There was excitement surrounding the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway ten years ago when NASCAR first introduced Throwback Weekend. Teams and drivers loved paying homage to the sport’s heroes of the past by dressing their cars in eye-catching designs reminiscent of a bygone era. However, in 2026, the concept seems to have had its day.
This year, NASCAR will not force any team to enter Throwback Weekend with paint schemes like before. Teams can do this at will. Instead, the focus will be on former drivers coming to the track and celebrating. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of many who are happy with this new approach. He expressed his thoughts on X in detail in a response to an article by veteran journalist Bob Pockrass.
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* “I think it’s fair to say that the industry as a whole can and sometimes will still do Throwback designs around Darlington (you’ll see a handful this year),” *he (__writes__)(https://x.com/DaleJr/status/2032268584236564885). Junior also pointed out that NASCAR has nowhere said that a team cannot do a rollback plan on its cars at any time. This is a positive sign of free will.
A fan responded to Junior that the plans weren’t good with the placement of the car number on the Next Gen Cup car, to which he added replied, “No one is unaware of this fact. But that’s the way it is at this point. I like this new approach: if you want to do a Throwback, do it. Now teams/sponsors who aren’t very good at it don’t have to worry about criticism, and teams who have an incredible idea can move forward.”
Driver Sentiment Around Throwback Weekend
In 2025, only half of the participants participated in Throwback Weekend. The teams have said that it is the sponsors who ultimately decide whether a car will sport a rollback system. Many drivers believe the idea has lost its luster and been put to death. Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports was one of them.
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“I thought he lost it about four or five years ago.” he said. “At some point I think you have to relax a little bit.” On the other hand, there are also supporters of this measure. For example, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski love creating throwback projects. They think fans like to see a good paint job on the track and the show should go on for that.
This season, only a handful of cars are expected to be sporty models from the past, and whether that’s a good thing or not depends on who you ask. Drivers like Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin are I’m expecting a wild ride with the introduction of the short track package to ‘The Lady in Black’, and perhaps that will be enough to distract from the lack of a retro paint scheme.
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