For HendrickCars.com, Darlington throwback scheme represents 'how far we've come'
Race fans always look forward to the month of May. From the historic Indianapolis 500 and Charlotte’s Coca-Cola 600, to the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix on the streets of Monte Carlo, France, it’s a time filled with some of sport’s biggest and most-important spectacles.
Annually, one of the months more anticipated races is the ‘Throwback” NASCAR Cup Series weekend at South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway, Sunday, May 14 (FS1; 3 pm ET). Teeming with nostalgia, a field of modern day machinery line up for the Goodyear 400 covered in historic schemes highlighting the sport’s illustrative past.
Where there’s Smoke, there’s a winning #NASCARThrowback paint scheme.
— Hendrick Automotive Group (@HendrickCars) May 9, 2023
Only on https://t.co/HBUMOAH5JZ pic.twitter.com/toK6F3ujhq
For this year’s “Throwback” race, the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro of Kyle Larson will be carrying the colors of Tony Stewart’s one-off HendrickCars.com entry from the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series race in 2009. That Valentine’s Day, the future NASCAR Hall of Famer took the No. 80 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet to victory lane at Daytona International Speedway in an effort led by champion crew chief Lance McGrew.
Back then, HendrickCars.com was Hendrick Automotive Group’s online retail center and proudly featured more than 5,000 pre-owned vehicles in inventory. Today, with 131 franchises nationwide, HendrickCars.com has become the online home for everything Hendrick Automotive Group. Visitors can now shop thousands of new or pre-owned vehicles, locate centers for service and collision repair, receive a value to sell or trade their car, chat online with customer service, discover career opportunities, learn more about vehicle protection programs, and explore how the company gives back to the community.
For owner Rick Hendrick, the 2009 race at Daytona was especially meaningful as it blended two of his life’s passions – the car business and auto racing. Now with HendrickCars.com as the majority sponsor of Larson’s championship-winning No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick Motorsports continue to be a winning combination.
“We chose the No. 80 to represent each of our 80 stores in 2009,” said Hendrick, who is chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group, which currently operates 93 dealership locations across the United States. “To see how much our business has grown and to have a paint scheme to represent how far we’ve come is really something special.
“Back then, the entire company was excited to see HendrickCars.com on the car, and then winning that race drove a ton of traffic to the website. Today our Hendrick Automotive Group teammates support Kyle whenever he competes. Rallying around the No. 5 team brings everyone together and helps promote our company. Winning never gets old, so we hope to put this car in victory lane at Darlington just like we did with Tony at Daytona.”
After the 2009 race, Stewart talked about the significance of his one-time-only appearance for Hendrick Motorsports. For many years, he and Hendrick discussed racing together, but it never came to fruition until the stars aligned that season.
“It means so much to me to be here,” Stewart said. “This was something since 1996 that we had tried to do, and here we are in 2009. In our first race together, we win.”
AdChoices