This past weekend at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series celebrated another first-time winner as 24-year old Kyle Larson brought home his maiden Sprint Cup victory.
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), remembers what it was like to be a first-time winner himself. In fact, the defending Sprint Cup Series champion and winner of 38 career races at NASCAR’s top level was the first driver to Larson’s driver-side window to shake his hand in victory lane at Michigan. Busch knows how difficult wins are to come by, and it certainly brought back memories of his own first win at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California back in 2005.
So as the Sprint Cup series heads to its second annual “Throwback Weekend” at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Busch and Interstate Batteries will be honoring a first-time victory of their own as JGR and Interstate Batteries celebrate their 25th year together in 2016. The paint scheme Busch will race is a replica of the original design Dale Jarrett raced to victory in the 1993 Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway – the first-ever Sprint Cup win for JGR and for Interstate Batteries.
In addition to appearing on the No. 18 entry for Jarrett’s Daytona 500 victory, the Interstate Batteries scheme was run for the first two years of JGR’s foray into NASCAR’s top series during the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
The story of Jarrett’s historic victory in the 35th Daytona 500 has been told many times throughout the last 24 years. That day – Feb. 14, 1993 – Dale Earnhardt led 107 of 200 laps, but he was passed by Jarrett’s No. 18 Interstate Batteries car on the last lap while Jarrett’s father, Ned, excitedly called the action during the live television broadcast. The “Dale and Dale Show,” as referred to by Ned Jarrett on the telecast, is still considered by many to be one of the best races in NASCAR history. Ironically, as part of the throwback theme at Darlington this weekend, Dale and Ned Jarrett will join legendary play-by-play voice Ken Squier in the NBC broadcast booth to call a portion of Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500.
Perhaps lesser known, and somewhat humorous, is the mass confusion that took place following the checkered flag of that 1993 Daytona 500. JGR had only competed in NASCAR for one year and had yet to find victory lane, while Jarrett had scored only one previous victory in his career – the August 1991 race at Michigan.
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