Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be racing to a “throwback” paint scheme at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 6. His No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy will be sporting a Valvoline themed scheme. The design is reminiscent the early-1980s look of Valvoline cars driven by some of the era’s racing icons, including Cale Yarborough, Ron Bouchard, Neil Bonnett and Buddy Baker.
“I love the history of the sport and really enjoy paint schemes from the past,” said Earnhardt, NASCAR’s 12-time most popular driver. “To be able to run a car inspired by many of my racing idols is pretty special. Valvoline has been involved in NASCAR for a long time, and it’s awesome they wanted to do a program like this at Darlington.”
The scheme is part of one-race sponsorship of Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevy. It marks an elevated partnership between Hendrick Motorsports and Valvoline, which in September 2013 announced a four-year agreement that kicked off last season MORE>>>
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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