NASCAR Cup Series: Top 10 Darlington paint scheme wish list

DARLINGTON, SC - SEPTEMBER 02: Paul Menard, driver of the #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, leads Clint Bowyer, driver of the #14 Carolina Ford Dealers Ford, and Bubba Wallace, driver of the #43 STP Chevrolet, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 2, 2018 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

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9 Mar 1997: NASCAR driver Kyle Petty in his Pontiac Grand Prix racing for team Hot Wheels Pontiac Mandatory Credit: David Taylor /Allsport /

Darrell Wallace Jr. – Kyle Petty tribute car

Usually, right after we get the Jeff Gordon rainbow throwback, the Petty tributes are right in tow. Richard Petty gets the standard STP treatment, which makes sense. Meanwhile, Kyle Petty gets honors to his days in various Wood Brothers and Felix Sabates cars, but none to his later years at Petty Enterprises.

Kyle Petty’s time racing for his family team may be bleak at first glance, but there are some great cars he ran during the era. The 1997 Hot Wheels paint scheme he drove is my personal favorite, and it is one of my favorite paint schemes in NASCAR history. That light blue paint mixed with a neat sponsor and some red rims make it a pleasurable view every time.

The 1997 season was Petty’s first as an owner-driver for the now forgotten PE2 Motorsports (short for Petty Enterprises 2 Motorsports). The 1997 season was his last real competitive season in NASCAR Cup Series competition. He scored two top five finishes and nine top 10 finishes on his way to finishing in 15th place in the championship standings. He would never again duplicate these numbers.

While there are brighter days of Kyle Petty’s career to remember, there is not a better paint scheme out there. We should definitely get another Hot Wheels car out there soon!

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