Denny Hamlin, William Byron Honoring Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon at Darlington

Denny Hamlin and William Byron, two of the top contenders in the NASCAR Cup Series, revealed their throwback paint schemes for next weekend's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, and the two drivers will honor a pair of NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers with their cars.

Hamlin, 44, will carry a red, black, and white No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry XSE, which is designed to honor Carl Edwards and the Office Depot paint scheme that Edwards piloted in the early years of his NASCAR Cup Series career.

Darlington throwback 🤝 Carl Edwards pic.twitter.com/b9jIzmbGxB
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) March 25, 2025

Of Edwards' 28 career NASCAR Cup Series wins, 11 came with the Office Depot colors plastered on his race cars. Edwards, who spent 11 years driving for RFK Racing (then known as Roush Fenway Racing), moved to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015 as a teammate to Hamlin. Edwards would spend the final two seasons of his career at JGR, where he recorded five victories before surprisingly retiring at the end of the 2016 season.

Byron, 27, will carry a silver Axalta paint scheme with the company's iconic flames adorning the paint scheme. The silver paint scheme was originally utilized by Jeff Gordon in what was originally scheduled to be Gordon's final NASCAR Cup Series start at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The silver that marked Jeff Gordon’s final full-time run in 2015 is back. @williambyron will honor the legend with this Homestead throwback at Darlington. #NASCARThrowback pic.twitter.com/CpYAUMpNDE
— Axalta Racing (@AxaltaRacing) March 26, 2025

In that 2015 season-finale at Homestead, Gordon started fifth, led nine laps, and came home with a sixth-place result.

Gordon would return for an impromptu eight-race schedule in 2016 in relief for an injured Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had suffered a concussion in a crash that season at Michigan International Speedway.

Byron, who won the season-opening Daytona 500, currently finds himself as the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season point leader after the opening six races of the season. Byron has been competitive at virtually ever race this season.

Hamlin sits eighth in the championship standings, and is coming off of a fifth-place result at Homestead-Miami Speedway last weekend. Hamlin also scored a season-best finish of second a few weeks ago at Phoenix Raceway in a photo finish with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell.

Both Byron and Hamlin are hoping to walk away from the 2025 season with their first career NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Hamlin is a 54-time race winner in the NASCAR Cup Series while Byron has captured the checkered flag 14 times over his eight-year career.

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