Daniel Suárez‘s No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet will carry a vintage Quaker State livery as a tribute to NASCAR great Ricky Rudd during the 400-mile Cup Series event at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on May 14.
The scheme is in keeping with the ninth annual “Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR” during which the industry honors the sport‘s 75-year history. Nearly all the NASCAR Cup Series teams will sport throwback paint schemes in the Goodyear 400.
Suárez‘s No. 99 Chevrolet will carry the familiar Quaker State livery raced by Rudd during the 1988 season.
That year Rudd joined King Racing owned by NHRA drag racing driver Kenny Bernstein and led by Larry McReynolds who served as crew chief for the No. 26 Buick Regal with Quaker State sponsorship.
Rudd won at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International that season and finished 11th in the standings.
“I watched a video of Ricky‘s career the other day and it‘s obvious that he was a great driver and one tough man,” said Suárez who added that his team selected the paint scheme based on the relationship it has with Quaker State and the desire to honor Rudd who still maintains a large fan base.
“We hope this paint scheme reminds the older generation of fans of happy times watching Ricky Rudd race and teaches the younger generation about his accomplishments.”
Rudd won 23 of his 906 Cup races over a 33-year period including the 1997 Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rudd‘s final Cup race came at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway in 2007.
Quaker State joined Trackhouse Racing in March as a primary sponsor of Suárez‘s No. 99 Chevrolet at the April 2 race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and will serve as primary sponsor at the July 9 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Quaker State is also a Trackhouse team technical partner.
There are few tracks that have played a greater role in NASCAR than Darlington who first hosted the Southern 500 Cup race on Labor Day weekend on Sept. 4, 1950. The track added the NASCAR Convertible Series to its spring schedule in 1957-59; the series eventually became a part of the Cup Series. From 1960 to 2004, Darlington annually hosted two Cup Series race weekends — one in the spring and one on Labor Day weekend. From 2005-2013, Darlington hosted a Cup Series race in May.
In 2015, the Southern 500 returned to its traditional date on Labor Day weekend where it has stayed ever since. The track hosted three Cup Series races as part of NASCAR‘s realigned schedule on account of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In 2021, Darlington returned to its traditional home for two scheduled Cup Series race weekends since 2004.
FS1 will broadcast the Goodyear 400 at 3 p.m. EDT on May 14.
— Trackhouse Racing —
