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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Clint Bowyer will hit the track for this year’s throwback race, the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, sporting a blue and white paint scheme and Carolina Ford Dealers detailing in honor of NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Mark Martin.
Bowyer and Martin were among the principals unveiling the paint scheme for the No. 14 Ford Tuesday at the Hall of Fame. The Bojangles’ Southern 500 is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 3.
Martin ran the paint scheme from 1988-91 while competing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for team owner Bill Davis, winning races at Rockingham, Bristol and Myrtle Beach.
That the overall look is simple, Bowyer said, is a bonus.
“That’s the way they were, right?” Bowyer said. “That’s old school and that’s what’s so neat about all these schemes. I appreciate that. …
“I guarantee you that Carolina Ford Dealers will show up big time on the race track just like it was intended to do back in ’89. I love these schemes. I think they’re important to remember our legends.”
That the car is tied to Martin makes it that much more special, according to the Stewart-Haas Racing driver.
“It’s all about Mark,” he said. “When you think about my heroes and the people that I really looked up to in this sport, Mark was at the top of the list. He was my teammate in 2012 and it meant so much to me to race alongside him back in the MWR days.”
Bowyer and Martin were teammates at Michael Waltrip Racing from 2012-13.
Martin was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame earlier this year. He won 40 times in what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, scored 271 top-five and 453 top-10 finishes. He also won 56 poles.
For several years, he was the all-time wins leader in the XFINITY Series as well and finished his career with 49 victories in that series.
“If I think about it, yeah, I definitely feel old,” Martin, 58, said. “But for me it is such an amazing honor to have our heroes of today recognize the heroes of the sport.
“The throwback program at Darlington is the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of and seeing this car is really a time check, a time stamp for me. Carolina Ford Dealers was the first sponsor I had that did full-fledged television marketing; they did lots of radio spots and lots of television spots. It was really my first sponsor that I did that kind of work with.”
The 2017 event will be the third year the track has hosted a throwback program, and this year’s race features paint schemes from the 1985-89 era.
Track officials announced earlier this year that NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers Richard Petty and Bill Elliott would serve as honorary pace car drivers prior to the start of the legendary event.