Matt DiBenedetto joins fellow-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and David Ragan in honoring NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip with a special paint scheme at Sonoma Raceway for Sunday's Toyota Save Mart 350. The race will be Waltrip's last as a member of the NASCAR on FOX broadcast team.
So excited to run this #ThanksDW scheme this weekend in honor of @AllWaltrip! He’s done so much for our sport and I’m lucky to call him a friend,” DiBenedetto [@MattDRacing] tweeted.
The paint scheme on DiBenedetto's #95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota for Sunday's race will resemble to paint scheme of Darrell Waltrip's Terminal Transport-sponsored car from 1974. Waltrip won his first Cup Series pole in Nashville, Tenn., that year, the season before winning his first two of 84-career wins.
The paint scheme on DiBenedetto's car is the most retro of the three Waltrip "throwback" paint schemes at Sonoma, as Ragan and Stenhouse's paint schemes were inspired by Waltrip cars from the 1990s.
Waltrip retired from full-time competition as a Cup Series driver at the end of the 2000 season and became a founding member of the NASCAR on FOX broadcasting team the following season. His retirement after 20 seasons comes in the final Cup race for FOX this year, as NBC takes over next week for the second half of the season.
