Throwback Weekend at Darlington is here! The Goodyear 400 is going to look like a blast from the past with these great paint schemes. Not going to lie, this week was much harder to choose the top-5 schemes in the NASCAR Cup Series. But somehow, someway, we did it.
This weekend we have paint schemes from just about every era of racing you can think of. When a team and driver put together a throwback scheme, there is a lot to consider. Some drivers go for their favorite driver, others go with their boss, and some stick with an old family design from past generations.
Not only will we see the Goodyear 400 covered with throwback designs, but the tires themselves are a throwback. 3,500 tires will be marked this weekend with the old-school Goodyear Tires logo as NASCAR celebrates 75 years and Goodyear celebrates 125. No yellow font, we’re going back to the classic white lettering.
Those tires are only going to make these great schemes pop even more during the Goodyear 400.
Top-5 throwback paint schemes for Goodyear 400
To start off, Aric Almirola is throwing it back to 2001. One of the most emotional wins in NASCAR history. Perhaps even a saving grace for the sport following the death of Dale Earnhardt.
Almirola is bringing that classic Dale Earnhardt Jr. scheme back from his Daytona win 22 years ago. The baseball design is still one of the best ever.
Of course, Chase Elliott is bringing one of his dad’s old schemes back to the track this weekend. Elliott will rock his dad’s Evernham Motorsports design from 2001-2003. Elliott saw his dad, Bill, win a handful of races in that car and it inspired him to pursue his own career in racing.
This one gets on the list for a lot of reasons, but the font on the No. 9 and the “Happy Mother’s Day” message make this almost perfect.
Keeping in the same vein of family throwbacks, Corey LaJoie is once again putting triple numbers on his car. While NASCAR drivers feel that those triple digits are unlucky, LaJoie might avoid the issue since he’s still officially the No. 7 car.
Don LaJoie was a NASCAR Modified driver from way back. He etched his name in the northeast, based out of Connecticut. This is my personal favorite.
One of the best sponsorships this year has to be Daniel Suárez in the No. 99 car picking up the Quaker State sponsorship. The 99 has the real deal sponsor for this design. Ricky Rudd was a driver that many fans loved during his time in the Cup Series.
Now, one of his most iconic designs is back again.
Finally, we have a classic Jeff Gordon scheme. Gordon was given the nod to represent NASCAR during the 50th anniversary of the sport. 1998 was a long time ago now, but this color-changing scheme is back for the 75th anniversary and it looks as good as it did all those years ago.
William Byron is reviving this scheme for the Goodyear 400 and it should look great on the track. Say, wasn’t 1998 a pretty big year for the No. 24 car?
Those five schemes stood out among the crowd for many reasons. Whether it was a family tradition, the uniqueness of the design, or NASCAR history, these each have something special about them besides the wrap on the car.
The Goodyear 400 is just two days away! Throwback Weekend gets started when the Truck Series hits the track for practice and qualifying on Friday afternoon, approximately 3:00 PM EST on FS1.
