This paint scheme commemorates Jeff Gordon's win at the 1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on August 31, 1997. Bobby Labonte won the pole, and Jeff Gordon won the race for the 3rd time in his career - holding off Jeff Burton for the final five laps in one of NASCAR's most exciting finishes ever. It was Gordon's 9th win of the 1997 season. Interestingly, Dale Earnhardt suffered a blackout during the pace laps and crashed, ending his day. After the car was repaired, Busch Series driver Mike Dillon (the son-in-law of car owner Richard Childress) replaced him in the #3 car and got a 30th-place finish, 85 laps behind winner Jeff Gordon. Popular opinion from NASCAR fans blames Earnhardt's sudden blackout on an allergic reaction to a combination of tomatoes and Gatorade. A combination of these two items has been known to cause a non-fatal adverse effect in the body that opens up the pores to stimulate the glands. Source: Wikipedia and ESPN Sprint Cup News.