CONCORD, N.C. (August 18, 2020) – With the Darlington Throwback weekend coming up in a few weeks, Oscar Mayer and Roush Fenway Racing have announced that the No. 6 Ford Mustang will match that of driver Ryan Newman’s 1999 scheme from the USAC Silver Crown Series, where he won the National Championship.
In the sixth year of NASCAR’s award-winning throwback weekend, Darlington Raceway will celebrate “NASCAR’s Champions…Past, Present and Future” for its 2020 throwback campaign. The “Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR” will be celebrated during the track’s 71st running of the famed Southern 500 on Labor Day Weekend, Sept. 5-6.
Newman will throwback to a championship of his own, by running a scheme that matches that of his 1999 scheme, where he won the USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet Series National Championship. In that season, Newman won twice and finished top-10 in 12 of 15 races.
“Darlington Throwback weekend is always cool, and it’s especially cool for me this year because Oscar Mayer has given us the opportunity to throw it back to my Silver Crown Championship season in 1999, which seems like forever ago,” Newman said. “It was a pretty special moment and year back in my resumé-building time to make it to the level, and I’m thankful to be representing it again so many years later in the Cup Series.”
The South Bend, Indiana, native became the first driver to win in all three major USAC divisions that season and did it all while balancing studying vehicle-structure engineering at Purdue. Additionally, he was named USAC National Rookie of the Year in all three divisions.
“As a brand whose history goes back over a hundred years, Oscar Mayer is excited to reminisce on 1999 with Ryan,” said Nick Guerten, Director of Marketing for Oscar Mayer. “The passion and excitement from fans around Throwback Weekend is one of the reasons Oscar Mayer is thrilled to be a part of the NASCAR community, and we’re looking forward to seeing Ryan behind the wheel of the No. 6 at Darlington in just a few weeks.”
Newman will make his 24th Cup start at Darlington, a track he has an average finish of 12.7, second best on the circuit behind only Richmond. Dating back to 2002, Newman has 13 top-10s and seven top fives, including a best result of second in his second-ever Cup event at the famed South Carolina track.
Most recently, Newman tallied a pair of top-15 finishes this spring, where NASCAR visited the track for two races in four days as part of the sport’s return to racing. In last season’s throwback weekend, Newman finished 23rd in the Oscar Mayer Ford.
Coverage for the Southern 500 on Sept. 6 is set for 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Coverage can also be heard on MRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.
— Roush Fenway Racing