This weekend, the Sprint Cup Series returns to Darlington Raceway over the traditional Labor Day weekend for the Bojangles Southern 500 on Sunday, September 6th and NBC is broadcasting the event starting at 7 pm ET. We’re celebrating 16 famous and inspirational paint schemes from years gone by that Sprint Cup drivers will proudly race on Sunday.
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Brad Keselowski is driving the No. 2 this weekend, and is sporting this Miller High Life scheme, a throwback to NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison’s 1983 championship season
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Austin Dillon’s colors this week honor his grandfather – and team owner – Richard Childress, who started 285 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races as a driver.
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Kasey Kahne in the No. 5 paint scheme honors the No. 5 All-Star Racing Chevrolet driven by Geoffrey Bodine in 1984, Rick Hendrick’s first year in NASCAR.
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Trevor Bayne’s car is a tribute to the 1998 No. 6 Ford driven by Mark Martin to a career-high seven wins.
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Sam Hornish Jr is driving with Winn Dixie and a scheme reminiscent of the one Mark Martin drove to Victory Lane 39 times in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.
1973: Driving Kar Kare-sponsored Chevrolets owned by Richard Howard and wrenched by Junior Johnson, Cale Yarborough won three NASCAR Cup races during the year. Yarborough finished in the top five in 16 of the 28 races, won five pole positions, and finished second in Cup points. (Photo by ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)
Denny Hamlin is driving the red-and-white paint scheme similar to the No. 11 driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough in the 1970s.
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Clint Bowyer car has this hand-painted scheme and is the same as the No. 15 driven by Buddy Baker in 1974.
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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the No. 17 is driving a replica of the No. 17 driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson for Holman-Moody from 1968-71, when he won two of his three championships.
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Jeb Burton’s paint scheme honors the colors his father Ward drove to victory in the 2001 Southern 500 and 2002 Daytona 500.
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Chase Elliott is running the design of the No. 25 honoring Elliott’s NASCAR Hall of Fame dad, Bill, and the car in which he won the Winston Million in 1985.
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Josh Wise will run the paint scheme used by Ricky Craven when he beat Kurt Busch in the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington in the closest race in NASCAR history. It was also the last time the No. 32 visited Victory Lane.
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Landon Cassill’s car will have fans remembering when Sterling Marlin ran this “Proud to be an American” paint scheme in 2001, shortly after the 9/11 attacks.
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Aric Almirola’s sponsor and colors honor boss Richard Petty, and his 1972 Plymouth – the first year of the historic pairing
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Justin Allgaier’s red paint scheme is a nod to racing legend A.J. Foyt’s car driven in the 1970s.
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David Ragan is honoring his father Ken with a paint scheme he raced in 1987.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.is driving the Valvoline paint scheme honoring one driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough in the early 1980s, including his 1982 Southern 500 win.