Gatorade is a popular sports drink by the Pepsi Company.
In 1976, Gatorade began sponsoring DiGard Racing's #88 Chevrolet (driven by Darrell Waltrip at the time). However, controversy arose during the 1980 season, when Darrell and his team blamed each other for his constant engine failures that eventually put him out of title contention, just a year after losing the title by just 11 points over Richard Petty. Because of the controversy, Darrell Waltrip left the team in 1981. While Ricky Rudd's first season in the Gatorade #88 car was forgettable, Bobby Allison's first year with DiGard was one to remember as he won 8 times and finished 2nd to (coincidentally) Darrell Waltrip. However, after the wildly successful season, Miller High Life joined the team in 1983 and the #88 was renumbered to the #22. Subsequently, Gatorade and the #88 moved to Geoffrey Bodine and Cliff Stewart Racing. After 1984 (in which Rusty Wallace replaced Geoffrey and had a very poor season), Gatorade left NASCAR and has not returned to the Cup Series since. Although, in 2021, Gatorade returned for a one-off appearance in the Xfinity Series' throwback race at Darlington Raceway, sponsoring Michael Annett's #1 Chevrolet which was honoring Waltrip's 1979 scheme.
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