Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are planning an encore presentation of their throwback theme first used at the Darlington Raceway earlier this season. Blaney, at his own request, will wear the same uniform he wore during the Southern 500 to honor David Pearson. At Talladega, he’ll wear the uniform in honor of both Pearson and the late Neil Bonnett, who was from Bessemer, Ala., and considered Talladega his home track. Bonnett succeeded Pearson as driver of the iconic #21 midway through the 1979 season and used a uniform just like the one Pearson wore. Once aboard the #21, Bonnett won in his third start, at Dover. He won twice more that season, at Daytona and Atlanta. In 1980, he won back-to-back races at Pocono Raceway and Talladega. He won three more in 1981 and another in 1982, giving him nine wins in four seasons, all while running a limited schedule. His 1980 win at Talladega was classic Neil Bonnett. He had the #21 out front seven times for 53 laps, but won the race in dramatic fashion. A restart with seven laps remaining set up a shootout for the win between Bonnett, Cale Yarborough, Benny Parsons and Dale Earnhardt Sr. Yarbrough took the lead at the drop of the green flag, but Bonnett, who had been leading prior to the final caution flag, wasn’t done, as team co-owner Eddie Wood recalled. It took Bonnett three laps to regain the lead, and he led the final four – just like the week before at Pocono – to score the win. Behind him, Yarborough edged Earnhardt for second place with Parsons finishing fourth.(Wood Brothers Racing)
