Much of the hullabaloo over this weekend’s racing at Darlington Raceway revolves around the sheer girth of throwback events and paint schemes that will populate the Southern 500 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series come Sunday night. As the race re-assumes its historic Labor Day weekend date, the sanctioning body and its teams are celebrating the Labor Day return as well as its 65th anniversary; the first race was held in 1950. Over two-thirds of the field are running a different paint scheme honoring something of yesteryear, while Terry Labonte will act as grand marshal – and even the broadcast booth will bring back Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett to call part of the race on NBC.
But don’t think for a second that, despite the Southern 500 being the main draw here, the Cup Series will be having all the fun.
Saturday night’s Xfinity Series race will have its share of throwback feel, too.
Though the share of them currently numbers below half the field, multiple teams will paint and decal their cars in a way that, like many of the Cup Series organizations, will constitute a harkening back to years past. Here are those announced so far, with others added if and when they roll in.
Harrison Rhodes
Checkout our throwback number font for this weekend @TooToughToTame #Darlington pic.twitter.com/jnTj9hnqrc
— Harrison Rhodes (@HarrisonRhodes) September 2, 2015
Landon Cassill
Check out the @GetFlexSeal car we're bringing to @TooToughToTame! #NASCAR #VintageNumbers pic.twitter.com/kxGOLybOTQ
— JD Motorsports w/ Gary Keller (@JDMotorsports01) September 1, 2015
Brian Scott
Getting ready to talk to the wonderful @kaitlynvincie for a segment on @RaceHub @FOXSports1 #nascar pic.twitter.com/qodkO0FWJD
— Brian Scott (@bscottracing) September 1, 2015
Ty Dillon
https://instagram.com/p/7IYS3UFfj7/
Ross Chastain
(picture to be added when available)
Ryan Reed
Another look at @driverRyanReed's @LillyDiabetes @AmDiabetesAssn #NASCARthrowback for @TooToughToTame #RFRDriven pic.twitter.com/cQ5tVD31t6
— Roush Fenway (@roushfenway) September 2, 2015
Joey Logano
We are pretty excited to run this special @Hertz "Rent-A-Racer" car at @TooToughToTame with @joeylogano #HertzRacing pic.twitter.com/pU60vs2mz1
— Team Penske (@Team_Penske) August 31, 2015
Eric McClure
Better image of our Darlington scheme next week. pic.twitter.com/d1SjcLt3Gs
— Eric McClure (@ericmcclure) August 28, 2015
JJ Yeley
https://twitter.com/JGLRacing/status/639249919014862848
Paul Menard
https://instagram.com/p/7IdFe8FftE
Joey Gase
Make sure to come visit us today at the @AgriSupply store in Florence until 1:30 today! pic.twitter.com/DW0kE4Hp76
— Joey Gase Racing (@JoeyGaseRacing) September 3, 2015
Brendan Gaughan
https://instagram.com/p/7IoD9bFfh9
Mike Harmon
Just saw this on @J19Anderson's SnapChat. Davey throwback for @hrmn8ter @TooToughToTame pic.twitter.com/GF6uUq5T0t
— Alan Cavanna (@AlanCavanna) September 2, 2015
Todd Bodine
Anyone know the year I drove this paint scheme? Who owned the car? Significance of this weekend? pic.twitter.com/rsrlXb7ZFu
— Todd Bodine (@Team_Onion) September 2, 2015
About the author
Rutherford is the managing editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2015 after serving on the editing staff for two years. At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.
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That’s all great, but since the top 5 will be cup “stars” adding to their trophy collection, nobody will even be watching
The audience will consist of Moms, girlfriends and of course track employees.
And to add to the comments, did anyone notice, or even care about, the results from the first practise session? The top four, and five of the top six, drivers were (Surprize! Surprize!) moonlighting Cup drivers, with the two biggest egos, Busch and Dennis-the-menace, leading the way!
Yawn!
And a personal thank-you to Coach Gibbs, for constantly running his two top egos in this series and killing it!