As Legacy Motor Club announced their throwback paint scheme tribute to Richard Petty at Dover, Hendrick Motorsports has now followed suit. Kyle Larson will pay homage to the 2-time Cup champion and former HMS driver, Terry Labonte, with a special paint scheme on the No. 5 car at Darlington Raceway.

The Kellogg’s car is still one of the most iconic and recognizable race cars in NASCAR’s history. This collaboration is the perfect amalgamation of two eras of racing. Moreover, this was a surprise reveal for Labonte, who had no clue about the possibility of his iconic car making a return to the racetracks. Having soaked in the surprise, the former HMS driver even made a bold claim that the Larson x Labonte car would make it to victory lane for the Goodyear 400 event.

Darlington is the perfect place to honor Terry Labonte

Terry Labonte and Darlington have a special connection. Out of his 22 Cup wins, his first came at the 1.366-mile oval in 1980. Also, his last victory came at the same venue in 2003. Kyle Larson had the idea for a Labonte tribute last year when he visited his dealership, and after a year’s worth of work and planning, he finally made it happen.

The entire moment of Larson unveiling the surprise for Labonte was shared via Team Hendrick’s Instagram handle. Even Larson was blown away by how good the paint schemes turned out to be. “I got to see the car yesterday. I was just really excited to finally see it. Like actually getting to see it, and it turned out honestly better than I expected,” he said.

Caught completely off guard, Labonte was thrilled to see his iconic color making a return on the racetrack at Darlington. “Honestly, I don’t think anybody better to represent me than you. It’s going to be fun to watch you run with this thing,” the 67-year-old said. Moreover, he even claimed that the racecar would end up in victory lane on May 12. “I would be on the pit box, yeah, and then we are going to victory lane“.

While the Darlington race is going to be special for Larson, he will need to be on his toes for this weekend’s race at Dover. Especially after two consecutive sub-par results at Texas and then Talladega.

Kyle Larson could bounce back at Dover Motor Speedway

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The No. 5 team has had a pretty decent start to their Cup Series campaign. Four top-five finishes, including the win in Las Vegas, have secured Larson’s playoff spot. Moreover, a P3 and P2 finish at Richmond and Martinsville raised hopes for his second win of the season. But unfortunately, he’s hit a brick wall in terms of having strong finishes in his last two attempts.

Texas was a tire disaster for the driver, while at Talladega he wasn’t able to get in a commanding position for a good finish. Monster Mile isn’t a cakewalk by any means, but given his good track record at the venue, he might as well make a winning comeback this weekend. The 31-year-old has an average finish of 8.60 at Dover in his 15 starts, which also includes three runner-up finishes.

Larson has displayed his prowess in consistently running inside the top-five position this season. If he does manage to repeat this feat at the Würth 400 event, he might as well get a good shot at winning his second race of the season.