Folks, in recent years, NASCAR has received a lot of backlash. Be it the subpar short track package or the excessive parity in the Next-Gen car. Also, regarding the whole playoff format, remember the uproar last season when Joey Logano was crowned the champion? After getting a 17.1 average finish for the season- the worst for a champion ever. While the complaints persist, fans still tune in every weekend to watch the engine’s roar. The reason might be more related to nostalgia than entertainment. And to be honest, a true NASCAR fan loves the sport for its history.

There might be talks of NASCAR losing its charm or the popularity tanking, but as long as the sport keeps taking fans down memory lane, it will always remain relevant. Like how at every Daytona 500, we get an opportunity to remember Dale Earnhardt, not just the tragic day from 2001 but the legend he was. Folks, this whole nostalgia debate has stemmed from the discussion of whether the throwback tradition at Darlington should be shelved or not. We recently ran the race, and just 19 cars embraced it, bringing throwback schemes to the track. Despite backlash from drivers that the event has run its course, this one insider remains firm in the value of nostalgia in NASCAR.

NASCAR fans never get bored with the sport’s history

This is the same reason why Bowman Gray Stadium was so successful this season. NASCAR took ‘The Clash’ to the grassroots short track this year, and the result was jam-packed grandstands and an entertaining race. This was the first time since 1971 that the Cup Series raced there. And the reason why ‘the Madhouse’ struck a chord with fans was the history of the track running Cup races from 1958 to 1971. Probably, fans were reminded of the four wins of Richard Petty or the controversial finish of Bobby Allison in the 1971 race at BGS and how he was declared the winner 53 years later.

Anyway, you get the point of how important nostalgia is to NASCAR. Recently, PRNlive host Brad Gillie emphasized this, saying, “You talk about throwbacks in our sport. We don’t rebuild our stadiums. We do rebuild the stadium portion of it. But the racetracks, for the most part, stay the same and stay in the same place. That’s a pretty cool thing. You go to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. You are going to see a lot of Charlotte Motor Speedway that was there in 1960.”

The ’60s was when the track was inaugurated, and it’s been there ever since. And imagine how many transitions it has seen over time. Be it the cars, the format, or the champions. And not just Charlotte; next up, NASCAR is headed to Bristol. Even Bristol Motor Speedway belongs to the same era as Charlotte, so it has witnessed quite a few iconic moments, too. Who can forget Rusty Wallace and Jeff Gordon’s last-lap battle from the 1997 race?

And while we are in the Next-Gen car now, it’s still the same old track, keeping its value intact. “You go to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, the terrain everything around this racetrack. You can see a lot of original Bristol there. Our history is very much preserved; we are literally a throwback sport, but in a very cool modern way. And we are very fortunate for that,” Gillie added.

The point Brad Gillie is making is that Throwback Schemes reminds us of the old days. The present-day fans of the sport built their love by watching the likes of Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and others dominate on such tracks. And reviving their paint schemes is more than just a tradition for ‘Throwback Weekend.’ It’s paying homage to the ones that laid the foundation and giving back to the fans.

Going by the views of some drivers on the grid, it seems like some of them are overlooking the fan value of throwbacks, while some completely get it.

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Has the throwback weekend tradition run its course?

NASCAR Journalist Jeff Gluck put it perfectly. He said, “Nostalgia is so, so important in NASCAR, and it means so much to NASCAR fans. Every single fan I talked to this weekend — they came here for this reason, they love it. … The fans are all about it, and the fans love history, they love nostalgia and there’s so many other things about this weekend.” Joe Gibbs Racing #19 Chase Briscoe agrees with Gluck.

Briscoe was disappointed at not bringing a throwback this weekend, saying, “Yeah, I don’t have a throwback scheme this weekend. This is the first time I’ve never ran one, but I don’t feel like this weekend has lost its luster. I think the fans still love the paint schemes that are here, and just anytime you come to Darlington, it’s kind of got an old school throwback feel whether we’re (at) a throwback weekend or not.”

Kyle Busch made a strong point in the debate; according to him, while drivers are saying the throwback trend has gotten old, Busch believes the fans would disagree. “It’s for the people that are in the grandstands and for their pure joy in just seeing some of the older, cool schemes that come back to life in this day and age… I think I’ve had, in ten years, I might have had two or three throwbacks. Trust me, I hear it all the time that I don’t do throwbacks, and that’s not on me. That’s just the partners that we’re with.” Kyle Busch’s reasoning for not doing throwbacks stems from the ‘partners’ concerns, and he’s not the only one to emphasize this point.

Denny Hamlin drives home the same point as Busch but from the perspective of the sponsors that Busch references. Hamlin thinks it just doesn’t make any sense to the sponsors. “It sounds good in theory, but these guys are trying to find a reason to get a return on their investment. When you change their logo or change their colors, it doesn’t really line up with what they want.” Similarly, none of RFK Racing’s cars had throwback schemes. And Brad Keselowski echoed Denny Hamlin’s opinion: “We have global brands on our cars, and they have global initiatives and things going on, and they want to make sure they hit those. So with limited windows to do that, it doesn’t always work out.”

But still, throwbacks are iconic to NASCAR, and one out of 37 odd weekends can be dedicated to them. No one needs to be as harsh as Chase Elliott about them. “I thought it lost (its luster) about four or five years ago. Not to be a downer, but I joked years ago if we kept going down the road, we’re going to be throwing it back to me in 2018. We’ve rode the horse to death, and we tend to do that a little bit too much.”

Folks, what do you think of the importance of nostalgia in NASCAR? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.