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Scott PageESPN
Darlington Raceway is turning the clock back to the 1990s. The gritty South Carolina track announced it is bringing back its fan – and industry-wide – favorite, the throwback weekend, again in 2019. Marking its fifth consecutive season of nostalgia, Darlington and race teams will honor all things NASCAR spanning the 1990-1994 seasons.
“Many legendary drivers made names for themselves and the sport realized tremendous growth during that time period under the leadership of Bill France Jr.,” Darlington Raceway President Kerry Tharp explained in a statement provided from the track.
Dubbed the “Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR,” the annual trip down memory lane will fall on the 70th anniversary of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 next season.
Drivers and teams usually go all in for the weekend, which includes the XFINITY Series and Monster Energy Spring Cup Series, sporting everything from uniforms to facial hair as they honor the selected era. The biggest lure to the popular weekend comes in the form of the speeding billboards on the racetrack, as teams run some of the more recognizable paint schemes from the sport’s past.
The early ’90s holds many historic moments; from Jeff Gordon’s introduction behind the wheel of the No. 24 rainbow-themed Chevrolet, to Richard “The King” Petty’s retirement behind the wheel of the famed robin-egg colored No. 43. Last season, William Byron, who took over behind the wheel of the No. 24, honored Gordon’s rainbow scheme at Darlington during the weekend’s throwback to “Seven Decades of NASCAR.”
Tharp also announced that tickets for the 2019 Bojangles’ Southern 500 will honor South Carolina native, Hall of Famer David Pearson. Pearson, who passed away in November, currently holds the record for the most wins at the track with 10.