Good day Planeteers! You might have heard the rumor that the Southern 500 is back in Darlington SC, and by George, that little town is pretty darn proud of that fact! Like last year, only more so, Darlington Raceway is going all out in going back to its roots... way back! It's Throwback time again this weekend, and with a choice of writing about that infernal "Chase" thing or about the old cars that will be honored and/or copied on Sunday night, guess which way I went. Gotta love those old cars! They looked better, and for darn sure, raced better. No one ever heard of "aero-push" in the 1970s. Heck, we were just learning what "aero" meant, never mind all that it does.
I've taken some of my favorites from the known list and set them out for comparison with their inspiration cars of long ago. Of course, that all comes with a liberal dose of my opinions, but yours are always welcome as well. Please click somewhere around here and you'll find yourself almost instantly on my page at Race Fans Forever, where you can look at all the pretty cars... and a few that are not so pretty as well. Thanks so much for reading, and comments on the article are always welcome and appreciated.
~PattyKay

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My favorite throwback scheme is Casey Mears tribute to Smokey Yunick, which prompted this comment on Twitter: "And it will probably take 4 hours to go through tech." Classic.

I loved that one too. That's why you saw it on the list. As I said, "No arguments with this one!" I loved the original, so the throwback is automatic. Smokey was/is my hero in racing.
I hadn't thought of that, but back when that #13 was new, "tech" was nothing like it is today. It was Bill Gazaway matching wits with Smokey Yunick. Um... Yeah!

Loved this article as much as your others. You really have a way of relating to the fans.
My favorite scheme was Tony Stewart's car. Loved seeing the #12 again with a little bit of modernization. Of all the things the tracks do to get a fan's attention, I think Darlington nailed it with the tributes/old paint schemes. I hope this is going to be a tradition for quite some time and will include other favorite paint schemes from days gone by.

If the crowded grandstand speaks to anything, it's screaming for someone to pay attention! Hey NASCAR! THIS is what we like; THIS is what we loved! I'm not saying in any way to go back and live in the past. Too many good men died in those early years, but don't try to sanitize or worse yet, erase the roots of the sport. It is without a doubt the one truly "American" sport and need not apologize to anyone on this Earth.
I heard some things over this weekend that just sadden and dishearten me tremendously. I may write an article that will decidedly get the attention of one Brian Z. France... or I may just let it go and chalk it up to mass stupidity. I'm so happy that you enjoyed the read and the trip down Memory Lane for so many. I tried, with both the article and the web page to impart a flavor of the old ways, intermingled with the new. Neither is all bad nor all good.
Both old and new should stand proud and be ashamed of absolutely nothing, and someone, somewhere, should get that France "gentleman" to listen to common sense and stop trying to sanitize a wonderful and colorful past just because he didn't live it!

Write the article!!

Easy for you to say! LOL It won't be your head that rolls. ☺

The throwback weekend was a great idea and created a lot of good buzz. I only hope it stays as a once a year tradition exclusive to Darlington and The Southern 500. Don't dilute it to the point of irrelevance by copying it at other venues like Martinsville, Richmond, Daytona....or God forbid, Kansas,

Now that last reference really made me laugh... hard! I could not agree more. It belongs to Darlington and it belongs AT Darlington. I think most all fans would agree, but I could not begin to predict the thought process of that guy that's supposed to be running the show. He lost me with the General Lee! It's a CAR for cat's sake... a car from a TV program! Then he blew it entirely with the deal about the Southern Cross. BUT.. that still wasn't quite bazaar enough... now he insists that you have every right to share my rest room with me. Um... NO! The man is certifiable. The pity is, he's apparently rich enough to buy his freedom Ugh!

+ 1 on keeping it a Darlington thing. 'Dega has a fantastic motorsports museum next to the track and Charlotte has all the Nascar shops within driving distance. Other tracks can certainly come up with their own "come and see this" while you are visiting our track idea. They need not go overboard with the concept or the prices.

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