With the Craftsman Truck Series heading to Darlington once again in recent years, they have embraced the throwback trend. Which teams and drivers will be throwing it back at Darlington next Sunday?
Nick Sanchez will be paying tribute to Mario Andretti’s 1967 Daytona 500 winning car. A racing legend to put it lightly, Andretti only raced in 14 NASCAR races, but he made a mark on the sports biggest stage in 1967. Racing for Hollman-Moody, Andretti led 112 laps to win the race two years before he won his only Indianapolis 500.
Along with our partners @GainbridgeLife we are honored to share that @Nicksanchez080 (No. 2 Gainbridge Chevy) will run @MarioAndretti's 1967 Daytona 500 win paint scheme during @TooToughToTame's "Throwback Weekend."
Feature: https://t.co/3CVOk8rD3G@NASCAR_Trucks | #NASCAR75 pic.twitter.com/XoFB5CDkYE— Rev Racing (@RevRacin) April 14, 2023
Timmy Hill will be throwing it back to Ted Musgrave’s 2003 Truck Series scheme. Musgrave enjoyed one of his best seasons in 2003 winning three races, but narrowly missing out on the championship.
After being penalized for pulling out of line on the final restart in the finale at Homestead, Musgrave was dropped to 13th costing him the championship. However, he would get his redemption two seasons later winning the 2005 Truck Series Championship.
One of the highly popular UPS throwbacks, Hocevar is honoring Dale Jarrett’s 2001 Race the Truck scheme. The scheme is listed as being raced at Kansas Speedway in 2001 according to Racing Reference. In 2001, Jarrett enjoyed his sixth consecutive top five points finish with four wins on the season.
Chastain will be pulling double duty at Darlington, and, in the Truck Series, his scheme will honor NASCAR legend, the late Lee Petty. The father of the King, Richard Petty, Lee was a three-time NASCAR champion who won the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959.
Lee has also been given the moniker by some as “The protester” after protesting the results of what was Richard’s first career win in 1959. NASCAR actually switched the scoring placing Richard a lap down, and handing Lee the win.
Christian Eckes will be honoring one of NASCAR’s newest Hall of Famers in Herschel McGriff. According to the press release by Bill McNally Racing, this is based on the scheme run at the inaugural 1950 Southern 500. According to Racing Reference, McGriff finished 9th in that race.
Jake Garcia will run a scheme honoring Busckshot Jones’ 1999 Xfinity Series car. According to the press release, the two-time Xfinity Series race winner made a large impact on Garcia’s career.
Lawless Allen will be harkening back to the late Adam Petty’s 1999 scheme. Petty ran in the Xfinity Series in 1999, and won an ARCA Menards Series race at Charlotte the year prior in a similar scheme.
Rajah Caruth is throwing it back to one of NASCAR’s groundbreakers, Wendell Scott. Scott was virtually the only Black driver to race full-time in NASCAR during the height of the civil rights movement, even winning a race at Jacksonville in 1963. He pioneered a trail for drivers of color such as Caruth to race in NASCAR today.
This scheme honors the 1973 season, where Scott made some of his final NASCAR starts.
Many eras and many drivers are being honored with these Craftsman Truck Series throwbacks. Which one will come out on top next weekend at Darlington?
