Kyle Larson is all set to roll into the Darlington Raceway this weekend with an iconic paint scheme honoring Terry Labonte. His tribute coincides with the much-celebrated Throwback Weekend and commemorates the Southern 500 race that Labonte won in 2003.
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The Hall of Famer, who competed in NASCAR’s top tier for more than two decades, starting from 1978, won 22 Cup Series races in his career. They helped him win the championship twice, in 1984 and 1996. Darlington was the track where he won his first (1980) and last (2003) races.
Labonte is certain that Larson would steer their shared No. 5 to another win. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has secured one victory (at Homestead-Miami) and five top-10 finishes in the season so far. Given his form, he has a good chance of conquering the Lady in Black this Sunday.
“The most exciting part is having Kyle Larson drive it. I know going in that we have a shot to win. He just does a fantastic job everywhere he goes, every weekend,” Labonte said last week when the paint scheme was revealed.
Kyle Larson and Terry Labonte unveil Darlington throwback with Labonte’s 2003 car that inspired Larson’s car for next week. @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/UVUFIiANsZ
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 26, 2025
Labonte then spoke about how much the 1.36-mile track meant to him. “Darlington Raceway is one of those places that’s just unbelievable to me. You look at the history, and you look at all the people who have won races here — as lots of things change, but it’s always just the same, old Darlington,” he said.
If anybody, it is Labonte who would have a proper understanding of how complex it is to navigate the egg-shaped oval. But Larson is no ignorant rookie either.
Can Larson overcome the trickiness of Darlington?
The challenges of racing at Darlington are manifold.
“For drivers, it’s so unique because it’s so hard. When you can win at Darlington, it’s quite an accomplishment. It’s a pretty good accomplishment if you can run around here for 500 miles and not hit the wall. It’s so narrow and so easy to get caught up in somebody else’s accident,” described Labonte.
The upcoming Goodyear 400, however, will be a 400-mile race. But the same level of difficulty as the Southern 500 applies to it as well. What’s promising is that Larson has already won the Southern 500 at this track in 2023.
So, fans can realistically expect blazing streaks of orange, blue, and yellow to run riot on Sunday.
