NASCAR Cup Series

Ryan Blaney's Darlington throwback a tribute to Kyle Petty's 1987 ride

Published May. 23, 2017 9:30 a.m. ET

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Tom Jensen

One of the best races of the year in NASCAR is the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, where teams bring out their special throwback paint schemes for the annual Labor Day weekend extravaganza.

At this year’s race, the fabled Wood Brothers Racing team will have a great-looking car with a Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing paint scheme based on the car Kyle Petty drove to victory in the 1987 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

https://twitter.com/MQL_Racing/status/866775635557044224

In addition to the Coca-Cola 600 victory, in 1987 Petty and the Wood Brothers finished second at North Wilksboro and third at Talladega, Pocono, Michigan and Riverside in 29 starts that season.

“Even when Richard Petty and David Pearson were fighting tooth and nail on the race track, the Wood family and the Petty family were great friends,” said Len Wood, co-owner of Wood Brothers Racing. “That friendship continues today and that makes honoring the car Kyle drove for us even more special.”

“Not a day goes by while driving for the Wood Brothers that I’m not struck by the team’s history and what it has meant to NASCAR for 67 years,” said Blaney whose fire suit for the Southern 500 will resemble that of Petty. “That’s why it is so neat to drive a No. 21 car at Darlington with a paint scheme recognizing Kyle Petty’s big win in the ’87 Coca-Cola 600.”

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