Six Sensational Schemes from Darlington "Throwback Weekend"

EDDIE KALEGI - STAFF WRITER

There's something special about Darlington Raceway. NASCAR's oldest superspeedway, currently celebrating its 75th anniversary, has been the site of the sport's annual "throwback weekend," an opportunity to recognize the sport's rich history and old school tradition that still remains pertinent today.

The race weekend prompts countless alumni drivers to make the trip to the track, but also brings out the best of the active teams, with several cars "throwing it back" to nostalgic paint schemes of NASCAR's past.

Now a decade into this annual event, the number of throwbacks that hit the track each year has started to dwindle. Sponsors are often hesitant to alter their appearances in ways that might hurt their brand recognizability, and some in the industry believe the idea is simply overdone, with even NASCAR's "Most Popular Driver" Chase Elliott calling "throwback weekend" a horse that has been "rode to death."

That being said, 19 of the 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams on Sunday's entry list, and more than half of Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series field, opted to participate, with schemes spanning more than half a century of racing history.

After spending the weekend at Darlington Raceway and seeing all of these cars up close, here are the six teams that I believe knocked it out of the park the best.

#6: JJ YELEY - NY RACING TEAM BILL ELLIOTT THROWBACK

NY Racing Team is an open team that doesn't race often, but it feels like when they do, they always boast some of the flashiest paint on the grid. Sunday was no different, as the Wawa Chevrolet sported the colors of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, particularly his 1985 season when he won his first Daytona 500. It's difficult to make a throwback scheme look clean with the forward number placement on the Next Gen car, but this was an exception. Well done.

#5: LELAND HONEYMAN JR. - COPE FAMILY RACING JEFF GREEN THROWBACK

As I mentioned earlier, lower tier teams often have more success with throwbacks because their sponsors, typically smaller companies, are more willing to budge on their apperance than "Fortune 500" entities. This was epitomized by Cope Family Racing, who's sponsor Distributor Wire and Cable allowed splashes of chocolate milk on their car to execute a perfect throwback to Jeff Green's 2000 Busch Series championship-winning Nesquik car. The neon yellow stood out on track and simply looked fantastic. Bonus points for somehow getting the Nesquik rabbit on pit road for this pre-race photo-op too.

#4: COLE CUSTER - HAAS FACTORY TEAM JIMMY SPENCER THROWBACK

Okay listen, any of these lists are bound to have a touch of bias. For me, it's the fact that my introduction to NASCAR as a child was playing NASCAR Thunder 2003 on my Nintendo GameCube. Thus, I had an extra affinity for the abundance of 2002 Cup Series schemes featured on both grids. One of my favorites was this design, which paid homage to fan favorite Jimmy Spencer's 2002 Target car for Chip Ganassi Racing. Replicating a scheme without being able to use a logo as recognizable as Target's certainly isn't easy, but Haas Factory Team found a way. They even had Jimmy Spencer back at the shop to shoot some social media content during the week. Bravo.

#3: CARSON KVAPIL - JR MOTORSPORTS JAMIE MCMURRAY THROWBACK

The first of two Jamie McMurray tributes to crack my list, JR Motorsports' rendition of "Jamie Mac's" Daytona 500 winning livery from his breakout 2010 season is simply a masterpiece. Not only is the color scheme on the original fantastic, but without the slightly altered number font and NASCAR Xfinity Series logo just in front of it, if you showed me this picture with no further context, I genuinely would think it was McMurray's 2010 car. Tremendous attention to detail.

#2: DEAN THOMPSON - SAM HUNT RACING JAMIE MCMURRAY THROWBACK

Wow, just wow. On a weekend where the Xfinity Series entry list boasted arguably its best fleet of throwbacks as a collective ever, Sam Hunt Racing takes the cake. A scheme that looks back at McMurray's earlier career, looking back at his time with Roush-Fenway Racing, is a work of art. The best part was SHR's incorporation of the Irwin Tools gear and Crown Royal crown that were signatures of the scheme, even without having either of those sponsors on board. This creativity earns a team bonus points in my book, as well as the altered number font that truly transported viewers to 2008.

#1: KYLE LARSON - HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS TERRY LABONTE THROWBACK

It's a real shame Kyle Larson crashed this car three laps into Sunday's Goodyear 400. Hendrick Motorsports seems to always set the bar high when it comes to throwbacks, and this one continued the trend. This was not only my favorite from 2025, but in my opinion, one of the best ever. The design was a carbon copy of Terry Labonte's 2002 Kellogg's car (again, perhaps a little NASCAR Thunder 2003 bias), from the tiger stripes, to the neon numbers, to replacing "got milk?" with "got cars?" This car had it all, and epitomized what throwback weekend is all about.