NASCAR Throwback Weekend is upon us once again, and that means watching dozens of old-school-looking paint schemes take on Darlington Raceway – this time, each car themed from the early ’90s era. It’s one of the coolest and most unique weekends of the year, but it’s also one that draws some of the most discourse on Twitter – particularly when it comes to which paint schemes are best.
The teams this year have done an excellent job of designing their throwback paint schemes. And since we can’t award a tie for all the cars as the coolest designs, this year I decided to form my opinion by listening to people on Twitter.
RELATED: Every 2019 throwback paint scheme for Darlington
I carefully set a hot-take trap to gather only the most informed opinions – those, of course, come from the people who engage with me on Twitter, each of them terrific, beautiful specimens of people.
https://twitter.com/steveluvender/status/1165949473438220288
Let’s see which rules came out of the trap, shall we?
Number style is a must
It’s not a true throwback if you didn’t change your number font to match the car you’re throwing back to
– #23 Ryan Vargas (@The_Rhino23) August 26, 2019
Ryan Vargas says the mark of a good throwback is the willingness of a team to change its number font to match the car it’s mimicking.
https://twitter.com/JoeGibbsRacing/status/1142124351539437568
https://twitter.com/KeenParts/status/1166113446628216838
https://twitter.com/SMR_114/status/1166303459404058624
And, sure, some teams have it easy in this regard – they’re throwing it back to themselves.
https://twitter.com/Team_Penske/status/1163574359903989760
https://twitter.com/woodbrothers21/status/1151840377336414208
Respect the colors
A common thread among those on Twitter (how rare!):
The colors have to match the throwback
– bread perez (@bradxperez) August 26, 2019
stop changing the colors of them
– garry lunselman (@larrygunselman) August 26, 2019
A true throwback has matching colors and number font.
– Chad Almond (@chadalmond10) August 26, 2019
If you change the colors of the throwback, it’s an entirely new, original paint scheme. A throwback to general shapes isn’t enough.
– nascarman (@nascarman_rr) August 26, 2019
If you’re paying tribute to a paint scheme, respect its original colors, some say.
“Fauxbacks” are acceptable
Fauxbacks are fine
– Hester (@TheHestercution) August 26, 2019
Ah, yes, the fauxback – or a fake throwback car based only off period-correct design elements and not so much one car in particular. Once a staple of NASCAR Throwback Weekend, we’ve seen fewer and fewer fauxbacks hit the track over the years.
The closest we’ve got to a fauxback this year is Kevin Harvick’s Busch Big Buck Hunter car.
No, a Big Buck Hunter car never raced in NASCAR in the early ’90s – at least to our knowledge – but the sponsor harks back to a time where we loaded our quarters into the machine at the mall pizza-arcade.
https://twitter.com/StewartHaasRcng/status/1165972625727860736
We’ll allow it. Besides, the No. 4 team already raced one of the finest displays of early 1990s cars-manship we’ve ever seen with its Generation X paint scheme at Pocono Raceway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxWMiOrU-e0
Reality is a constraint
why can’t we throw back to the future
– It’s Phil’s Year! (@VeryFakePhil) August 26, 2019
We don’t know what the future holds, but I say we give this one a shot next year: Let’s guess what NASCAR paint schemes will look like in the year 2050.
Throw it back, or else
Don’t be a party pooper. Everybody else is dressing up. If you don’t participate, bad things might happen.
Also: Throwback to last year’s take: https://t.co/QTG9bDV8HJ
– Mike Raphael (@Mike_motorsport) August 26, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwFNbhxkoDI
Mmm, tasty!
Byrons DoT car just seems quiche
– Aaron Hall (@AkYankee8) August 26, 2019
It’s true. William Byron’s throwback car does share some similarities with a quiche, defined by Google’s auto-suggestion thing as “a baked flan or tart with a savory filling thickened with eggs.”
https://twitter.com/Hendrick24Team/status/1163556975126425600
There are some color similarities between the two, at least.
Now do a silly one!
Sometimes tweets elicit responses that are fun. These are the best types of tweets online.
it looks like there will be 30-50 throwback schemes
– Geoffrey Miller (@GeoffreyMiller) August 26, 2019
WHOA, partner. Calm down with this extreme hot take.
Throwbacks can only be ran on Thursday’s we all know the rules.
– Mick Rose 🇺🇸 (@GoDucks42_Mick) August 26, 2019
Throwback Thursday is real.
– Spooks The Ghost Lad (@mearn) August 26, 2019
I suppose this is technically a correct response to the prompt.
Or … too many rules?
There’s an angle I hadn’t considered. Are we looking at this the wrong way?
People make too many arbitrary rules that classify a “throwback”. Just be happy sponsors are willing to participate, because it can be a struggle.
– Jordan Erickson (@jce504) August 26, 2019
Have we wasted our time with this entire discussion? Should we just be happy to have sponsor participation instead of arguing over the nuances of what makes a good throwback?
Maybe we should just sit back and enjoy the show and party like it’s sometime between 1990 and 1994.
Now, armed with knowledge and opinions, don’t forget to cast your vote for the throwback paint scheme you think deserves the title Best in Show.