CONCORD, N.C. – William Byron will pay a nod to a movie that was released before he was even born during the upcoming Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Byron will carry a Cole Trickle-inspired Days of Thunder throwback scheme aboard his No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the Labor Day weekend classic, set for Sept. 1.
The Charlotte, N.C., native unveiled the scheme on social media Wednesday in a parody of the scene that introduced Trickle’s character – played by Tom Cruise – in the 1990 film.
⬇️ the ? #NASCARThrowback #DaysofThunder #TBT pic.twitter.com/nfh86ZI3DR
— William Byron (@WilliamByron) August 1, 2019
The famed green-and-yellow scheme, originally carried on Trickle’s No. 46 car in the movie, will be replicated on Byron’s car for the Darlington event – complete with City Chevrolet sponsorship on the hood and rear quarter panels.
Notably, Byron’s team owner – Rick Hendrick – owns the real-life City Chevrolet dealership, which is located in Charlotte, N.C., not too far from the Hendrick Motorsports campus.
Why is Darlington the perfect place for such a throwback scheme to run at? Because in the Days of Thunder movie, Trickle earns his first-career win at Darlington, with the same scheme.
Byron is seeking his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win in his second full-time season. He has two top-five finishes in 57 starts, both of which have come this year.
The 21-year-old’s current career-best mark is a second-place finish, earned during the rain-shortened Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona Int’l Speedway on July 7.
Byron followed that effort up by finishing fourth in the most recent Cup Series stop at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway last Sunday, vaulting up to 12th in the regular-season point standings.
Kurt Busch carried the same Days of Thunder-inspired paint scheme that Byron is running later this fall on his Phoenix Racing entry in the NASCAR Xfinity Series back in 2013.
Busch finished fourth in that race, while Matt Kenseth took a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory lane.