The Darlington race weekend has always been special to fans because of its throwback schemes — a weekend where fans can relish cars painted with schemes used by drivers from the past. Much like several teams this time around, Front Row Motorsports joined the bandwagon to deliver a stunning throwback with one of its star drivers, earning enormous praise from fans.
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Front Row Motorsports dedicates Darlington to Elliott Sadler
According to the latest development, Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith will drive the Black and Red with a touch of yellow paint scheme reminiscent of Sadler’s No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing scheme in 2000. Sadler drove with this scheme for Wood Brothers Racing on his Ford Taurus.
Smith will don the Mystik Lubes scheme on his #38 car, as a part of the sponsor’s contract — Mystik Lubes has two race deals with Front Row Motorsports to sponsor Zane Smith’s #38 ride. Announcing the same, FRM from its official X handle, wrote:
“Headed back to 2000. @ZaneSmith will be running a @MystikLubes throwback to Elliott Sadler and his 2000 Ford Taurus.”
Headed back to 2000.@ZaneSmith will be running a @MystikLubes throwback to Elliott Sadler and his 2000 Ford Taurus. pic.twitter.com/nNtMTmbxRm
— Front Row Motorsports (@Team_FRM) March 18, 2026
The throwback is immensely important for Sadler and his fans, given that this was the time when the former was establishing himself as a veteran in the sport. It is brought forth to pay respect to Sadler, who spent nearly 16 years in the Cup Series, racking up 438 races, three wins, eight poles, and 69 top 10s.
Besides this, he also participated in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series, amassing 397 and 20 races, respectively. Elliott Sadler, the 50-year-old former driver from Virginia, retired from all forms of racing, and his last race was the 2019 Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300 at Las Vegas in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
While Sadler can enjoy watching his paint scheme run at Darlington, it will be up to Zane Smith to bring home a good finish. Racing in such an iconic scheme, Smith would look to improve on his performance at this track, given his best finish here was 12th, which came in 2025.
Currently, Smith is in 19th place in the Drivers’ Standings with 108 points after five races. With two top 10s and a DNF, the FRM driver’s journey from here has to be a good one if he wants to earn himself a top 16 berth at the end of regular-season races. But right now, the fans are rejoicing in the Sadler throwback news, especially pointing at one infamous incident from Sadler’s career at Michigan.
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Fans react to Zane Smith’s Darlington scheme
One fan wrote, “This is the car that went “over the catchfence” at Michigan!”
Sadler’s Michigan catch fence incident was a terrifying one that took place in 2000. During practice, Sadler’s car blew a right-rear tire on the frontstretch. The car flipped up and went a car-length high above the catch fence. NASCAR famously refused to share the footage with the public.
Another fan wrote, “Glad teams are still doing throwbacks, got some banger schemes this year.” Here, the fan focused on how the teams still continue to recognize the throwback week at Darlington, and teams such as FRM, Spire all following suit.
“Sick scheme and throwback. FRM carrying Throwback weekend in Cup.” With this, the fan highlights Front Row Motorsports’ constant effort to keep the throwback weekend at Darlington alive year after year.
Another fan wrote, “They nailed the nose so well I didn’t realize this was a NextGen car for a moment.” The fan shed light on how Front Row Motorsports crafted the scheme perfectly on Smith’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
“Honestly? This looks really good, especially with the block font.” With this, the fan hailed the choice of the font for the scheme, and the overall appearance.
While the fans delivered a positive verdict for Zane Smith’s #38 car ahead of the race, it will be interesting to see if the Front Row Motorsports driver can fetch himself a good outing at Darlington.
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