It’s almost that time of year again! While NASCAR hasn’t officially designated Darlington Raceway a Throwback weekend, some teams are still choosing to sport paint schemes resembling those from the past.
Darlington itself will still have a Legends Parade on Saturday (March 21) and former drivers will make an appearance. But NASCAR isn’t asking teams to run the special designs this year.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series kicks off the weekend on Friday night (March 20) at 7:30 p.m. ET, airing on FOX Sports 1. Then on Saturday, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series runs at 5:30 p.m. on The CW.
The weekend closes with the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday (March 22) at 3 p.m. and will be on FS1.
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Now without further ado, here are the throwback schemes announced so far. If a driver isn’t listed, the team may not have yet announced it or decided not to pay tribute.
Cup Series
All of RFK Racing’s cars will have the same number font and similar design that Greg Biffle had when he drove the No. 16. Keselowski’s resembles the Scotch-Brite Ford from 2010.
Buescher’s No. 17 is similar to the No. 16 from 2010 when Biffle won the pole at Texas Motor Speedway for RFK.
Gilliland’s throwing back to Bill Elliott‘s No. 9 Coors car from 1985. Elliott won both Darlington races in this scheme.
Smith’s No. 38 resembles Elliott Sadler‘s No. 21 Citgo scheme that he drove in the Brickyard 400 in 2000.
The No. 43 will have a similar scheme as Wally Dallenbach Jr.’s car from 1994.
The No. 60 of Preece throws back to Biffle’s primary 3M scheme from 2009 in the Daytona 500.
Hocevar is honoring Dale Earnhardt with his iconic 1981 blue and yellow design.
O’Reilly Series
Smithley ran the red car with a yellow No. 0 in 2016 when he drove for JD Motorsports.
Like RFK, Thompson and Sam Hunt Racing are also honoring Biffle. The No. 26 will have the same design as Biffle’s No. 16 3M car from 2011.
Another tribute to the late Greg Biffle, this time to when Biffle won the Southern 500 in 2006.
The No. 87’s scheme honors Austin Green’s father David Green, who won the O’Reilly championship in 1994.
Truck Series
The Mopar logo on Allmendinger’s car is a throwback to itself from the 1990s.
The red-and-white Safelite livery will have black flames like Johnny Benson‘s 2008 scheme. Benson won five times en route to the championship that season.
Queen’s No. 12 will pay tribute to the Cummins Diesel No. 28 car from 1952, the first NTT IndyCar Series car that was tested in a wind tunnel. It also was the only diesel car to win a pole for the Indianapolis 500.
Tyrrell’s truck will have the bright red colors of Robert Pressley and Bill Lester‘s Dodge trucks from 2002.
Darrell Waltrip‘s 1995 Western Auto truck is the basis for Ruggiero’s scheme.
Team Reaume’s honoring the late Michael Annett, with the No. 22 sporting a similar design as Annett’s first O’Reilly win at Daytona.
LaJoie’s honoring his father, Randy LaJoie, who drove the red and white Dodge truck in 2004.
After a fan vote, Muniz will drive a scheme likened to Dave Blaney’s No. 93 Pontiac from 2000.
