Posted on by Staff Report

Roush Fenway Racing announced Wednesday that Liberty National Life Insurance Company will sponsor the No. 6 Ford driven by Trevor Bayne next season in NASCAR’s premier series.

Liberty National will be a primary sponsor on Bayne’s No. 6 in the second race of the year, the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 scheduled March 5. Roush Fenway indicated that the McKinney, Texas-based insurance provider will also be a “major associate sponsor” in multiple races in 2017.

“We are excited to have Liberty National on board next season,” Bayne said in a release provided by the team. “They are an extremely well respected brand that has been providing valuable services since 1900. It’s the kind of brand that we are proud to have an association with and I can’t wait to see the No. 6 Liberty National Ford on track. Our goal is to put our car up front and compete for race wins.”

Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 winner, returns for his third full season with Roush Fenway Racing in 2017. AdvoCare also returns to the RFR No. 6 operation as a primary sponsor this season.

Bayne finished 22nd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings with two top-five finishes (fifth at Bristol in April, third at Daytona in July) last season. He also raced his way into the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race by winning a segment of the preliminary Sprint Showdown by .005 seconds over Chase Elliott.

Posted on by Staff Report

Editor’s note: All images courtesy of Mechanix Wear.

 

Personnel changes? Yes. Mega-pressure? Seven-times yes.

 

Continued excellence in the face of the above? Absolutely.

 

It was a banner year for the No. 48 of Jimmie Johnson, and it went beyond just the driver. The pit crew team underwent two rare personnel changes, including the loss of a front tire changer just one month before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup started, but didn’t miss a beat.

 

In fact, the team improved with time, saving its best performance for Homestead-Miami Speedway in which a flawless day in the pits saw Johnson gain spots late … putting the driver in prime position to pull away for his record-tying seventh championship.

 

The showing in Miami was the most important work day of the year given the stakes, but certainly it wasn’t the only instance of execution under the most trying of circumstances.

Martinsville Speedway, known for its small pit boxes and tricky configuration, didn’t trip up the No. 48 team — a strong day in the pits during the October race helped lead to a victory and clinched a berth in the championship race.

 

For all of the above reasons, the No. 48 is winner of the Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award, the longest-running and most prestigious pit crew award in the sport. This is the 15th annual award and ends Stewart-Haas Racing‘s two-year pit crew reign.

 

Crew chief Chad Knaus manages the over-the-wall crew with Chris Burkey serving as the pit coach. Burkey is widely lauded for his recruitment of collegiate athletes to pit road.

 

Along with Mechanix Wear’s prestigious MVPC award, the team has landed a check for $100,000 for its outstanding performance on pit road.

 

The MVPC award serves as a testament to consistent performance on pit road. Each quarter of the Sprint Cup season, NASCAR crew chiefs vote for the pit crew contributing the most to the success of their team on race day. Each quarter of the season a semi-finalist is awarded a check for $5,000 and an opportunity to win Mechanix Wear’s Most Valuable Pit Crew award. Learn more about the History and past winners of Mechanix Wear’s Most Valuable Pit Crew award here.

Kevin Michael Novak

Age: 30

Height:  6’0″

Weight: 190 lbs

Pit Crew Role/Position: Front Changer

Mechanix Wear Glove of Choice: FR Original Glove

Did you play a sport in college? If yes, what sport? Went to a tech school for college. No college sports, but I played high school football.

What’s your most memorable team victory on pit road? 2016 Martinsville-2. My first short-track win and this win meant we were in the champion round.
Do you have any pre-race rituals? If yes, what are they? Not so much as a ritual, but I do the same stretches and sit on the wall the same every time. Everyone said it looks like I’m freezing cold.

What separates the No. 48 pit crew from the rest of the field this year? We overcame two personnel changes without skipping a beat. This even helped build our great team camaraderie. I’ve been on a lot of different teams throughout my racing career and this crew is by far the best.

Brandon Harder

Age: 33

Height: 6’1″

Weight: 230 lbs.

Pit Crew Role/Position: Fuel Man

Mechanix Wear Glove of Choice: CarbonX Level 5

Did you play a sport in college? If yes, what sport? Just high school

What’s your most memorable team victory on pit road? Every win, who knows if/when it will happen again.

Do you have any pre-race rituals? If yes, what are they? Not really, just my normal race-day prep.

What separates the No. 48 pit crew from the rest of the field this year? The relationships that make our team, very close group and willing to do whatever it takes.

RJ Barnette

Age: 30

Height: 5’10”

Weight: 180 lbs.

Pit Crew Role/Position: Front Tire Carrier

Mechanix Wear Glove of Choice: FR Original

Did you play a sport in college? If yes, what sport? Football

What’s your most memorable team victory on pit road? 2014 Coca-Cola 600

Do you have any pre-race rituals? If yes, what are they? I always eat a frozen Twix during our team meeting.

What separates the No. 48 pit crew from the rest of the field this year? Our level of preparation and ability to overcome adversity.

Kyle Tudor

Age: 25

Height: 6’3″

Weight: 240 lbs.

Pit Crew Role/Position: Jackman

Mechanix Wear Glove of Choice: FR Original

Did you play a sport in college? If yes, what sport? Football

What’s your most memorable team victory on pit road? Fall 2016 Martinsville — to advance to the Championship 4.

Do you have any pre-race rituals? If yes, what are they? N/A

What separates the No. 48 pit crew from the rest of the field this year? Ability to overcome adversity — two pit crew member changes and still demonstrated resiliency.

Calvin Teague

Age: 30

Height: 6’2″

Weight: 205 lbs.

Pit Crew Role/Position: Rear Tire Changer

Mechanix Wear Glove of Choice: FR Original

Did you play a sport in college? If yes, what sport? Baseball

What’s your most memorable team victory on pit road? Winning Darlington for Mr. Hendrick’s 200th win, and my dad was also at the race so that was pretty special.

Do you have any pre-race rituals? If yes, what are they? Pre-race prayer with the team.

What separates the No. 48 pit crew from the rest of the field this year? Ability to overcome some adversity throughout the year and our dedication to each other and the rest of the teammates.

Ryan Patton

Age: 31

Height: 6’0″

Weight: 210 lbs.

Pit Crew Role/Position: Rear Tire Carrier

Mechanix Wear Glove of Choice: FR Original

Did you play a sport in college? If yes, what sport? Football

What’s your most memorable team victory on pit road? Winning Martinsville in the fall of 2016 to advance to the Championship 4, and it was also my birthday.

Do you have any pre-race rituals? If yes, what are they? Personal pre-race prayer.

What separates the No. 48 pit crew from the rest of the field this year? Our team is always focused on the goal that needs to be achieved and will be dedicated to do our part in achieving that success. We have a strong level of teamwork and each give 100 percent. We don’t dwell on previous races, we learn and look forward to the next one.

MORE: Top pit crews as voted by coaches

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Official news release

NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway jointly announced Wednesday that the annual exhibition race to kick off 2017 Speedweeks will have a familiar format, a smaller field and a nostalgic name — The Clash.

The season-opening non-points event — scheduled Saturday, Feb. 18 (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) — will take a page from its earliest roots, when it began as the Busch Clash in 1979. The race, which has frequently served as an invitational for the previous season’s pole winners, has also been known as the Bud Shootout and Sprint Unlimited in its history at the 2.5-mile track.

“We’re bringing back The Clash at Daytona,” Daytona International Speedway president Chip Wile said in the news release. “The Clash was a race name that has always been popular among both the competitors and race fans. We’re looking forward to bringing it back and building on the rich history of this thrilling and always unpredictable event that kicks off the NASCAR season.”

NASCAR and the speedway indicated that the race format would remain unchanged from last year — 75 laps with a competition caution period scheduled for Lap 25. The method for assembling eligible drivers, however, carries some slight tweaks from 2016’s edition.

Drivers invited include last year’s Coors Light Pole Award winners in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition (14 total), former Clash winners (2), former Daytona 500 pole winners who raced full-time last year (1) and drivers not otherwise eligible who qualified for the Chase postseason (3).

Last season, the field reached its 25-car limit by inviting the remaining highest-finishing drivers in the previous year’s standings to fill the starting grid. That criteria has been dropped for 2017, leaving 20 drivers eligible to compete.

One of those positions is held by three-time champion Tony Stewart, who announced that he would end his full-time driving career last season. Stewart indicated in an appearance Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he is far from retired, planning to compete in sprint cars and even entertaining an offer to drive sports cars at Le Mans.

Another starting berth is also held by Greg Biffle, who parted ways with his longtime team at Roush Fenway Racing last week and has no announced plans in place for 2017. Biffle won the Coors Light Pole at Daytona in July to secure a starting spot.

The list of eligible drivers:

2016 Coors Light Pole Awards winners: Greg Biffle, Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Carl Edwards, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr.

Former Clash Race Winners: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart

Former Daytona 500 Coors Light Pole Award winners: Danica Patrick

Remaining 2016 Chase drivers: Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray

The race’s length and field size have grown steadily from its first running in 1979, which was exclusively reserved for the previous year’s pole winners. In an era with far less parity, it meant a nine-car field vying for a $50,000 payday in a 20-lap (50-mile) shootout.

Buddy Baker was the inaugural winner, leading 18 of the 20 laps in Harry Ranier’s “Gray Ghost” No. 28 Oldsmobile.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who helped bring the “Gray Ghost” scheme back to life, threw his support behind The Clash.

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation have named veteran FBI executive and risk management expert Christopher Davis as Managing Director and Chief Security Officer.

Davis will lead strategy development and execution for corporate, facility and event security, working closely with international and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies on behalf of fans, venues, teams, and infrastructure. Davis will assume leadership of the NASCAR and ISC senior management-directed implementation of their enterprise-wide security strategies. Through his role at NASCAR, Davis also will work closely with other venues that host NASCAR-sanctioned races.

Davis brings a distinguished public and private sector leadership background to the new position, including service as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge and Inspector for the FBI. In addition to his lengthy FBI tenure, Davis held senior executive positions with private firms Contemporary Services Corporation and Sequrus, LLC.

“With his broad experience and proven success as a leader at every level, Chris is exactly the right fit to oversee the very complex security and risk management operations for our sport,” said Mike Helton, Vice Chairman, NASCAR. “His involvement with the Olympics, multiple professional and college sports championships and other mass gathering events makes him the ideal choice to evolve and implement full-spectrum security strategies for our events, facilities and business.”

“We’re pleased that we were able to work with NASCAR to hire a professional of Chris’ caliber,” said John Saunders, President, ISC. “He will manage our entire portfolio of facilities and events, which are led by NASCAR races but also increasingly include other entertainment events. This hire is reflective of ISC’s desire to always put the fans first as we grow and expand our business.”

A native of New Jersey, Davis earned his undergraduate degree from San Diego State University and a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Boston University. Prior to joining the FBI, Davis played briefly in the National Football League (NFL).

Davis oversaw security and emergency preparedness operations for numerous high-profile events and venues during his FBI career. Among the highlights are:

· Supervisory Special Agent, Los Angeles Joint Terrorism Task Force, where he managed interagency coordination;

· Sector Commander, Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, where Davis was hand-selected to lead and manage assets charged with ensuring venue and operational security for the 2002 Winter Olympic games;

· Assistant Legal Attaché, United States Embassy, Ottawa, Canada, where he oversaw security and contingency planning for the G-8 Summit as well as Presidential and Secretary of State delegation visits

· Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Executive Manager, Orlando and Tampa, Florida, where Davis was principally charged with directing the FBI’s security effort for Super Bowl XLIII, the 2008 World Series and NBA Finals, the 2012 NBA All-Star Game and Weekend, and the 2012 Republican National Convention.

After completing his FBI career, Davis served as Senior Vice President for Contemporary Services Corporation and Vice President for Sequrus, overseeing those firms’ security consulting and business development efforts.

Posted on by Track Release

RELATED: Buy Tickets

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Recently crowned seven-time NASCAR premier series champion Jimmie Johnson will join a star-studded elite field as NASCAR kicks off its 2017 season with The Clash at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017.

The annual season-opening event will be broadcast live on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The 75-lap race again will be split into two segments with a competition caution at Lap 25 separating the segments.

“What better way to kick off the 2017 season than the sport’s brightest stars under the lights at Daytona International Speedway,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “Coming off a thrilling season finale at Homestead-Miami, we’re looking forward to continuing that momentum into Daytona. With bragging rights and no points on the line, The Clash will set the tone for what should be a season full of great racing and tough competition.”

“We’re bringing back The Clash at Daytona,” said Chip Wile, Daytona International Speedway president. “The Clash was a race name that has always been popular among both the competitors and race fans. We’re looking forward to bringing it back and building on the rich history of this thrilling and always unpredictable event that kicks off the NASCAR season.”

The eligible drivers include 2016 Coors Light Pole Award winners, former Clash race winners and former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed full-time in 2016. All 16 drivers from the 2016 Chase are also eligible.

Eligible drivers are:

2016 Coors Light Pole Awards winners (14)
· Greg Biffle, Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Carl Edwards, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr.

Former Clash Race Winners (2)
· Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart

Former DAYTONA 500 Coors Light Pole Award winners (1)
· Danica Patrick

2016 Chase drivers (3)
· Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray

Tickets for The Clash at Daytona are available online at DaytonaInternationalSpeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

During his State of the Sport press conference prior to the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway earlier this month, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France relayed an anecdote about watching a scaled-down, highlight-driven Duke college basketball game on his laptop.

 

The story painted a broad picture of the shift in fan consumption habits. And for NASCAR, that has meant a shift in strategy to serve fans who want an immersive experience, whether attending live in-person, watching on TV, or engaging with sports at home or on the go.

 

By all metrics, NASCAR’s digital and social media numbers have shown strong growth over the 2016 season, validating a strategic choice to reach race fans in the multifaceted ways they opt to consume NASCAR content.

 

Consider these numbers:

 

Overall, NASCAR drew 256 million social engagements across all its digital platforms, an 87 percent increase year-over-year, and a massive increase of video content views.

 

NASCAR saw a 14 percent growth in followers across its social and digital platforms. Of particular note was a spike in the growth of Snapchat followers after NASCAR announced its partnership with that platform in February. NASCAR competitors and fans provided live content from four races, starting with the Daytona 500, under the aegis of “Snapchat Live Story.”

 

The Daytona 500 itself saw a 63-percent increase in race day impressions, while engagement with NASCAR content tripled.

 

“It’s been fantastic,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “I think that what it has done is validated our strategy that we set out at the very beginning of this season, when we talked about leading with digital and social and really trying to talk to our fans where they were and going to reach them at all the places they consume NASCAR.

 

“We started that with our ‘Ready.Set.Race’ campaign and the Hashtag 500 around the Daytona 500, and it’s really just continued to build throughout the whole season.”

 

The Hashtag 500, the race to win Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s firesuit, generated 13,000 NASCAR-related mentions in a single minute, a high-water mark for NASCAR content since the advent of the sanctioning body’s Fan and Media Engagement Center.

 

Central to the success of the 2016 digital and social media campaign was heavy promotion of #TheChase across all platforms, leveraging Twitter, Vine, Periscope, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to engage fans throughout the 10-week playoff.

 

Capturing the drama of the Chase, which concluded with Jimmie Johnson claiming his record-tying seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship, was the digital film series “Ready.Set.Chase.” All told, the five-film series garnered more than 13 million views.

 

“I think we’re seeing it at NASCAR, and obviously we see it happening across the sports and entertainment landscape, that fans want to customize their experience regardless of what they’re watching or looking at,” Gregory said. “If we want to talk to those fans, we have to go places that are convenient for them.

 

“If they’re watching on their mobile app, if they’re watching via NASCAR.com, if they’re watching on television, it’s our job as the league to provide all of that great content in all of those places and then make sure that we deliver the right experience for each of those platforms.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace has hoisted the sport’s biggest trophies and competed on its largest stages. And this week at Daytona International Speedway the former stock car champion will be bringing his A-game again competing against some of sports car racing’s best in the Ferrari Finali Mondiali.

It is the first time this renowned Ferrari event has been held in the United States and both Wallace and the Speedway are eager to be a part of this internationally famed race weekend.

“We’re really excited,” Daytona International Speedway President Chip Wile said. “It’s all coming together now, the trucks are moving in today. We had the car show last weekend. It’s been really exciting to see all this come together in the last couple weeks, but we’ve been working on it since April.

“It’s the first time this event has ever been hosted in North America and what better place than the International Center of Racing and the new Daytona International Speedway, the world’s only motorsports stadium. It feels like a fitting backdrop for one of the premier Ferrari events in the world.”

Wallace won’t just be representing NASCAR by his presence, he’s going to compete – driving for the Risi Competizione/Ferrari of Houston team in the North America series of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli.

To prepare, the 1989 NASCAR premier series champion spent two days testing the Risi Ferrari at America’s current Formula One venue, Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. And he’ll have opportunity to test on the Daytona road course before the weekend’s race.

“I’m really serious about it and will do best job I can in the time I’ve got,” Wallace said. “This will be real exciting and the team I’m driving for just won the Petit LeMans.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I could have just showed up at Daytona. … but I didn’t want to look stupid that’s why I went to Austin, to get to know the car and know the team.”

This will be the second time Wallace has competed on Daytona’s 3.56-mile road course. He co-drove as part of a team with Danica Patrick in the 2006 Rolex 24 at Daytona, but their sports car had a mechanical failure and did not finish the event.

Wallace is optimistic and he has plenty of reason. He is long considered one of NASCAR’s premier road racers.  

He earned two poles and two wins (1990 and 1996) at Sonoma and a pole and a pair of wins (1987 and 1989) at Watkins Glen, N.Y. He also scored back-to-back wins (1987-88) at the Riverside road course that’s no longer on the circuit.

“I had really good success at Riverside, Watkins Glen and Sonoma, those were all good tracks for me,” Wallace said. “So I told them, ‘sure,’ I’d love to come down and have some fun

“I’m a Ferrari lover. When I found out I was going to compete, I said, I’ve got to get all right with this. So I spoke with (driver) Max Papis and he shared a couple things. The big deal was actually getting some time in a car before Daytona.”

The Ferrari Finali Mondiali, which Wallace will compete in, is a four-day World Championship event featuring Ferrari Challenge teams from the Europe, North American and Asia Pacific series.

Additionally, fans will be treated to the displays of historic Formula One cars and for the first time ever at Daytona, F1 drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will drive in a Formula One. The Scuderia Ferrari drivers will also treat fans to fast laps and pit stop demonstrations.

“Rusty’s really excited and I think this is a unique opportunity for him and for us being able to promote the event through the eyes of a NASCAR champion,” Wile said. “It’s going to be quite the experience. Rusty is such a great ambassador for our sport and this is going to be fun to watch.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Driver and team changes for 2017


JTG Daugherty Racing officials have confirmed that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series organization will expand to two full-time teams in 2017 with the addition of driver Chris Buescher.


JTG Daugherty, co-owned by Tad and Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty, has fielded a single full-time car in the series since 2009. A.J. Allmendinger, the team’s primary driver since 2014, will remain with the organization as driver of the No. 47 Chevrolet.

“We can confirm at this time that JTG Daugherty Racing is currently in the process of starting a second team in the NASCAR premier series,” Tad Geschickter said. “We would also like to confirm and welcome Chris Buescher to the team as our driver for the second car.”

Buescher, the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion while at Roush Fenway Racing, spent the 2016 season competing for Front Row Motorsports. According to a release from RFR, Buescher and the organization’s charter for its No. 16 team have been “leased” to JTG Daugherty for the upcoming season.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity and look forward to competing for a spot in the Chase,” Buescher, 24, said.

Buescher qualified for the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup after scoring his first career premier series win, at Pocono Raceway. While he failed to advance out of the first round of the 10-race elimination-style format, he finished 16th in points, a career best for a Front Row Motorsports team.

Allmendinger finished a career-best 13th in points in 2014 when he qualified for the Chase. The No. 47 team ended the ’16 season with two top fives and nine top-10 finishes and Allmendinger 19th in points.

He scored the organization’s lone victory to date in the premier series, winning at Watkins Glen in 2014.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Buescher joins second JTG team

 

Roush Fenway Racing announced Tuesday a restructuring plan that will pare its racing operations to a two-car effort in NASCAR’s premier series next year.

 

Trevor Bayne will return for a third season driving the team’s No. 6 Ford, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will be back for a fifth year in RFR’s No. 17 Ford.

 

The organization announced last week that it had parted ways with veteran driver Greg Biffle, who had driven team owner Jack Roush’s No. 16 Ford full-time since 2003. Tuesday, Roush Fenway announced that it was leasing its No. 16 team charter and the services of driver Chris Buescher to JTG Daugherty Racing for next season.

 

Roush Fenway also announced several personnel moves as the team seeks to regain its footing after two winless seasons.

 

“We have been able to shore up our plans for 2017 and we feel that this will continue to move us in a direction that will yield improved performance and results,” Roush said in a news release provided by the team. “We saw improvement in our cars and made substantial gains in our performance at times last season, and we will continue to build on that by maintaining a robust engineering group in order to take the next step by consistently running up front.”

 

Buescher qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs last season as a rookie driver for Front Row Motorsports, a Roush Fenway-affiliated organization. Though he finished last among the 16 Chase qualifiers, the 24-year-old driver was the only Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate to win a race, prevailing in August at Pocono Raceway.

 

Roush Fenway Racing announced two promotions in the restructuring of its competition department. Kevin Kidd takes over the role of competition director after serving as Roush Fenway’s team manager the last two seasons. Tommy Wheeler was named operations director, shifting from his role of production director with oversight of the team’s car-building efforts.

 

Roush Fenway also firmed up its crew chief lineup for 2017 with Matt Puccia returning to oversee Bayne’s performance in the No. 6 and Brian Pattie moving to work with Stenhouse and the No. 17 after being paired with Biffle last season. Nick Sandler, formerly Stenhouse’s crew chief, has been assigned the role of director of engineering.

 

Roush Fenway indicated that former general manager Robbie Reiser will remain with the team in a “yet to be determined position.”

 

Buescher’s departure leaves an opening for Front Row’s No. 34 Ford team. The Bob Jenkins-owned organization also fields the No. 38 Ford driven by Landon Cassill.

Posted on by Staff Report

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet for the 2017 season in NASCAR’s premier series was revealed on Tuesday via Nationwide 88’s Facebook page.

Earnhardt tweeted out a preview of his car’s new paint job a day prior to the unveil.

The company has been a primary partner with Hendrick Motorsports since 2014 and was featured as a primary sponsor on the No. 88 ride for 21 races in 2016. Here is a look at the 2016 scheme on track.

Earnhardt, who was sidelined for 18 races in 2016 due to a concussion, is expected to return to make his first start since July in the 2017 season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 26. Both the driver as well as team owner Rick Hendrick have expressed their confidence that Earnhardt will be cleared for the start of the season.