As Hendrick Motorsports celebrates its 40th season competing in the NASCAR Cup Series, the championship-winning organization is paying tribute to its most successful drivers.
So, when it comes to William Byron, the current driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, it only makes sense to honor Jeff Gordon, the organization's Vice Chairman, who captured four NASCAR Cup Series titles and 93 victories while using the number.
Throughout his 20-year career in the NASCAR Cup Series, Gordon, being sponsored by a paint company in DuPont (now Axalta Coating Systems) had some of the brightest and most unique paint schemes on track, a trend that continued into the later stages of his career.
Enter the No. 24 Firestorm Chevrolet.
Making its first on-track appearance in 2009, the Firestorm became an instant classic, with the black, red, orange, and yellow base design standing out on-track, even moreso with the classic flames that appeared on many of Gordon's race cars throughout the 2000s.
In the years that followed, several adaptations of the paint scheme were created, especially as the NASCAR Cup Series transitioned into the sixth-generation car beginning in 2013. Now, 15 years after its on-track debut, the No. 24 is bringing back Firestorm to Darlington Raceway for Throwback Weekend.
Axalta officially revealed the paint scheme on their social media Thursday, the final of the four Hendrick Motorsports schemes to be revealed for Throwback Weekend:
Byron, who picked up the victory during Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway in 2023, will look to return this iconic paint scheme to Victory Lane while continuing to assert himself as a championship favorite as he looks for his series-leading fourth NASCAR Cup Series win of 2024.
At Darlington, the modern-day Hendrick Motorsports lineup will look like a scene from the 2000s, with throwbacks to Jeff Gordon (Byron), Jimmie Johnson (Bowman), Terry Labonte (Larson), and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (Elliott).
