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Ryan Reed honoring Bobby Allison with Darlington paint scheme

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Ryan Reed is honored to be racing at Darlington in Bobby Allison's throwback red, white and blue paint scheme from 1975.

Roush Fenway Racing is the second team to unveil a throwback paint scheme for the Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway on Sept. 3.

On Monday, Roush debuted the paint scheme Ryan Reed’s No. 16 Ford will bear for the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200. The car will have the red, white and blue paint scheme used by Bobby Allison in 1975 when he drove a No. 16 Matador for Roger Penske and was sponsored by Coca-Cola and AMC.

That season, Allison started 19 of 30 Sprint Cup races and finished 10. Of those, Allison earned three wins, including a sweep of the Darlington races.

“Bobby Allison is a true icon in this sport,” said team owner Jack Roush in a press release. “I’m beyond honored to have one of our cars carry a paint scheme that Bobby ran. I look forward to making him proud at Darlington Raceway later this season.”

Sam Bass, the first officially-licensed NASCAR artist, helped design the paint scheme. Like Reed, Bass lives with type 1 diabetes. On race weekend, after the No. 16 goes through inspection, Bass will hand paint the Lilly Diabetes 140th Anniversary logo on the decklid of Reed’s car.

“I’ve been honored to do some pretty amazing things during my time in NASCAR, but painting a logo ‘Old School’ on a racecar at the track is new for me,” said Bass in a press release. “What Ryan and his team are doing in the diabetes community is really special to me and I’m honored to be included with two things I’m so passionate about – NASCAR history and diabetes awareness.”

The paint scheme will be featured on today’s episode of NASCAR America, which airs from 6-7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

The VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 can be seen on Sept. 3 on NBC.

Follow @DanielMcFadin