Allmendinger's paint scheme will be similar to the one his team used for the 1998 Xfinity Series season with a series of drivers including seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson.
Clint Bowyer
Bowyer will be driving a paint scheme almost identical to the one Ned Jarrett had for his 1965 Southern 500 victory.
Ryan Blaney
Blaney will honor his father, Dave, with a paint scheme that resembles the one Dave had during the 2003 season.
Chris Buescher
Buescher's paint scheme will honor a tribute, but a sponsor, as his paint scheme will resemble what his sponsor, Bush's Baked Beans, looked like in the 1930s.
Kurt Busch
Busch's throwback paint scheme will be the one who drove in the spring 2003 Darlington race, where he lost to Ricky Craven in what some argue is the greatest finish in NASCAR history.
Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch will be bringing back the Skittles paint scheme that Ernie Irvan drove during the 1998 season.
William Byron
The 20-year old rookie will be driving one of the most iconic paint schemes in NASCAR history, Jeff Gordon's famous DuPont rainbow paint scheme that Gordon had on his car from 1993-2000 to which the "Rainbow Warrior" drove to 51 victories and three Cup championships.
Landon Cassill
Cassill's paint scheme will be similar to the one Bobby Allison had when he won the 1988 Daytona 500.
Derrike Cope
Cope will pay tribute to himself with a paint scheme that is identical to the one who he drove during the 1993 season.
Matt DiBendetto
DiBendetto's paint scheme will NBC announcer Jeff Burton's favorite, as it is almost identical to the one Burton drove in the 2000 season to which Burton won four races and finished third in the points.
Austin Dillon
Dillon will honor Dale Earnhardt with "The Intimitador"s famous silver paint scheme that Earnhardt drove in the 1995 All-Star Race.
Ty Dillon
Austin's younger brother will be driving a paint scheme that is identical to the one Max Papis used in the 2009 Cup season, the first season Ty's sponsor, GEICO, was involved with NASCAR.
Jeffrey Earnhardt
The grandson of Dale Earnhardt and nephew of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeffrey Earnhardt will honor his famous grandfather with a paint scheme that "The Intimitador" used in four races in 1978.
Chase Elliott
Elliott will pay tribute to his late cousin, Casey, with a paint scheme that is very close to the one Casey used in the Slim Jim All-Pro Series in 1993, three years before his death because of cancer.
Joey Gase
Gase will drive a paint scheme that closely resembles the one his father, Bob, used to drive the 2003 modified division championship at Hawkeye Downs Speedway in Iowa.
Denny Hamlin
Hamlin's paint scheme will be similar to the car Hamlin drove to began his racing career, a Mini Stock car at Langley Speedway and Southside Speedway in Hamiln's home state of Virginia.
Kevin Harvick
Harvick's paint scheme will closely resemble a can of Busch beer from the 1990s.
Timmy Hill
Hill's paint scheme will be very similar to the one Darrell Waltrip used in his final Cup season back in 2000.
Jimmie Johnson
Johnson will bring back the paint scheme he had for his win in the 2012 Southern 500, which was the 200th victory for Hendrick Motorsports in NASCAR Cup competition.
Erik Jones
Jones's paint scheme will honor his spotter, Rick Carelli, who drove in the Camping World Truck Series to four career victories.
Corey LaJoie
LaJoie will honor his father, Randy, with a paint scheme that resembles the one Randy had when he won back-to-back Xfinity Series championships in 1996 + 97.
Kasey Kahne
In what very likely will be his very Southern 500, Kahne will drive a paint scheme similar to the one Kasey used in the 2006 season where Kahne drove to six of his 18 career wins.
Brad Keselowski
Keselowski will be driving a paint scheme reminiscent of the one Rusty Wallace had in 1990, to which Rusty drove to two victories including the Coca-Cola 600.
Kyle Larson
At first glance, it doesn't look like that Larson's paint scheme is a throwback, but if you look at the three stripes, it is similar to the stripes on Davey Allison's car from 1987-89.
Joey Logano
Logano will be bringing back the Pennzoil paint scheme that debut in 1998 with Steve Park, who used this paint scheme to his two career Cup wins.
Michael McDowell
McDowell's paint scheme will be what his sponsor, Love's Travel Stops, looked like when they opened their first shop in Amarillo, Texas back in 1981.
B.J. McLeod
McLeod's paint scheme will be throwing it back to a fictional paint scheme, the famous Hardee's paint scheme that was driven by villain Russ Wheeler, played by Cary Elwes, in the 1990 Tom Cruise classic Days of Thunder.
Jamie McMurray
While McMurray's paint scheme will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Big Mac, it is almost identical to the paint scheme that Bill Elliott used in 1998 to celebrate NASCAR's 50th anniversary.
Paul Menard
Menard will honor Cale Yarborough, who drove for Menard's car owner, the Wood Brothers from 1967-1970, to 13 victories including wins in the 1968 Daytona 500 and Southern 500.
Ryan Newman
Newman's paint scheme will closely resemble the one Neil Bonnett drove in the 1993 DieHard 500 at Talladega, which is famous for Bonnett's frightening crash where his car took part of the fence down in the frontstretch.
David Ragan
Like Jeff Burton will probably cheer on Matt DiBendetto, fellow NBC analyst Dale Jarrett will probably cheer on David Ragan, whose paint scheme will be similar to the one Jarrett used when he won his first career NASCAR cup race in a photo finish at Michigan in 1991.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Stenhouse will honor one of his car owner Jack Roush,'s previous drivers in Chad Little, with this paint scheme that closely resembles the one Little used when he drove for Roush from 1998-2000.
Darrell Wallace Jr.
Wallace will be driving a paint scheme that closely resembles to the one his owner, Richard Petty, used for the 1972 season in which "The King" won eight races and his fourth of seven Cup championships.
When it comes to Desmond Howard's 1991 Heisman Trophy winning season, the first thought in to almost every college football fan's mind is his 93-yard punt return for a touchdown against Ohio State where as he ran toward the end zone ABC announcer Keith Jackson said "Hello, Heisman" which was followed by Howard striking a pose of the Heisman Trophy after the touchdown.
That touchdown would essentially clinch the Heisman for Howard as he would win 85% of the 1st place votes, but how did Howard become a candidate for college football's most prestigious individual honor?
Many, if not all, of those who remembered Howard's 1991 season will point to his 25-yard touchdown reception in the Wolverines' second game of the season against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish that would go down in Michigan football lore as "The Catch".
The Wolverines entered the game as the #3 team in the country with expectations to win the Big 10 and play in the Rose Bowl as they were led by second-year head coach Gary Moeller, junior quarterback Elvis Grbac, and Howard, who was coming off a sophomore season where he caught 63 passes for 1, 085 yards and 11 touchdown receptions.
Howard was perhaps considered an outsider to win the Heisman as the 1991 season began but he gained national attention after he caught three touchdowns in the Wolverines' 35-13 win over Boston College in their season opener.
Now, Howard and the Wolverines returned to the "Big House" for their home opener against their biggest rival behind Ohio State, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame came to Ann Arbor ranked #7 and were coming off an easy win over Indiana in their season opener.
The Fighting Irish were led by head coach Lou Holtz, who was in his sixth season at South Bend, who had directed the Irish to a 25-4 record over the past three seasons, including a national championship in 1988.
The '91 Irish squad featured junior quarterback Rick Mirer, who some thought was going to be the next Joe Montana, and sophomore running back Jerome Bettis, who was poised for a breakout season.
Even though they entered their top 10 showdown with Michigan as underdogs, the Irish did have somewhat of a psychological advantage over the Wolverines as they had won their last four meetings with Big Blue, with the last three wins being by a combined score of 11 points.
Michigan quarterback Elvis Grbac would complete 91% of his passes as he went 20 of 22 for 195 yards and a touchdown.
Notre Dame got the ball to start the game but on the second play of the game Mirer was picked off by Michigan cornerback Lance Dottin, who gave the Wolverines' offense the ball at the Fighting Irish 42-yard-line.
The Wolverines would drive 37 yards in seven plays to set up a 23-yard field goal by Justin Carlson to give Michigan a 3-0 lead just 4:06 into the game.
The Irish would respond by driving to the Michigan 34-yard-line but a sack by Wolverines defensive tackle Chris Hutchinson of Mirer on 3rd-and-9, forcing Notre Dame to punt the ball back to Michigan as neither team would mount another scoring threat for the rest of the opening quarter as the Wolverines held on to their 3-0 lead.
However when the second quarter began, the Wolverines would put together a 11-play, 82-yard drive that culminated with a 29-yard touchdown run by Howard on a end-around reverse to increase the Michigan lead to 10-0 with 9:58 left in the second quarter.
The Irish seemed to poised to cut the lead on their ensuing possession when Mirer connected with Dawson for a 46-yard completion to give Notre Dame a 1st down at the Michigan 24-yard-line.
But two plays later, the Irish's scoring threat was squashed when running back Tony Brooks fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Michigan linebacker Erick Anderson at the Notre Dame 20-yard-line.
From there, it would take the Wolverines 14 plays to get back into the end zone with running back Ricky Powers scoring on a 16-yard touchdown run to push the Michigan lead to 17-0 with just 1:49 left in the first half.
Following a 15-yard return by Rodney Culver on the ensuing kickoff, the Irish took over at their own 35-yard-line with 1:45 left when they went to a no-huddle offense in hopes of driving down the field and getting some points before the end of the first half.
The tactic worked as the Irish drove 65 yards in eight plays, culminating with a three-yard touchdown pass from Mirer to Bettis with 17 seconds left before halftime to cut the Wolverines' lead to 17-7 as the first half came to an end.
Jerome Bettis dives for the end zone for Notre Dame's first touchdown of the game.
The Wolverines got the ball to start the second half and drove into Notre Dame territory, thanks to a 20-yard reception by Howard to give Michigan a 1st down at the Irish 43-yard-line.
However, the Wolverines would pick up only six more yards and be forced to punt the ball back to the Irish who took over at their 20-yard-line.
The Irish would drive 80 yards in nine plays, with the bulk of the drive being two passes from Mirer to Tony Smith, the first going for 34 yards on a 3rd-and-15 to give Notre Dame a 1st down at their own 49-yard-line, then a 35-yard touchdown pass from Mirer to Smith to bring the Irish to within a field goal, 17-14 with 6:47 left in the third quarter.
Michigan would begin its next drive from its own 20-yard-line and hand the ball to Powers six straight times, gaining 30 yards before Grbac would find Howard for six yards and another 1st down.
Three plays later, the Wolverines were faced with a 4th-and-1 at the Notre Dame 35-yard-line when Moeller decided to go for the 1st down.
However, the gamble did not pay off as Powers was stopped for no gain giving the ball back to Notre Dame as the third quarter came to an end with Michigan clinging to a 17-14 lead.
The Wolverines defense would force the Irish to go three-and-out to get the ball back at their 25-yard-line with 14:15 left in the game.
For this drive, the Wolverines mixed it up as Grbac completed three passes to Yale VanDyne for 28 yards and Powers carried the ball three times 21 yards, to go along with one carry by Burnie Leggette for one yard, to set up a 3rd-and-1 at the Notre Dame when Leggette was stopped for no gain, forcing a 4th-and-1.
Even though they were in field goal range, the Wolverines lined up to go for the 1st down when the play clock almost struck zero, forcing Grbac to call timeout.
Fans in the Big House and watching on television must have been thinking that Michigan would now attempt the field goal, but to surprise of many the Michigan offense come back onto the field to try and get the one yard needed for a 1st down.
Grbac took the snap and dropped back, looking for Howard who was going to run a five-yard hitch route, but Howard was drawing tight coverage from Irish defensive backs Jeff Burris , so Desmond turned the hitch route into a fade route toward the right corner of the end zone.
As Howard was making his adjustment, Grbac pumped faked the ball to allow freeze strong safety Greg Davis and allow for Howard to get past Burris.
As the pass floated toward the end zone, it seemed that the ball was out of Howard's reach, but the 5' 10'' receiver dove for the ball and was able to make the catch for a spectacular 25-yard touchdown that with Carlson's extra point, pushed Michigan's lead back to double digits at 24-14 with 9:02 left in the game.
After Howard's touchdown, the Irish drove 37 yards in six plays to their own 49-yard-line when Mirer threw three straight incomplete passes, forcing Notre Dame to punt the ball back to the Wolverines, who took over at their 10-yard-line with 6:30 to go in the game.
The Notre Dame offense would not see the ball the rest of the game as Powers carried the ball eight times picking up 47 yards(who finished the game with 177 yards on 38 carries) on a 13-play, 57-yard drive that ran out the clock as Michigan won the game 24-14, their first win over Notre Dame since 1986.
Following the loss, the Irish would go on a seven-game winning streak, before losing two out of their last three games, to finish the season 9-3, earning a bid in the Sugar Bowl where the Irish would defeat the Florida Gators 39-28 to secure their third 10-win season in four years.
As for Howard, his leaping 25-yard touchdown catch would put be the launching pad of his Heisman Trophy winning season as he finished with 62 catches for 985 yards and 19 touchdown receptions, setting a new Big 10 record which still stands today as well as two touchdown runs and one touchdown each on a kickoff return and a punt return to give him a total of 23 touchdowns as the Wolverines made it to the Rose Bowl, where they would lose to eventual co-national champion Washington 34-14.
Howard finished the game with six receptions for 74 yards, one carry for 29 yards, and one return for eight yards, totaling 110 yards on eight touches and scoring two touchdowns.
Howard would declare for the NFL following his Heisman Trophy winning season and would be selected with the #4 overall pick in the 1992 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins.
Howard would spend three years in Washington before being selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 1995 expansion draft where he played for one season before going to Green Bay for the 1996 season where he returned three punts for touchdowns during the regular season then had a 71-yard punt return for a touchdown in the Packers' 35-14 win in their Divisional Playoff win against the San Francisco 49ers.
Three weeks later, Howard would become the first(and thus far only)Special Teams player to be named Super Bowl MVP as his 244 yards on 10 combined kick and punt returns, including a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown helped the Packers win their first Super Bowl in 29 years as they defeated the New England Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI.
Howard bounced around the NFL for six more years until he retired after the 2002 season.
Three years later, Howard would join ESPN's college football pregame show, College Gameday, where he is served as an analyst ever since.
