DARLINGTON, S.C. — Darlington Raceway is once again hosting its annual Throwback Weekend that invites NASCAR teams to don their vehicles in liveries that highlight some of NASCAR’s history.
After 10 straight years, the weekend has become a fan favorite with each new installment selling a new wave of hats, shirts, diecast and other memorabilia that sell like hot cakes.
But after 10 straight years, is it losing its charm?
Some NASCAR Cup Series drivers believe so.
“It’s definitely run its course,” two-time Daytona 500 champion William Byron said. “I feel like we’ve had so many of them. Between 40 cars, you cover most of the paint schemes at some point, so I think maybe it’s something where you bring it back every few years or maybe you go to different racetracks or something.
“I know the NBA, NHL and NFL, they all have some sort of throwback or time period, but it seems like it changes around a little bit, so maybe it’s just getting a bit repetitive.”
Among all 38 Cup teams entered in this Sunday’s (April 6) Goodyear 400, only 19 of them are celebrating the throwback festivities with a paint scheme from days of old. It’s not a new pattern to see teams arrive to the party without an outfit, but it has placed some debate among the NASCAR garages on if it’s all still necessary.
“I thought [Throwback Weekend] lost [its luster] about four to five years ago,” 2020 Cup champion Chase Elliott said. “Not to be a downer, but look, … if we keep it going down the road, we’re going to be throwing it back to me in like 2018, so, at some point I think we’ve got to chill a little bit. I think we rode the horse to death.”
However, as a few drivers explained during Saturday’s media bullpen, that isn’t always up to the teams themselves. In almost all cases, any throwback paint scheme requires sponsor approval.
“It’s just hard to get all the people lined up to pull it off,” RFK Racing team owner Brad Keselowski told media. “These are global brands on our cars. They have global initiatives and things that are going on, and they want to make sure they hit those and with limited windows to do that. It doesn’t always work out.”
Many brands require certain colors or designs to be featured on cars they’re sponsoring. For the teams that have been around long enough, it may be easier to use an old scheme from the team’s past.
However, most teams have brands that are too big.
The bigger the brand, the less bandwidth it has to work with to customize its design. That’s exactly why the smaller teams that make up most of the NASCAR Xfinity Series field have a much larger entry list of throwback schemes for this weekend.
“The small teams probably do it the best,” Alex Bowman told Frontstretch. “But they also have a little bit more freedom. It sucks to see some people say, ‘Oh, that’s a weak attempt,’ or ‘Oh, you guys didn’t put anything into this,’ because they don’t have a clue about what all goes in to get stuff approved.
“It’s tough, right? There’s only so many schemes that you’re going to get approved with colors and branding. That pool gets smaller and smaller and smaller. I think Throwback Weekend’s awesome, but it’s just hard to get it perfect every time. We’re 10 years into it. We’re narrowing down the pool quite a bit.”
So, with the headaches involved and coordinating with multiple groups only to get one design approved, is it all really worth still doing?
Some drivers, such as Joey Logano, say absolutely it is. He believes NASCAR doesn’t only want Throwback Weekend, but it needs it.
“The Throwback Weekend is a way for us to honor our pioneers of our sport,” Logano said. “It’s not about it being cool or not, right? … It’s talking about the pioneers of our sport that we would not talk about any other way.
“It’s important for us to remember that, because in so many times in sports so quickly when a driver retires, or an athlete retires from a sport you ride off in the sunset, and you get forgotten about quickly, but the throwback weekend is really what brings that back to life.”
Historical recognition aside, despite what some drivers and personnel in the industry believe, there is the opinion that it’s not for the drivers. It’s for the fans.
“When I look at fan reception, I feel like the fans really love it,” Kyle Busch said. “Even if some of the drivers may think it’s a little overblown or whatever, it’s not for us.
“It’s for the people that are in the grandstands and for their pure joy and just seeing some of the older cool schemes that come back to life in this day and age.”
And if social media response is any indication, an overwhelming majority of fans and NASCAR media alike appear to wish for the Throwback Weekend to stay.
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loud column, co-host of the Frontstretch Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT