s in the 10 rounds of the playoffs, including three top 5’s.

“We have a great team. We’re meshing well,” said Ives. “The playoffs was definitely a good showing for that.

“Basically, it’s just a number and sponsor change for us bringing Ally on board. They have a lot of involvement in the team. I’m looking to have some stability in Alex and a new image.”

While statistics can reflect quite a bit of a team’s performance, they’re only part of the story according to Ives.

“A lot of it is confidence,” he said. “I think that’s something that Alex and I have been continuously building from really great second place runs and finally getting a win.”

On the other hand, said Ives, success doesn’t come without some bumps in the road.

“We make our share of mistakes, whether it’s a pit call, getting in the wall early, or little mess up on pit road,” he said. “But, the number one goal through all those mistakes is to have each others’ backs to make sure we learn from them, push through it and do the right thing the next time and make the right decision.”

Ives is one of a select few to emerge from the U.P. racing scene to make it to the professional level, something he cherishes to this day.

“It’s pretty special for me,” he said. “I still get, I wouldn’t say emotional, but it sends a chill down my spine just thinking about the path it took me to get here.”

With support from his father and brother, Ives cut his teeth racing and working on cars in the U.P. at tracks like Norway Speedway. However, if it was from the insistence of his mother, Ives might not be where he is now.

“You had to make a decision early on in your life on what your projection was going to be,” he said. “Mine changed to racing. And that was guidance from my mom telling me I needed to be an engineer instead of a doctor and pursue my racing career instead of being a pediatrician like I initially set out to be.”

As the 2021 NASCAR season rolls off this week, Ives is trying to stay positive both on the track and off as everyone deals with changes and the continued unknowns of COVID-19.

“Yes, I want to go win races and championships, but I want to make sure people are enjoying their time as we’re doing it,” he said. “And I do, too. I don’t want to be miserable through change. I want to make sure I can be as healthy as I can and happy as I can.”

The 48 team kicked off competition in Daytona last night with a 7th place finish in the Busch Clash. Daytona 500 Pole qualifying can be seen on Fox Sports 1 tonight at 7 p.m.

The traditional qualifying races will be Thursday at 7:00 p.m. with coverage on FS1.

The Daytona 500 can be seen on Fox Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Of course, Ives will be atop the pitbox for all of these events.