Stewart-Haas Racing and Clint Bowyer will honor NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin with the paint scheme on Bowyer’s car for the Sept. 3 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Bowyer’s throwback paint scheme harkens to when Martin drove a Carolina Ford Dealers Ford for Bill Davis Racing in 43 Xfinity races between 1988-91.
“If you want to associate yourself with a winner and all that’s good about our sport and its history, then you aren’t going to do any better than Mark Martin,” said Bowyer, who raced as a teammate with Martin in 2012 and 2013 while at Michael Waltrip Racing, in a statement.
“I’m proud to say I got to race with and against Mark in my career, and it’s an honor to have him join us at Darlington in September. When the folks at SHR and Carolina Ford Dealers came up with this idea, I was pretty pumped up for it. Then I saw the paint scheme, and I knew it was going to be one of the best in Darlington.”
Martin finished with 40 Cup wins, placed second in the points five times, won 49 Xfinity races and won five IROC Series titles.
“This is a really cool deal and brings back a lot of memories,” Martin said in a statement. “This was a good time and I hope the race fans enjoy it as much as I will seeing it out on the track. Darlington is one of my favorite places on earth and I’m not going to miss this one.”
.@ClintBowyer's #NASCARThrowback paint scheme honors #NASCAR Hall of Famer @MarkMartin in 2017 #Southern500. - https://t.co/UESA1wV4JI pic.twitter.com/mkmG24Zi5e
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) July 25, 2017