No. 07 ScubaLife.Com Chevrolet to Represent Dotter’s 1992 No. 08 Jeno’s Pizza Scheme
FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. (August 30, 2016) – In the spirit of NASCAR’s Throwback celebration at Darlington Raceway, NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) driver Ray Black Jr. is excited to reveal he will be honoring his SS Green Light team owner Bobby Dotter with a special No. 07 ScubaLife.com Chevrolet. The No. 07 Chevrolet will sport a yellow, red and green paint scheme at the 1.366-mile track, paying respect to Dotter’s race-winning 1992 No. 08 Jeno’s Pizza Oldsmobile.
“I’m so happy to be able to honor Bobby with our paint scheme at Darlington this year!” said Black. “He’s one of the most hard-working, well-respected guys in the garage today, and I’m excited to be able to highlight him and what he does for this sport during one of the most talked about weekends of the season.”
Dotter has a long, well-respected history in the racing industry, as he grew up surrounded by it since his father was a three-time ARCA champion. Dotter started his own racing career at 16-years-old in one of his father’s Late Model cars. From there, he went on to race and find success in everything from ARCA and the ASA Series to NASCAR’s Camping World Truck and Busch Grand National Series (now the NASCAR XFINITY Series). In 209 starts in the Busch Grand National Series, Dotter racked up one win, 12 Top-5 and 42-Top-10 finishes, along with four poles.
Dotter ran the No. 08 Jeno’s Pizza Oldsmobile that Black will be representing at Darlington for just three races during his time in the Busch Grand National Series for Team R Racing Enterprise. It is one of Dotter’s most iconic schemes as he won his only race in the Busch Grand National Series with it in 1992 at New River Valley Speedway (now known as Motor Mile Speedway).
“It feels really good to have Ray choose to honor my racing career at Darlington,” stated Dotter. “He could have chosen anyone from any series but to have him willingly choose to honor my career means a lot. It’s a special paint scheme not only because it’s the one I won in, but also because it was from the series I competed a lot in and now am an owner in.”
For Black, honoring Dotter’s impressive career was an easy choice and a way for him to connect fans across NASCAR.
“I really didn’t think want to honor anyone else with the Darlington paint scheme,” he explained. “Bobby does so much for me and my team, and he’s really helped shaped my career in NASCAR so it just made sense to me to do one his paint schemes. He’s so well-known by some of the older race fans but some of the newer fans don’t know about him as much, so I think this will be a great way to bridge that gap between generations.”
Black will be tapping into Dotter’s long history in the sport as he gets ready to compete at Darlington Raceway for the first time in his career this week. The track is notoriously tricky for all drivers, no matter their experience level.
“I’m really looking forward to competing at Darlington this year,” Black said. “It’s one of the most exciting races of the year. It really doesn’t get much better than night racing at Darlington. I know it will be tricky, but I think that once I get out there and get a feel for the track I can go back and talk with Bobby and Jason (Miller, Crew Chief) about the best ways for us to get around there and grab another solid finish for the team.”
Fans can catch Black’s Bobby Dotter tribute paint scheme during the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, September 3 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live race coverage can be found on NBC, as well as MRN Radio.
Fans can keep up with Ray Black Jr. by following him and his sponsor, ScubaLife, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @RayBlackJr and @TeamScubaRacing.
