Five to Watch: Throwing it back at Darlington 2019

The fifth year of NASCAR Throwback Weekend strikes a just-right balance between the fun, retro feel and the competitive spirit in the last-ditch push to the Monster Energy Series Playoffs. With plenty of story lines to track, here are five topics to watch ahead of Sunday's Bojangles' Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) at Darlington Raceway.

COLE CUSTOMER: Maybe there's some intangible boost from William Byron's "Days of Thunder"-inspired paint scheme on his Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet, but the 21-year-old driver will start from the pole position in Sunday's 500-mile classic. It's his fourth Busch Pole Award of the season and marks the third time in the last four races that he'll start among the top three. Byron has enjoyed playing roles from the 1990 racing film leading up to Darlington, but insists he doesn't have movie lines memorized for race-day use on the radio. "I'm probably not going to let it in my head, but I've had fun with it on social media and stuff," Byron said, adding in Cole Trickle fashion: "Dropping the hammer."

PLAYOFF PUSH: Just two regular-season races remain before the Monster Energy Series championship field of 16 drivers is locked in. Two opportunities for Hail Mary passes are left: Darlington on Sunday evening and Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend. But the difficult nature of the 1.366-mile South Carolina track means that being aggressive will have its limits, especially for those with the most to lose on the playoff bubble. "You have to attack, but I don't feel like you can drive over 100%," said Daniel Suarez, who sits in the provisional 16th and final postseason spot. "You have to be driving close to 100. If you drive to 100, you're going to hit the wall and you can't afford that. I can't afford that right now."

MIXED FORTUNE FOR JGR: Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated drivers have had history on their side at Darlington Raceway with four wins in the last six races. This season, they're led by a red-hot Denny Hamlin, who won the Monster Energy Series' most recent race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Come Sunday, they'll have some subpar qualifying results to overcome: Hamlin was the fastest of the bunch in ninth, followed by Toyota mates Erik Jones (15th), Matt DiBenedetto (19th), Martin Truex Jr. (22nd) and Kyle Busch (33rd). Busch will drop to the rear of the field after his team changed engines after qualifying.

TIRING QUESTION: Teams will have the most tires allotted for race day of any stop on the circuit -- 14 sets total. That high number is due in part to the 500-mile distance, but primarily it's Goodyear's response to the gritty, tire-grinding pavement that presents the biggest challenge. Even with so many sets of fresh rubber available, tire management remains a pivotal strategy point. "There's times where you get on a restart and you're thinking, 'Man, I need to go hard, I need to get track position,'" Erik Jones said, "but you gotta remember ... if you burn those things up, you're not going to have anything left for the next 30 (laps). So it is a fine line and it's a balance."

THROWBACK MAGNITUDE: Vintage uniforms and retro-style paint schemes are all part of NASCAR Throwback Weekend's fun vibe, but there's also a reverence in making nods to the sport's history. Aric Almirola gets that -- he's donned a Richard Petty-inspired mustache during his time with the No. 43 team, and this weekend is all about tributes to team co-owner Tony Stewart. "It's fun, for sure, but I think it's important," Almirola said. "We have a lot of fans of our sport that recognize a lot of these paint schemes, so that is cool, but it's also important for the new fan to be able to tell the story of where our sport has come from. And I think that's one of the cool things about this Throwback Weekend is not only are we honoring a lot of the people from the past that have paved the way to get to where we're at today, but on top of that we're telling a story about where our sport once was and where we're at today."