There used to be excitement around the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway a decade ago, when NASCAR first introduced the Throwback Weekend. Teams and drivers loved paying tribute to the heroes of the sport’s past by wrapping their cars in attractive schemes reminiscent of a bygone era. However, in 2026, the concept seems to have run its course.
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This year, NASCAR will not be mandating any teams to participate in the Throwback Weekend with paint schemes as they used to. Teams can do so at will. Instead, the focus will be on the former drivers coming to the track and celebrating them. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of the many pleased with this fresh approach. He expressed his thoughts on X in detail in a response to a post by veteran reporter Bob Pockrass.
“I think it’s fair to say that the industry as a whole can and will at times still do Throwback Designs around Darlington [you’ll see a handful this year],” he wrote. Junior also pointed out that NASCAR hasn’t said anywhere that a team cannot do a throwback scheme on its cars at any time. That’s a positive sign of free will.
A fan replied to Junior that the schemes weren’t any good with the placement of the car number on the Next Gen Cup car, to which he further replied, “No one is ignoring this fact. But it is what it is at this point. I like this new approach of: if you want to do a Throwback, do it. Now the teams/sponsors who aren’t very good at it don’t have to worry about the criticism, and the teams who have an incredible idea can move forward.”
Driver sentiment around the Throwback Weekend
In 2025, just half of the field participated in the Throwback Weekend. Teams said that it is the sponsors who ultimately decide whether a car will be sporting a throwback scheme. Many drivers believe the idea has lost its luster and that it has been ridden to death. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was one of them.
“I thought it lost it about four or five years ago,” he said. “At some point, I think we gotta chill on it a little bit.” On the other side, there are proponents for it as well. For instance, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski love doing throwback schemes. They believe fans enjoy seeing a good paint scheme on the track and that the show must go on for that sake.
This season, only a handful of cars are expected to be sporting schemes from the past, and whether that is a good thing or not depends on who you ask. Drivers like Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin are expecting a wild race with the introduction of the short track package at ‘The Lady in Black,’ and maybe that will be enough to steer attention away from the lack of a throwback paint scheme.
