This past weekend at Darlington Raceway, several drivers participated in the “throwback” NASCAR style. This is one thing that needs to stay.
At certain times during this past weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, the Bojangles’ Southern 500, at Darlington Raceway, I had to pinch myself to make sure I was still in the year 2018. With several drivers running special paint schemes, my mind was racing through memories of NASCAR from the past. NASCAR history was on display and awesome on several levels.
I’ve always wished I had the ability to go back in time to the original days of NASCAR. One track in particular that I would have wanted to see the first race at is Darlington Raceway. Yesterday’s throwback event at Darlington did nothing but intensify that desire to build a Doc Brown DeLorean and go watch the original Southern 500. It would’ve been something to watch live as Johnny Mantz cruisef through the field of 75 cars back in 1950.
Seeing cars with paint schemes dating back several years was truly a spectacle and I am already looking forward to seeing what teams come up with in 2019. Throwback weekend at Darlington is something the track has embraced and should continue to build on going forward. Here was my favorite aspect of the weekend.
Paint schemes bringing back memories
Everywhere you looked on Sunday, there was a different paint scheme that opened the mind to great racing memories. For starters, Brad Keselowski honored Rusty Wallace with not only the race win but with Wallace’s old black and gold Miller Genuine Draft Ford. Wallace was interviewed in victory lane and looked so excited to see his old paint scheme find victory lane once again. Something just felt right seeing the #2 MGD black and gold win again.
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I thought for a few minutes William Byron was driving the #24 Dupont Chevrolet made famous in the 1990s by NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon. He was, in fact, behind the wheel of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet. However, the scheme was so close to the original that it made it seem as though we were back in time.
One of my favorite paint schemes if not my favorite paint scheme was that of Joey Logano. Logano drove the throwback paint scheme of Steve Park from the year 2000. I remember this car well because when I was younger, Park took this paint scheme to victory lane at Watkins Glen as I watched from the turn one grandstand.
For me, NASCAR hasn’t hit a whole lot of home runs with their new ideas to try to help the sport. The changes to rules and race styles added in recent years haven’t really tickled my fancy. However, throwback weekend at Darlington for me is a huge win-win. This is the type of event that needs to happen annually, and after last weekend’s success, I would guess that may be the case. Who knows? Maybe this idea might spark other tracks to hold other new and exciting themed race weekends.
Are you a fan of the NASCAR throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway? What is your favorite part of all of the festivities? Would you like to see more tracks take on some type of theme on race weekends?