Surprise! RCR goes full-blown old school, reveals No. 3 Silver Select scheme

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Richard Childress Racing even went old school for the big reveal of its Darlington throwback. No social media. No Facebook Live unveil. Not so much as an e-mail attachment. Just roll that big Chevrolet with a No. 3 on it off the truck and come and get it. The official opening to the Darlington Raceway garage had quite the prelude Friday morning, with the RCR No. 3 to be driven by Austin Dillon in Sunday's Bojangles' Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) making its debut. The car with American Ethanol livery rolled off in a flash of silver with a paint scheme hearkening back to the 1995 NASCAR All-Star Race. RELATED: No. 3 paint scheme through the years That design, driven by stock-car racing icon Dale Earnhardt, paid tribute to the 25th anniversary of R.J. Reynolds' involvement in the sport. Like this year's version, that car was kept largely under wraps as a surprise for one of NASCAR's biggest events. "This is kind of the one that started all the wild paint schemes," Dillon said Friday at the unveiling. "Talking to different guys about it, how special it was, and it was a secret. That's why we kind of unveiled it the way we did is they didn't unveil this car until it rolled off the back of the trailer." RELATED: How scheme started diecast, throwback trend [caption id="attachment_138364" align="alignright" width="300"] RJR handout photo by Dozier Mobley[/caption] That long-ago "Quicksilver" paint scheme was also a major departure from Earnhardt's "The Man in Black" persona. But it begat a collectible market frenzy for diecast versions of the car, prompting other teams and drivers to get into the act with commemorative looks on the track. Dillon said he consulted with a handful of people -- including Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- about this year's throwback design. The original silver No. 3 currently resides in RCR's Museum in Welcome, North Carolina, where it remains one of the archive's big draws. Dillon drove a Wrangler-themed blue and yellow throwback No. 3 to a fourth-place finish in last year's 500-miler. The result was his best finish in four Monster Energy Series appearances at the 1.366-mile track. RELATED: All the throwback paint schemes for Darlington That result, plus a recent upturn in performance for Richard Childress Racing, has Dillon riding a small dose of momentum into the historic race. His fourth-place finish earlier this month at Michigan International Speedway was the team's first top-five finish since Dillon won the season-opening Daytona 500. "I feel really good," he said. "Going into two big races like this at Darlington, Indy -- crown-jewel races. We ran fourth here last year. I'm really excited for this weekend. I'm almost over-excited. I've got to calm down a little bit because we've got such a beautiful car and a good track for our team. I'm pumped, just ready to get in the race car and get after it."