DARLINGTON, S.C. – Reigning Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon will bring back one of Richard Childress Racing’s most iconic paint schemes for Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Dillon will carry a replica of Dale Earnhardt’s 1995 NASCAR All-Star Race (then called the Winston) paint scheme aboard his No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet for the third crown jewel event of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Nicknamed the ‘Silver Secret’, Earnhardt’s car that year featured a metallic silver base with red numerals, a stark contrast to the traditional black-and-white GM Goodwrench cars he was known for through the years.
The seven-time Cup champion ran strong in the ’95 Winston, but crashed out at the start of the final 10-lap segment.
Dillon’s car will pay homage to that ride Sunday night under the lights, as the third-generation driver chases his second win of the season.
“(To run this car) is super special,” said Dillon. “Leading up to this point I had talked to a couple of different people what we should do. Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. and I kind of talked about this car before it came together and American Ethanol, I can’t thank them enough. They have been so supportive of our Darlington schemes and just changing their logos for us to put it however we need it.
“That is what is cool about this is our sport comes together for everybody to enjoy a weekend like this at Darlington, our throwback weekend.”
Dillon noted that Earnhardt’s debut of the ‘Silver Select’ car in 1995 marked a turning point in NASCAR, with many teams following suit in the ensuing years and debuting special paint schemes of their own for select events.
“This is kind of the one that kind of started all the wild paint schemes,” said Dillon. “Talking to different guys about it, how special it was and (the fact that) it was a secret … that is why we kind of unveiled it the way we did, just like they didn’t unveil this car until it rolled off the back of the trailer.”
Even still, that didn’t mean that people didn’t start to guess which paint scheme would be unveiled before it happened.
“The first person that kind of got me was (Danny) Chocolate (Myers) actually. I was on a radio show and he was asking me ‘what are you going to do for Darlington weekend’ and I said ‘well, I guess you’ll just have to wait until we get to the track’ … and he was like ‘well the last time that was done he (Earnhardt) said it was a secret too’ … so it was cool to have those guys be here and be a part of it. It’s very special, I think, for everybody involved at RCR.”
Dillon said without hesitation that carrying such a special part of RCR’s history on his car this weekend gives him both confidence and motivation to get the job done at the end of 500 miles Sunday night.
“You want to go out there and run well anytime you put a Dale (Earnhardt) Sr. throwback on the car,” said Dillon. “Like I said, I’m really pumped this weekend. I’ve got to get my nerves in the right area and we will go out there and log some laps here in the Southern 500 and hopefully put ourselves in a really good position at the end of the night.”
Dillon put himself in one of those good positions on the final lap of the Daytona 500 in February. He’s also a past winner of the Coca-Cola 600 and has proven that he has the ability to perform in the sport’s biggest races.
“I feel really good going into big races like this at Darlington, Indy, crown jewel races,” Dillon stated. “We ran fourth here last year. We want to do even better this time. I’m really excited for this weekend. I’m almost over excited. I’ve got to calm down a little bit because we’ve got such a beautiful car and a good track for our team.
“I’m pumped and just ready to get in the race car and get after it.”
