CONCORD, N.C. — Roush Fenway Racing and Bubba Wallace announced via a special Facebook Live video on Thursday that Mello Yello will be the primary sponsor of the No. 6 Ford Mustang during the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Richmond Int’l Raceway on April 29.
“Throughout my career, we’ve been fortunate to be partnered up with some great brands, including the Coca-Cola Racing Team and Coca-Cola … and this (paint scheme) is old school, with a little bit of new school,” Wallace said during the reveal. “I’m a big fan of it. It looks good.”
The ToyotaCare 250 will mark a return to NASCAR for the popular citrus soda brand, which came into prominence after being featured in the classic film Days of Thunder in 1990 and then sponsored Kyle Petty in the NASCAR Cup Series from 1991 through 1994, while Petty was driving for long-time car owner Felix Sabates.
Petty was at the RFR shop for the sponsorship unveiling, with the NASCAR on NBC analyst wishing Wallace well as the second-year XFINITY driver seeks his first-career series victory.
“Obviously I’m a big fan,” Petty said to Wallace Jr. “I’m pulling for you to win in this thing. … Some of my best years were in the Mello Yello car, some of my most fun.”
“My favorite memories were winning in that car. Winning at Rockingham and at the Glen … we had a shot at winning the championship one year (1992) and that was a lot of fun. But working with Coca-Cola, working with Gary Nelson … racing with (Dale) Earnhardt Sr. and Rusty (Wallace) and all those guys … it was cool.”
Here's "MY" Mello Yello car for @RIRInsider! So sick!🤘 pic.twitter.com/OsrDRGjQQf
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) April 20, 2017
During Petty’s tenure in the No. 42 Mello Yello Pontiac for Sabates, he scored four of his eight career Cup victories and finished a career-best fifth in the championship standings twice, in both 1992 and 1993.
Wallace, meanwhile, enters Bristol riding a string of five-straight sixth-place finishes in his No. 6 Ford and sits fourth in points behind Elliott Sadler, William Byron and RFR teammate Ryan Reed.
Richmond will mark Mello Yello’s first primary sponsorship since the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in 2015, when they jumped aboard the No. 42 Chevrolet for Kyle Larson in a throwback paint scheme.
The ToyotaCare 250 takes the green flag next Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
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