Though it may be hard to believe, former Sprint Cup driver Mark Martin‘s first Cup sponsor for his No. 6 Ford at Roush Fenway Racing wasn’t Valvoline. It wasn’t even the second.
In 1990-91, his third and fourth full-time seasons in the Sprint Cup Series, Martin was sponsored by Folgers coffee, famous for its “Folgers in your cup” jingle.
The paint scheme Martin drove in those two seasons is making a return for the Xfinity Series race Sept. 3 at Darlington Raceway. While it won’t have the Folgers sponsorship, the same colors will adorn the No. 6 Ford of Darrell Wallace Jr., keeping it in the Roush family.
“I think it will be one of the best-looking schemes on the track that weekend,” Wallace said in a release. “Everybody knows about Mark Martin’s accomplishments in NASCAR and his importance to the legacy of Roush Fenway. He’s going into the Hall of Fame this year, and it’s really an honor to run this scheme on our car at Darlington.”
Martin, who notched four of his 40 Sprint Cup victories with Folgers, will be present in Darlington that weekend as one of the grand marshals for the Sept. 4 Southern 500.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing that car back out on the track,” said Martin in a release. “We really started to hit our stride during that time, and it was great to go to the racetrack every week knowing that we had a chance to win and that we were competing for championships at the highest level.”
The Sprint Cup and Xfinity races at Darlington will evoke many memories of Martin and Darrell Waltrip, who are being honored by some classic paint schemes in the Southern 500 and VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 (Sept. 3).
Trevor Bayne is driving Martin’s 1996-97 Sprint Cup paint scheme in the Southern 500. That’s a year after Bayne drove his 1998 Sprint Cup paint scheme and Sam Hornish Jr. drove one inspired by Martin’s iconic Winn-Dixie car that he drove for years in the Busch Series (now Xfinity Series).
Waltrip will have four total schemes he once drove throughout his career on track Labor Day weekend: three in the Southern 500, driven by Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Denny Hamlin and one in the Xfinity Series.
The rest of the retro paint schemes can been see on Sept. 4 on NBC.
