Ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series’ Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, teams and their drivers are revealing their old-school paint schemes, which are part of the throwback tradition of this race weekend.
It’s a chance for drivers to celebrate their own racing roots, honor previous drivers of their cars or pay tribute to legends of the sport. And while several teams have some great looks for their cars this weekend, it’s likely none will top the duo of Trackhouse Racing’s two cars, driven by Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez.
For their throwback paint schemes, Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet and Suárez’s No. 99 Chevrolet, with the help of sponsor Coca-Cola, will celebrate Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. with an homage to the cars the father-son duo raced at an exhibition event at Japan’s Twin Ring Motegi on November 22, 1998. Though it was an exhibition race, it was the first time Earnhardt Sr. and Earnhardt Jr. competed in Cup cars against each other.
In that race, Dale Sr. was behind the wheel of his iconic No. 3 Chevrolet, while Dale Jr. was in the No. 1 Chevrolet. Both were sponsored by Coca-Cola too. And Chastain’s and Suárez’s throwback paint schemes are nearly identical to the Earnhardts’ rides from 24 years ago.
2 NASCAR Hall of Famers, 1 iconic brand. The past and the present collide this weekend in Darlington.@CocaColaRacing | @DaleJr | @Daniel_SuarezG | @RossChastain pic.twitter.com/IIW9XIzyVx
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) May 3, 2022
Yeah, these are perfect @TeamTrackhouse.@RossChastain | @Daniel_SuarezG pic.twitter.com/CeyH0kekas
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 3, 2022
NASCAR fans, and specifically Earnhardt fans, are sure to love these looks when they hit the track Sunday. And Dale Jr. loved it too when Trackhouse co-owner and founder Justin Marks unveiled the schemes to him recently during this week’s episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast.
“The No. 1 almost takes my breath [away],” Earnhardt told Marks. “It’s the car. When you do throwbacks… it’s really unique. It’s almost like an eclipse when you can do the sponsor, the colors and the numbers in right font and everything. That’s the car.
“And you’re in a unique position to include both cars, so it’s such a special thing. I don’t know if you’ll ever have that all come together like that again.”
Two Guests. Car Unveil. And MUCH more.
Tonight on The @DaleJr Download. pic.twitter.com/0mUM8Zopk2
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) May 3, 2022
Referenced in both the podcast episode and clip above, the Earnhardts’ race in Japan is infamous for what happened after: Dale Sr. threw a shoe at Dale Jr. As we’ve previously written, the pair got into it a little bit on the track, and things escalated afterward in their trailer.
As Earnhardt Jr. explained to then-podcast co-host Tyler Overstreet in 2017:
“It went right by my head though – very close. I was looking down untying or tying my shoes, and it came by at a high rate of speed. It would have hurt if it had hit me.”
“Do you think that situation would have escalated if he had connected?” Overstreet asked.
“I know his aim ain’t that great, so I think his intention was to hit me because it came pretty close. But God, man – if it’d had hit me, then we would have both been pissed. That wouldn’t have been good.”
But regardless of flying shoes, Trackhouse’s throwback paint schemes for Darlington this weekend are fantastic, and NASCAR fans raved about them, with some declaring them the best paint schemes of the weekend already.
