Darlington Raceway is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2025, having opened in 1950 as NASCAR‘s first track longer than a mile and been a staple on the Cup Series since then. On par for such an iconic history and reputation, the track’s Goodyear 400 weekend is a time for teams and drivers to honour the past with special liveries on their cars.
The “Throwback Weekend” began in 2015 to commemorate with the return of the Southern 500 before the theme was moved to the Goodyear 400 five years later since Darlington wanted to promote the fall event as a playoff race.
While a tradition that many fans enjoy, some drivers aren’t in the festive spirit. Roughly half of the field will run their usual liveries including everyone at 23XI Racing, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Spire Motorsports, and Trackhouse Racing. Both NASCAR race winners at Darlington in 2024, Brad Keselowski and Chase Briscoe, are among those not taking part despite doing throwbacks last year.
Spire driver Carson Hocevar opined there is little reason to run a throwback if fans do not recognise it. He also feels throwbacks are not worth it if poorly executed, especially due to the Next Gen car having a different number placement.
But this article isn’t about those party poopers. What throwbacks will Sunday’s race bring?
NASCAR Cup Series throwbacks for Darlington
#2 Austin Cindric: Dale Earnhardt’s #2 car
While Dale Earnhardt is synonymous with #3, his early successes came with a lower digit. He began racing full-time in the Cup Series in 1979 in the #2 Chevrolet for Rod Osterlund’s team, winning Rookie of the Year honours. In 1980, he won five times en route to his first of seven championships. Earnhardt remained in the #2 through late 1981.
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Austin Cindric’s #2 will pay tribute to that three-year stretch for “The Intimidator”. Daimler Truck North America, the parent company of Cindric’s sponsor Freightliner Trucks, has an assembly plant in South Carolina that is roughly 150 miles away from Darlington. His Freightliner schemes are usually black and blue, but willl adopt the blue-and-yellow look of Earnhardt’s #2.
“There are few names in our sport more recognisable than Earnhardt. The opportunity to pay tribute to a legend, while also recognizing the incredible history of the #2 in NASCAR, was the goal behind this scheme,” Cindric explained. “Freightliner has always been an incredible partner for us at Team Penske and played a key role in bringing this vision to life. We’ve had a lot of fun working through the details, and I hope our car stands out for fans at the track and those tuning in during Darlington Throwback Weekend.”
#4 Noah Gragson: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR debut
Noah Gragson was one of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s protégés and raced for him in the Xfinity Series, so it made sense for Gragson to consider honouring his mentor at some point. In 2025’s case, his #4 car at Darlington will be modelled after the #31 Chevrolet that Earnhardt raced when he competed in NASCAR for the first time.
After growing up in short track racing, Earnhardt made his NASCAR début with the #31 in the Busch Series in 1996. It was coloured black with red trim, not unlike the #3 of his father, with sponsorship from the Mom N’ Pops frozen food line. He finished 14th at Myrtle Beach in his lone race with the car before acquiring other sponsors for 1997.
#5 Kyle Larson: Terry Labonte’s 2003 Kellogg’s car
Like in 2024, Kyle Larson’s #5 will honour the #5 of Hendrick Motorsports‘ two-time champion Terry Labonte. While that year’s car was a nod to Labonte’s Corn Flakes scheme, 2025’s is designed after the Kellogg’s #5 that Labonte raced in 2003.
Labonte, the 1984 and 1996 Cup champion (the second coming with Hendrick), previously raced a yellow-green-red livery with sponsorship from the Kellogg’s food producer. In 2002, his car switched to a predominantly blue base with orange-and-black tiger stripes in reference to Tony the Tiger, the mascot for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal brand.
In 2003, Labonte scored his 22nd and final Cup Series win with the tiger-themed car at Darlington; it was also the site of his first win in 1980. He ran one more full-time season in the #5 before scaling back into semi-retirement.
#9 Chase Elliott: Ken Schrader’s 1994 Kodiak car
Chase Elliott’s #9 will feature a throwback to former Hendrick driver Ken Schrader’s #25 car that he drove in 1994, though one might have to squint in order to get the reference.
In his seventh season with Hendrick Motorsports, Schrader finished a career-best fourth in points. 1994 was also his final year with sponsorship from Kodiak, a dipping tobacco line that previously won the 1989 Cup championship with Rusty Wallace before joining Schrader’s team. Ironically, Kodiak left Hendrick afterwards to sponsor Ricky Craven, whose car Larson honoured for his 2019 throwback.
While his winning days were behind him, having last won a race in 1991, he remained a stalwart at HMS through 1996.
#10 Ty Dillon: Patty Moise’s 1989 Beaver Street Fisheries car
Ty Dillon’s NASCAR throwback for Darlington came about via his sponsor Beaver Street Fisheries. Decades before partnering with Dillon, the seafood exporter was a sponsor on the #45 car driver Patty Moise.
Moise ran 12 Busch Series races in 1989 for her own team. Being a small operation, she didn’t see much in the way of results with three top-20 finishes. She also made two Cup starts in the #45 in what were ultimately her final appearances at NASCAR’s top level.
Although mostly known for her marriage to fellow driver and current NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer, Moise is the first woman to lead a lap in an Xfinity Series race. An IMSA driver before heading to NASCAR, she led 18 laps at Road Atlanta in 1987 en route to an eighth-place finish.
#11 Denny Hamlin: Carl Edwards’ Office Depot car
Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards were team-mates at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015 to 2016. However, Hamlin decided to pay tribute to his friend’s career at rival outfit Roush Racing for his NASCAR throwback at Darlington.
Hamlin’s #11 Sports Clips Toyota is based on the #99 Office Depot-sponsored Ford that Edwards raced from 2005 to 2008. Edwards won 11 times in the red-and-black car, including his final race with Office Depot backing.
A new inductee into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Edwards will be the honourary starter for Sunday’s race.
“Winning here in 2015 and returning for NASCAR’s 75th anniversary celebration in 2023 are two of the greatest moments of my career, so I’m honoured to have the opportunity to wave the green flag for the Goodyear 400,” said Edwards.
#12 Ryan Blaney: Dave Blaney’s lone NASCAR winner
NASCAR star Ryan Blaney will be honouring his dad Dave Blaney’s 2006 Busch Series car at Darlington.
The older Blaney scored his only NASCAR win that year at Charlotte while competing part-time in the Busch Series for Braun Racing. Blaney ran seven races that year in tandem with being a full-time Cup driver for Bill Davis Racing.
#20 Christopher Bell: Rick Ferkel’s sprint car
Christopher Bell began his career in dirt track racing, so it was a natural pick for him to draw from that discipline. For 2025, his #20 will be based on the sprint car that his mentor Rick Ferkel raced.
Nicknamed the “Ohio Traveler”, Ferkel won over 400 feature races. Ferkel passed away in 2024, and Bell has honoured him with each race by affixing a sticker on his car’s dashboard. Bell’s #19 Xfinity Series car for Saturday’s race will also sport a tribute to Ferkel.
“Rick really helped put me on the national scene by giving me my first opportunity in a full-blown sprint car,” said Bell. “He hired me to drive a sprint car when I was a 16-year-old kid. I moved in with him and his family for a while.
“After I left Rick Ferkel Racing, he became a life mentor, a driver coach, and someone that I would lean on every week for advice, and he’d check in to see how I was doing. Rick always preached to me to make sure I drove as hard as I could at all times, and I’m honoured to get to pay tribute to him at Darlington.”
#21 Josh Berry: Jim Clark’s 1965 Indy 500 winner
Wood Brothers Racing is NASCAR’s oldest active team, having operated since 1950. However, the team also has a history in IndyCar, having won the 1965 Indianapolis 500 as the pit crew for Jim Clark and his Lotus.
In the early 1960s, the Wood Brothers were the pioneers of the modern pit stop that emphasised speed and efficiency. Lotus boss Colin Chapman was impressed by their work and reached out to Ford, who has a factory partnership with WBR to this day, asking if they could service Clark for the 1965 Indy 500.
The Wood Brothers’ role in the race was limited to refuelling Clark’s car, and they agreed not to change tyres unless absolutely necessary; if something went awry, the Lotus crew would step in.
Even if adding fuel was their only responsibility, their insight from doing so in NASCAR proved vital in speeding up the process since Lotus was experimenting with a new gas tank that used a venturi, which relies on gravity to flow fuel into the car rather than pressure.
Clark’s rear-engined Lotus would go on to win the race, subsequently going on to become the only person to claim both the Indy 500 and the Formula 1 World Championship in the same year.
60 years later, Josh Berry’s #21 Ford will swap out its red-and-white livery for the British racing green of Clark’s Lotus 38. While the red Motorcraft logo on the sides stick out, even that is compliant with the throwback as Clark often had his name on his Lotuses inside a red rectangle. The team will also serve as the Goodyear 400’s grand marshals.
“When we were asked by Ford Motor Company to pit Jim Clark’s car for the Indy 500, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our family,” said team owner Leonard Wood.
“We were just a group of guys from Stuart, Virginia, working on stock cars, and suddenly, we were part of something that would become a unique part of our history. To see that same scheme now on our #21 Ford Mustang for Throwback Weekend at Darlington is really special. It brings back a lot of memories, and it’s a great way to honor that moment.”
#22 Joey Logano: Cale Yarborough’s 1976 car
Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano’s #22 will pay tribute to Cale Yarborough’s streak of three consecutive Cup titles at Darlington, a run that began in 1976 with nine wins to beat Richard Petty by 195 points.
1976 was Yarborough’s second full season with Junior Johnson’s team, with whom he drove the #11 Chevrolet with Holly Farms backing.
#24 William Byron: Jeff Gordon’s final #24 car
Jeff Gordon made the #24 a household name in NASCAR with his four championships and 93 victories. A decade after Gordon’s last full-time season, his successor William Byron will pilot a silver #24 car based on the one that Gordon drove at the 2015 season finale. Gordon finished sixth in that race, though it would not be his final action in the Cup Series as he did eight races in 2016 as an injury replacement for Earnhardt Jr.
#34 Todd Gilliland: Ray Fox’s car
Justin Fox is the rear tyre changer on Todd Gilliland’s #34 car. While his role typically goes under the radar, his family has a deep history in NASCAR as his dad Ray Fox III is Blaney’s car chief while grandfather Ray Fox Jr. was a longtime employee at Robert Yates’ team.
His great-grandfather Ray Fox was an engine builder and team owner who prepared cars for greats like Fireball Roberts, Buck and Buddy Baker, David Pearson, and Cale Yarborough.
The eldest Fox’s expertise would lead to moments like Roberts winning at Daytona in 1955 with an illegal car, the last time a win was taken away until NASCAR resumed disqualifications in 2019, and Junior Johnson’s 1960 Daytona 500 machine that would pioneer the art of drafting. Afterwards, NASCAR hired him as an engine inspector. Ray Fox Sr. died in 2014 and is an inductee of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
According to Justin, Gilliland and the team had been fielding ideas for a throwback before he raised the possibility of a Ray Fox scheme.
#38 Zane Smith: Long John Silver’s tribute
Zane Smith’s #38 will use the same throwback that former Front Row Motorsports colleague Michael McDowell had on his #34 in 2024. Both cars are sponsored by Long John Silver’s, a fast food chain in which FRM boss Bob Jenkins owns some franchises.
Reflecting the company’s name, LJS used to have a mascot of a pirate with a parrot. Like with McDowell, Smith’s car will feature both on the door.
#41 Cole Custer: Jimmy Spencer’s 2000 Target car
In a just world, Kyle Busch would be running a throwback to his older brother Kurt and start a feud with Cole Custer on Sunday.
Custer’s #41 is based on the #41 Target-backed Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge that Jimmy Spencer raced in 2002. While he only spent a year in the car before heading to Ultra Motorsports, Spencer had his moments like a runner-up finish at Bristol and a fourth at Daytona. However, his brief stint with CGR was perhaps best defined by his rivalry with Kurt Busch, which persisted into later years.
#42 John Hunter Nemechek: Joe Nemechek’s 1998 car
In 1997, Joe Nemechek began racing the #42 Chevrolet for Team SABCO. Later that year, his son John Hunter Nemechek was born.
Over 28 years later, the younger Nemechek will honour his dad at Darlington through his #42 Toyota. His throwback is based on the BellSouth Mobility #42 that Joe raced from 1997 to 1999, during which he scored a best points finish of 26th in 1998.
Although John Hunter’s car has a different colour palette due to his sponsor Dollar Tree, the pattern still resembles the BellSouth car down to the slightly askew numbers.
#43 Erik Jones: John Andretti’s 1998 car
Nemechek’s Legacy Motor Club colleague Erik Jones drives the legendary #43 car, so it feels like a guarantee that his throwback is based on a car from the Petty family. Indeed, his throwback also dates back to 1998.
The first full season for John Andretti at Legacy’s predecessor Petty Enterprises was 1998, rejoining the team and the #43 STP car after finishing out the 1997 slate with them. Although he failed to win a race, he impressed with a career-best 11th in the Cup Series table and a best finish of third on two occasions.
He broke through the following year by winning at Martinsville. It was the final win for Petty Enterprises and the last for the #43 until Aric Almirola in 2014. The #43 would not return to Victory Lane in a full-distance Cup race until Jones won at Darlington in 2022.
Andretti passed away in 2020.
#48 Alex Bowman: Jimmie Johnson’s 2012 Darlington winner
Like Jones with the #43 and Byron with the #24, Alex Bowman had massive shoes to fill when he took over the #48 from Jimmie Johnson in 2021. Given the number’s legacy, throwing back to Johnson’s old cars was an obvious choice.
Bowman’s #48 will be coloured black with white striping, designed to resemble the #48 Kobalt Tools car that Johnson drove to victory at Darlington in 2012. That win was the 200th for Hendrick Motorsports.
#51 Cody Ware: Ward Burton’s Caterpillar car
Cody Ware’s #51 is an homage to Rick Ware Racing competition director and crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr.
Baldwin was employed by Bill Davis Racing from 1998 to 2003, where he worked on the #22 Caterpillar car piloted by Ward Burton. The tandem provided strong results for a traditionally second-tier operation, winning four races together including the 2002 Daytona 500. Burton and Baldwin also won at Darlington together in 2000 and 2001.
