Race Weekend Central

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. to Run Darrell Waltrip Tribute Scheme at Darlington

It has been 41 years since NASCAR Hall of Fame member and current Fox Sports commentator Darrell Waltrip first pulled into Victory Lane. Honoring the three-time Cup Series champion, Waltrip’s paint scheme for his first victory in 1975 at Nashville will be featured as part of the throwback theme for this year’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s No. 17 Ford will feature the same orange and white colors that adorned Waltrip’s Chevrolet in his first season of competing in over 16 events.

Throughout his career, Waltrip piloted the No. 17. However, after closing the doors of his self-owned team in 1998, Roush Fenway Racing (then known as just Roush Racing) received the rights to the number, and it has since stayed with the organization.

“Darrell Waltrip is one of the icons in our sport and has helped build NASCAR into the sport it is today,” Stenhouse said in a press release Monday. “It is a huge honor to be able to run the 1975 throwback paint scheme of Darrell’s at Darlington. Darrell’s last win was at Darlington, so [it] only seems fitting that we get his throwback paint scheme in victory lane on Labor Day weekend and have Darrell celebrate with us.”

Waltrip won 84 races throughout his NASCAR career, piloting the No. 17 car for the majority of his time in the sport’s premier division.

“It’s an honor to have this car run in the Southern 500,” Waltrip said. “I got my first win at Nashville with that paint scheme but I got my last win in Darlington so it will be a special race weekend for me. I missed the throwback weekend in Darlington last year and regretted it. You can bet I won’t miss this one and I’ll be rooting for the 17.”

About the author

Joseph started with Fronstretch in Aug. 2014 and worked his way up to become an editor in less than a year. A native of Whitestone, New York, Joseph writes for NASCAR Pole Position magazine as a weekly contributor, along with being a former intern at Newsday and the Times Beacon Record Newspapers, each on Long Island. With a focus on NASCAR, he runs our social media pages and writes the NASCAR Mailbox column, along with other features for the site.

Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter

A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

Share via