With NASCAR headed to the historic Darlington Raceway this weekend, many teams and drivers in the Truck, Xfinity and Cup Series are sporting paint schemes that throw it back to iconic cars from the 76-year history of NASCAR.
While there are many eye-catching schemes this year, five stand out among the rest. Here are the best NASCAR throwback schemes of 2024.
5. Harrison Burton, No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Wood Brothers Racing (Cup Series). Throwback: Leonard Wood’s 1953 “Leonard Wood Special”
While Burton’s performance on the racetrack has been less than stellar this season, he and the Wood Brothers delivered with a throwback scheme that winds back the clock 71 years. As one of the oldest and most historic teams in the garage area, the Wood Brothers always have an abundance of old schemes to choose from, and they nailed it this season. While Burton likely won’t contend for the win on Sunday at Darlington, he did finish sixth there in the spring race last year, so he’ll have more expectations placed on his shoulders than usual.
4. Jack Wood, No. 91 Chevrolet Silverado, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing (Truck Series). Throwback: Tim Flock’s 1952 “Hudson Hornet”
NASCAR Hall of Famer Tim Flock drove his 1952 Hudson to the NASCAR Strictly Stock (now NASCAR Cup Series) championship in 1952. In a car owned by Ted Chester, Flock quickly carved out a name for himself, and both he and his famous racecar are forever immortalized in racing history. Wood didn’t run the Truck Series race at Darlington in 2023 but did so in 2022, finishing 18th for the now defunct GMS Racing. While Flock never won at Darlington in the Cup Series, he did finish top five twice and top 10 four times in his nine Darlington starts. Regardless of where Wood runs on Friday night, though, the No. 91 truck will look fantastic as it pays homage to one of the greatest pioneers of stock-car racing.
3. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro, Hendrick Motorsports (Cup Series). Throwback: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 2014 Daytona 500-winning car
One of the more recent throwbacks of the weekend, NASCAR’s current most popular driver will pay tribute to its former most popular driver at Darlington. Earnhardt Jr. won the 2014 Daytona 500 in a beautiful red, white and gold car that was sponsored by the National Guard. While it will be UniFirst on the hood of Elliott’s car this weekend, his No. 9 car nearly perfectly resembles the car that Earnhardt drove to victory in the 2014 Great American Race. Elliott finished third at Darlington last May, so expect him to have a chance at putting an iconic scheme back in victory lane for the first time in a decade.
2. Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro, Alpha Prime Racing (Xfinity Series). Throwback: Cole Trickle’s City Chevrolet scheme from “Days of Thunder”
The only thing keeping this scheme from the No. 1 slot is the fact that it’s not an actual piece of racing history, but a scheme that has been perfectly recreated from an iconic NASCAR film will still score high with fans. Ellis’ sponsor, Classic Collision, has even willingly played along, forming their logo to fit inside the classic Chevy bowtie that will adorn the hood of Ellis’ car in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. The only thing that could make this scheme any better is if the No. 43 team somehow got Tom Cruise, who played Trickle in the 1990 film, to the racetrack. Ellis will be looking to “drop the hammer” on Saturday as he searches for his first Xfinity Series win.
1. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro, Hendrick Motorsports (Cup Series). Throwback: Terry Labonte’s 1990s Kellogg’s scheme
Two-time Cup Series champion “Texas Terry” Labonte will hand over the reins of his iconic scheme to 2021 champion Kyle Larson, who beat Chris Buescher to the line in the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history on Sunday at Kansas. Labonte drove the red and green car from 1994 to 1999, winning the 1996 NASCAR Cup Series championship with Kellogg’s proudly displayed on the hood. Aside from the obvious difference in sponsor logos, the cars of Larson and Labonte look nearly identical, and Larson has a good shot of putting the 2024 version in victory lane on Sunday. He won the Southern 500 at Darlington last September, so expect him to be in the mix for another win at The Lady in Black.
–Samuel Stubbs, Field Level Media