Race Weekend Central

Here Are the 2023 Darlington Throwback Schemes

NASCAR is celebrating the whole year, as it’s the 75th anniversary of its founding. With that celebration comes some special paint schemes from NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, and Craftsman Truck series teams for Darlington Raceway’s annual throwback weekend.

The races at Darlington will once again be held on Mother’s Day weekend, May 12-14. As each organization reveals its livery for the events, Frontstretch will keep you updated here. Remember to return to this page often as more paint schemes are revealed.

If a driver isn’t listed, the team hasn’t announced a throwback, or it opted not to participate in this year’s throwback theme.

Also, Frontstretch is joining in the festivities, throwing it back to 2000 on our social media pages as well as our homepage.

Cup

Ross Chastain

Throwing back to Dale Jarrett‘s 2001 brown and white UPS No. 88 car. It’s the first of two schemes for Worldwide Express that honor the 2014 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee.

Kevin Harvick

The No. 4 will feature a similar design as what was originally planned for his Cup debut in 2001.

Kyle Larson

Resembles Tony Stewart‘s No. 80 Xfinity Series car from 2009 when he won at Daytona International Speedway.

Brad Keselowski

Carries Castrol’s classic design scheme and colors.

Corey LaJoie

This scheme honors LaJoie’s grandfather Don LaJoie, with the same layout, colors and number from 1972 at Danbury Racearena.

Chase Elliott

Chase honors his dad, Bill Elliott with a similar design and color as graced Awesome Bill’s No. 9 Dodge from the early 2000s.

Aric Almirola

Almirola’s No. 10 likens to Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s 2001 No. 8 Budweiser car in which he won at Daytona International Speedway in the summer “using lessons learned from his father.”

Ryan Blaney

Blaney’s Menards No. 12 has a similar design as his father Dave Blaney‘s No. 10 sprint car from the mid 1990s.

Chase Briscoe

The Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 carries the same flames that were on Tony Stewart‘s midget from 2000 when he won the Turkey Night Grand Prix.

Brennan Poole

Poole’s No. 15 pays homage to Bobby Allison and his blue and white Hodgdon car from 1979.

Christopher Bell

The No. 20 resembles NASCAR Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth‘s No. 17 DEWALT car from his 2003 championship campaign.

Harrison Burton

22-year-old Burton throws back to his father Jeff Burton‘s pink and black No. 99 Exide car from 1999.

Joey Logano

Logano’s No. 22 ports the blue, white and red colors of Mark Donohue‘s No. 16 AMC Matador from his 1973 victory at Riverside Raceway — Team Penske’s first NASCAR win.

William Byron

As a part of NASCAR’s 75th anniversary celebration, Byron’s No. 24 resembles Jeff Gordon‘s 50th anniversary scheme from 1998.

Todd Gilliland

Gilliland’s No. 38 has a similar livery as Elton Sawyer‘s car from 1997-1998.

Ryan Preece

The Connecticut driver honors his father Jeff Preece with the same colors as his late model from 1998.

Noah Gragson

Gragson honors new Legacy Motor Club co-owner Jimmie Johnson‘s 2014 Coca-Cola 600 victory with a similar paint scheme.

Erik Jones

Jones’ No. 43 is close to Richard Petty’s 1968 car, when Petty got out of his car and on the hood to help repair damage during a race.

Tyler Reddick

Honors Kurt Busch, who had a memorable finish battling Ricky Craven at Darlington in 2003.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Like Chastain, Stenhouse gives a nod to Dale Jarrett’s 2001 UPS car.

Alex Bowman/Josh Berry

Berry, racing the No. 48 while Bowman recovers from injury, throws back to spotter Kevin Hamlin‘s No. 42 Texaco/Havoline car from the 2007 Xfinity Series season.

Ryan Newman

The No. 51 is similar to Newman’s No. 12 Mobil 1 car that he earned his first Cup win in at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Ty Gibbs

Gibbs’ first Cup Series throwback is based on Bobby Labonte‘s 1996 scheme that was run to celebrate Joe Gibbs’ induction into the NFL Hall of Fame.

Ty Dillon

Ty Dillon’s No. 77 is likened to Joe Lee Johnson’s No. 77 from 1959 in the NASCAR Grand National Series.

Daniel Suarez

Suarez’s No. 99 pays homage to Ricky Rudd‘s No. 26 green Quaker State car from the 1988 Daytona 500.

Xfinity

Cole Custer

Custer honors Jason Leffler with a similar design as his No. 00 Haas car from 2004.

Blaine Perkins

Perkins’ No. 02 throws back to Harvick’s No. 21 Payday car from the 2003 Xfinity season.

Sam Mayer

Mayer’s scheme is close to Kurt Busch’s black and blue No. 97 Sharpie scheme from his 2001 rookie season.

Sheldon Creed

Richard Childress Racing is honoring Kevin Harvick in the Xfinity Series, with Creed’s No. 2 throwing back to Harvick’s 2001 championship-winning ACDelco car.

Ty Dillon

Dillon’s Richard Childress Racing No. 3 resembles Ferris Mowers’ first paint scheme in NASCAR when it sponsored Martin Truex Jr. in 2003 in the Busch North Series.

Garrett Smithley

Smithley’s No. 4 is another scheme that’s a tribute to Harvick. This one was run in 2021 at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall.

Justin Allgaier

Allgaier’s special scheme pays tribute to BRANDT’s 70th anniversary.

Josh Berry

Berry’s No. 8 resembles Hut Stricklin‘s Circuit City car from 1996.

Sammy Smith

NASCAR’s not the only one celebrating a major anniversary. This logo and design were inspired by the original Pilot Flying J logo; the brand is celebrating 65 years.

Austin Hill

Likened to Harvick’s No. 21 from 2006 when he won his second Xfinity title.

Brett Moffitt

Moffitt pays homage to Tim Richmond with the same design as his No. 25 red and gold Folgers car from 1986-1987.

Kaz Grala

Grala and Sam Hunt Racing are honoring first responders and NASCAR’s Safety and Response teams with a vintage firetruck look.

Joe Graf Jr.

The No. 38 of Graf looks back to his own Legends car at Bethel Motor Speedway.

Ryan Ellis

Ellis honors Kevin Harvick in his final Cup season with the Quicksilver black and silver design from 2005.

Sage Karam

Karam’s No. 44 resembles Richard Childress‘ No. 3 CRC Chevrolet from the late ’70s.

Jeffrey Earnhardt

Alpha Prime Racing’s third throwback, Earnhardt’s car is similar to his grandfather Dale Earnhardt’s No. 3 Wheaties Chevrolet that ran in the 1997 All-Star Race.

Jeremy Clements

Clements’ No. 51 is similar to Geoff Bodine‘s No. 5 scheme run in the mid-late 1980s.

Matt Mills

Mills’ No. 53 references Herbie, the self-aware Volkswagen Beetle at the center of the Disney franchise.

Chad Finchum

Finchum’s car is likened to Eric McClure‘s No. 14 Hefty Black Out car from 2011.

Dawson Cram

Cram’s No. 74 honors Bob Keselowski, who drove the No. 29 Mopar car in the 1990s.

Anthony Alfredo

Alfredo’s No. 78 sports a similar design as Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 from 2017, his last full-time season.

Josh Williams

Williams’ car references Kevin Harvick’s green and white No. 21 car that he ran in the inaugural Xfinity race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.

Riley Herbst

Tribute to Ken Block, who piloted the Ford Fiesta Rally car in 2010 in Gymkhana 3.

Trucks

Kris Wright

The No. 02 is likened to Juan Pablo Montoya‘s race-winning scheme from Sonoma Raceway in 2007.

Johnny Sauter

Sauter’s No. 04 is similar to the 2003 No. 2 Hulk/CarQuest truck of Jason Leffler.

Bubba Wallace

A “Fauxback” for Wallace as TRICON Garage is throwing back to the defunct Red Horse Racing that competed in Trucks from about 2005 (was Clean Line Motorsports in 2004) to 2017.

Nick Sanchez

Sanchez honors Mario Andretti and his 1967 Daytona 500 victory.

Dean Thompson

Thompson’s truck runs the same design as German Quiroga Jr.‘s No. 77 NET10 Wireless truck from 2013.

Corey Heim

Heim’s Toyota resembles Timothy Peters‘ No. 17 truck from 2014.

Tanner Gray

Tanner Gray is running another “Fauxback” for TRICON Garage is throwing back to the defunct Red Horse Racing that competed in Trucks from about 2005 (was Clean Line Motorsports in 2004) to 2017.

Taylor Gray

Gray’s Toyota looks like the 2012 No. 11 truck driven by Todd Bodine.

Christian Eckes

Eckes’ Chevrolet replicates Hershel McGriff‘s No. 52 from the first Southern 500 in 1950.

Rajah Caruth

Caruth will run a tribute to Wendell Scott, with a similar design and colors as Scott’s 1973 No. 34 when he was injured in a crash at Talladega Superspeedway.

Ryan Vargas

Vargas’ No. 30 is similar to Sean Woodside‘s No. 31 truck that he ran at Mesa Marin Raceway in 2000.

Josh Reaume

Reaume’s No. 33 honors Ken Block with a similar scheme as Block’s No. 43 hoonicorn Ford Mustang.

Jake Garcia

The No. 35 features the same design as Buckshot Jones‘ No. 00 from 1999.

Ross Chastain

The “Melon Man” will sport the Petty Blue color of Lee Petty’s car from the 1950s/1960s.

Carson Hocevar

Hocevar wants to race the truck, which honors Dale Jarrett’s 2001 brown and yellow UPS No. 88.

Daniel Dye

Dye’s No. 43 honors Richard Petty with the same design as the King’s STP car from 1976.

Lawless Alan

Alan pays homage to the late Adam Petty and his No. 45 Spree car from 1999.

Stewart Friesen

The No. 52 features the same design and colors as Ivan Little‘s No. 61 Modified from the 1960s and 1970s.

Timmy Hill

Hill’s truck resembles the No. 1 MOPAR truck of Ted Musgrave from 2003.

About the author

Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised as a motorsports fan and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.

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7 Comments
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eddo

Hey Menards- the Blaney Scheme is weak. let him run the actual colors of the throwback.
signed,
me

Tom B

The Quaker State throwback car looks like a Steve Kinser race car. WoO Sprint and NASCAR Cup.

Ron

Thanks for posting these “paint” schemes.

Tony

For every one scheme that’s really cool, there are about three that really stretch it.

RCFX1

It was pretty cool the first time. Now, not so much. Some of them are a real stretch to say they are ‘throw back’ schemes.

DoninAjax

I think the old and current numbers should match.

Shayne

Anything to make a buck, the NASCAR mantra. Gotta sell them little cars at the trailer.

I though NASCAR was ashamed of their past transgressions. Sure is convenient to use the past to make a quick buck. Especially when present times aren’t exactly going very well.

It’s Darlington. There will be plenty of fans. Maybe get the marketing department to understand those demographics and cater to them.

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