The Old School Sports Blog: May 2021

Since 2015, NASCAR has used its traditional Labor Day Weekend race in Darlington, South Carolina to celebrate the past of the sports as numerous drivers have driven throwback paint schemes during the Southern 500.

The event has became popular with the fans and drivers but this year there has been a tweak to the weekend as Darlington was given a second race weekend for the top three divisions in NASCAR, which they decided to use as the Throwback Weekend.

Below are almost all of the throwback paint schemes that will be used in the Goodyear 400, the NASCAR Cup race, and the paint schemes that the drivers will be honoring.

Anthony Alfredo

Alfredo will be one of three drivers to honor 1992 Cup Champion Alan Kulwicki, as Alfredo's paint scheme will replicate the one Kulwicki used when he drove in the 1985 Xfinity Series.

Aric Almirola

Almirola will be using a paint scheme almost identical to the one Mark Martin drove to a win in the 2000 Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Josh Bilicki

Bilicki will be paying tribute to Lennie Pond with this paint scheme nearly identical to the one Pond used in the famous 1979 Daytona 500.

Ryan Blaney

Blaney will be throwing it back to himself as his car will replicate a paint scheme that he used that during the 2010 PASS Series season, a late model race car series.

Alex Bowman

Bowman will pay tribute to his crew chief, Greg Ives, with this paint scheme that Ives used when he drove late model cars in the late 1990s.

Chase Briscoe

Briscoe will honor his car owner Tony Stewart's idol, A.J. Foyt, with a paint scheme that is nearly identical to the one Foyt used for five NASCAR cup races during the 1986 season.

Kyle Busch

Going against the grain, Busch will be throwing it back for his sponsor, M&M's, with this paint scheme to celebrate the candy's 80th anniversary.

William Byron

Byron will be throwing it back to 1988 with this paint scheme that resembles the one used by Neil Bonnett, who won two races which were the final two wins of his Winston Cup career.

Ross Chastain

Chastain will throw back it to the mid 1990s with this paint scheme reminiscent of the one used by Hut Stricklin in 1993, then by Jimmy Spencer in 1994 who drove it to his only two career Cup wins.

James Davison

The Australian driver will pay tribute to one of his country's racing heroes in Dick Johnson who drove in seven Winston Cup races between the years of 1989 + 1990.

Austin Dillon

Dillon will honor of the sport's greatest legends in Fireball Roberts with this paint scheme that Roberts used during the 1959 Cup season.

Chase Elliott

The second driver to honor Alan Kulwicki will be the defending NASCAR Cup Champion, will be using the famous Hooters paint scheme that Kulwicki used for his 1992 Cup championship season.

Justin Haley

Haley's paint scheme will closely resemble the one used by Robert Pressley during the 1998 + 99 Winston Cup seasons.

Denny Hamlin

Hamlin will honor a local hero in Daniel "Slick" Johnson, a driver from nearby Florence, South Carolina who used this paint scheme in a number of Cup races during the 1983 Winston Cup season.

Kevin Harvick

Harvick will throw it back to his very first career Cup start with a paint scheme similar to the one he used in his Winston Cup debut at Rockingham in 2001 when took over the car departed by the late Dale Earnhardt.

Quin Houff

Houff will honor the late John Andretti, who passed away last year at the age of 56 after a battle with colon cancer, with this paint scheme reminiscent of the one Andretti had when he won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in 1997 for his first career Cup victory.

Erik Jones

Just like Houff, Jones will honor Andretti with a paint scheme that Andretti used for his second and final Cup victory when he won the spring race at Martinsville in 1999 while driving for Richard Petty.

Kyle Larson

Much like Ryan Blaney, Larson will be throwing it back to himself as he will be using the paint scheme from his very first race car, a go-kart he drove when he was just seven years old.

Corey Lajoie

The third and final paint scheme to pay tribute to Alan Kulwicki will come courtesy of Lajoie, who will be driving the Zerex paint scheme that Kulwicki used during the 1989 + 90 Winston Cup seasons.

Joey Logano

Logano will go outside of NASCAR for his throwback paint scheme which closely resembles the one used by Mario Andretti when he drove to his first career Formula One win in 1971.

Michael McDowell

The 2021 Daytona 500 champion will pay tribute to Bill Elliott, with this paint scheme closely resembling the one "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville" used from his famous 1985 season in which he won 11 races including the Daytona 500 and the Southern 500 to earn the "Winston Million" bonus.

B.J. McLeod

McLeod will pay tribute to Joe Weatherly with a paint scheme that Weatherly drove to a win in the 1963 Southern 500 and the second of his back-to-back Cup championships.

Ryan Newman

Newman will be driving a paint scheme that is reminiscent of the one used by Jeff Miller when he won the 1976 SCCA(Sports Car Club of America)National Championship in the C Sports Racer Division.

Ryan Preece

Just like Alex Bowman, Preece will be paying tribute to his current crew chief, Trent Owens, with this paint scheme that Owens used when he drove in the Craftsman Truck Series back in 2002.

Tyler Reddick

Reddick will honor one of NASCAR's most colorful characters in country singer Marty Robbins, who drove 35 NASCAR cup races with six career top 10 finishes, primarily using a paint scheme similar to the one Reddick will be using.

Daniel Suarez

Suarez's paint scheme will honor one of his sponsors, Camping World, as the company celebrates its 55th anniversary.

Martin Truex Jr

While his paint scheme isn't exactly a duplicate or replica, the 2017 Cup champion will be driving a car with the same matte black colors that he used from 2015-2018 when he drove for Furniture Row Racing.

Bubba Wallace

The series' only Black driver will pay tribute to Wendell Scott, the first Black driver to win a Cup race back in 1961 with his throwback paint scheme from Scott's early days as a NASCAR driver.