The 7 Best Old-School Liveries from NASCAR's Throwback Weekend
Ever since 2015, NASCAR has celebrated a "throwback weekend" annually at Darlington Raceway. Just as a baseball team might have a throwback night where the team's players don an classic jersey, NASCAR teams celebrate by wrapping their cars in designs from the past.
But some are better than others, and in our minds, these seven are the best retro paint schemes set to run during the 2025 Darlington throwback weekend on April 5-6.In addition to being NASCAR's oldest continuously-operated team, the Wood Brothers once worked with Lotus and Ford at the 1965 Indianapolis 500. F1 legend Jim Clark won that race, the first-ever win for a mid-engined car in the event. Clark's race car is now the inspiration for what might just be the best NASCAR throwback ever.2024 champion Joey Logano is wearing colors last used by Cale Yarborough in 1976. That car wasn't actually sponsored by Shell Pennzoil, but older number fonts and wordmarks help sell the '70s look.Bell, who is fresh off winning three straight races, is running two different throwback liveries that pay tribute to a dirt racing mentor of his named Rick Ferkel. He will run the yellow scheme in the main Cup Series race and the white one in the Xfinity Series support race.For the second straight year, Kyle Larson is driving a heavily stylized Hendrick Cars livery that pays tribute to a Terry Labonte scheme. This one is a reference to Labonte's 2003 Southern 500 winner at Darlington, a car sponsored by Kellogg's brand Frosted Flakes.Byron's throwback pays tribute to Jeff Gordon's last race in the 24 Hendrick Motorsports car that he made iconic. Gordon notably raced more in relief of Dale Earnhardt Jr. during the 2016 season, but this livery from the 2015 season was his last as a full-time driver.Just as the team has chosen to do with the 24 and the 5, Hendrick Motorsports has opted to run a livery from the 48's past at Darlington. This one is a tribute to Jimmie Johnson's 2012 Southern 500 winner, although Ally logos replace the Lowe's branding seen on the original car.Yes, Tony Stewart once ran a 3 Doors Down car in a NASCAR race. Dale Jr. was involved with that program more than 20 years ago, and now Dale Jr. is the team owner on this Xfinity Series entry paying tribute to it.
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