NASCAR Cup Series

Why Ryan Blaney is racing with five sticks of gum in the Southern 500

Published Sep. 4, 2016 1:03 p.m. ET

foxsports

Wood Brothers Racing will be leaving out no details in Sunday night's Bojangles' Southern 500 as they pay tribute to 10-time Darlington Raceway winner David Pearson.

Ryan Blaney's No. 21 Ford will be sporting a replica paint scheme Pearson ran while earning victories in the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500 in 1976. The team even received special approval from NASCAR to run a metallic number on the doors, just like the Silver Fox ran back in the day.

But, the Wood Brothers aren't stopping there.

On Sunday afternoon, the team tweeted a picture featuring a crew member attaching five sticks of Wrigley's Spearmint gum to a post in the car.

Here's why.

Pearson had a routine where he would chew one piece of gum every 100 laps in a race, and Wrigley's was even the gum of choice for Pearson over the course of his career.

Of course, the 105-time NASCAR Premier Series winner had an extra piece ready to go for Victory Lane.

If Blaney scores his first career Sprint Cup Series victory in the throwback race, he might just make it a ritual of his own.

In the interest of full authenticity, just like the Pearson days, there's 5 sticks of Wrigley's Spearmint gum. pic.twitter.com/8YB8cJ9rtH
— Wood Brothers Racing (@woodbrothers21) September 4, 2016

1 stick for every 100 laps. Some would say that leaves 1 extra, well he had to be FTD for the chick w/ the trophy https://t.co/96fRE7U0FO
— Wood Brothers Racing (@woodbrothers21) September 4, 2016