Southern 500 preview: Darlington throwback weekend highlights NASCAR’s past, showcases present

For each of the past three years the colorful retro paint schemes brings out feelings of nostalgia, signifying that the Southern 500 throwback weekend has quickly become not just a staple on the NASCAR calendar but also a great way to honor those who played an instrumental role in helping big league stock-car racing evolve into a mainstream sport.

Each Labor Day weekend, legends from years past are a common site on the ground of Darlington Raceway. Former Cup Series champions Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, and Darrell Waltrip are among those feted for what they’ve accomplished, basking in the deserved adulation. This year, 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees Ray Evernham, Ron Hornaday Jr., Ken Squier and Robert Yates will serve as grand marshals and give the command for drivers to start their engines.

“The importance of the throwback weekend here that they have at Darlington is really showing respect for the legends of this sport,” said Mark Martin, Class of 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame member.

Martin is in attendance this weekend, having driven his motor coach from his home in Batesville, Ark., to take part in the festivities. One reason he made the trip was to see firsthand Clint Bowyer carry a throwback paint scheme that pays tribute to Martin, the Carolina Ford-sponsored car that Martin raced 43 times in the Xfinity Series from 1988-1991.

Not only will Bowyer have the same paint scheme, he’ll also have Carolina Ford as a sponsor on his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 car; a throwback in almost every respect.

The opportunity to honor Martin has extra meaning for Bowyer. Like Martin, Bowyer considers himself a blue-collar racer with an old-school mindset. Seeing Martin achieve success at the national level wasn’t lost on Bowyer, who grew up in Emporia, Kan. The two were teammates at Michael Waltrip Racing from 2012-2013, an opportunity Bowyer said was “one of the neatest things that ever happened in my career.”

“That’s what’s so special about this weekend in Darlington is being able to pay tribute to all of our heroes that paved the way for all of us to have this opportunity,” Bowyer said. “His story from that Midwestern kid that grew up beating up and down the road, making a name for himself in those Late Models that he just spoke about, the ASA Series, and then making the most of those opportunities and becoming a legend of this sport and a Hall of Famer.

“So to be able to pay tribute to him means a lot to me personally.”

But while Darlington represents a link to the past, it’s unmistakable how much stock car racing has evolved since the track hosted NASCAR’s first superspeedway race in 1950.

Kevin Harvick’s pole-winning run during qualifying on Saturday was nearly 96 mph faster than when Curtis Turner paced time trials 68 years ago. The depth of the field is deeper and more competitive, drivers are in better shape, while an engineering degree is almost required if one wants to become a crew chief. Among a litany of differences, there’s double-file restarts, “Lucky Dogs,” and green-white-checkered overtime finishes.

“The racing has just moved way past back in that day,” Martin said. “The double-file restarts are really pretty chaotic and insane, and the cars are so fast.

“It’s new-school racing with old-school paint schemes. It’s amazing that these guys can run around this place. The speed of the cars today, that additional two or three seconds a lap that they run now makes it more difficult and probably hairier than ever.”

Another drastic change is the implantation of stage racing, introduced prior to this season that sees races divided into three segments with a driver awarded points for finishing the first or second stage inside the top 10. Drivers are now incentivized to run hard for a race’s entire duration as their performance can impact the championship were they to earn a playoff berth.

Those points have become a valuable commodity. With two regular season races remaining, Cup Series points leader Martin Truex Jr. is in line to have a 20-point cushion in each of the first three playoff rounds. With such an advantage, barring a complete collapse, Truex is well positioned to advance to the four-driver championship round.

Conversely, Bowyer enters Darlington needing every point he can get just to make the 16-driver postseason field. He trails Jamie McMurray by 58 points for the final playoff transfer spot, a sizeable gap essentially meaning Bowyer either needs to win Sunday or the regular season finale next weekend at Richmond Raceway to qualify.

“These stage points, they’re very important as we’ve seen all season long and as we’re gonna see as soon as the playoffs start,” Bowyer said. “When Truex has pretty much got a free ride to the championship or an opportunity [to advance], they’re very important. They’re alive. They’re real.

“We feel it each and every week and each and every stage you’re going and taking every chance you can, every strategy call or anything else to try to get those points.”