The annual Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway is famous for NASCAR drivers running well-known throwback paint schemes. Chase Elliott’s slightly bucking that trend, but his No. 24 still might be the coolest car on the track.
Elliott will run a powder blue paint scheme first run by his legendary father, Bill Elliott, in 1976, Hendrick Motorsports announced Thursday. And although NASCAR fans are quite familiar with Bill’s No. 9 Ford Thunderbird, a ride in which he won the Daytona 500 twice, the scheme Chase will bring to Darlington is anything but well-known. Check it out below:
Choosing a paint scheme that probably only diehards recognize might seem like a curious choice to some, but not for the 21-year-old Elliott.
“That wasn’t the car people know him for,” Chase said in a statement. “So, I feel like it’s kind of cool to open people’s eyes to things that maybe they haven’t seen about his career and the history of the Elliott family.”
Watch Chase reveal the throwback scheme in the 360-degree video below:
As cool as this paint job is, Elliott certainly will have some company on Sept. 3.
Richard Childress Racing already revealed Ryan Newman and Austin Dillon both will honor Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s iconic Wrangler paint scheme, while Aric Almirola will run a paint job that Richard Petty ran when he won his 200th race.
As for Dale Earnhardt Jr, well, he’ll be honoring himself.
Thumbnail photo via Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports Images
