DARLINGTON (AP) – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is dressing out like Buddy Baker in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Earnhardt was on hand Wednesday and unveiled the metallic gray-No. 88 Chevrolet he’ll drive at the track “Too Tough To Tame” on Labor Day weekend.
The car is patterned after the No. 28 “Gray Ghost” that Baker drove to win the Daytona 500 in 1980.
It’s the second straight year the Southern 500 will have a throwback theme with the track honoring the NASCAR era from 1975-84. Earnhardt said Darlington is one of the most historic tracks in NASCAR and “has served our sport so well.”
Earnhardt has had 10 top-10 finishes in 20 career races at Darlington. His father, the late Dale Earnhardt, has nine Darlington victories, second all-time to David Pearson’s 10.