Related: Buy Darlington tickets | 2016 throwback schemes
Jeffrey Earnhardt will honor his grandfather Dale Earnhardt with a special paint scheme during the Sprint Cup Series’ Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sept. 4, Go Fas Racing announced Friday.
Aligning with the race’s throwback theme, Earnhardt’s No. 32 Ford scheme will combine features from the Nos. 2 and 3 Wrangler Chevrolets driven by “The Intimidator” in 1981.
“Sometimes things just fall together at the right time,” Go Fas Racing owner Archie St. Hilaire said in a team release. “When we were going through the process of which paint scheme to run for this year’s race at Darlington, the idea of a tribute to Dale Earnhardt’s 1981 season stood out to all of us above the rest. Throw in the fact that we get to have Jeffrey showcase his family’s heritage and pay tribute to his grandfather, as well — that’s just icing on the cake.”
Dale Earnhardt wheeled the iconic blue-and-yellow scheme to 17 top-10 and nine top-five finishes that year, including a sixth-place result in that season’s running of the Southern 500. He would go on to earn seven championships, tying Richard Petty for a record that stands unbroken in the Sprint Cup Series.
“I’m pretty excited to have the famous yellow and blue paint scheme in honor of my grandfather for this year’s Southern 500,” said Jeffrey Earnhardt, the son of Kerry Earnhardt. “My grandfather ran this paint scheme in 1981, when he started the season as the No. 2 car driving for Rod Osterlund. When Richard Childress purchased the team halfway through the season it became the famous No. 3 car, so you have that 32 connection, so it’s pretty cool to have the chance to bring it back this year. I know we’ll have a lot of fun with it, and hope all the great fans enjoy it as well.”
This marks the second year Darlington will host a throwback-themed race: the campaign premiered last season with rave reviews from the industry, drivers and fans. This year’s theme will focus on the 1975-84 time period of racing.
The 2016 running of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 will take place Labor Day weekend (Sept. 4) at 6 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.