RELATED: See the throwback schemes for Darlington
Just when it looked like Darlington Raceway‘s 1970s “throwback” promotion couldn’t get any groovier with retro race car paint schemes and a return to the track’s historical Labor Day weekend calendar spot, NBC Sports upped the game again.
The network announced Tuesday that iconic broadcaster Ken Squier will team with NASCAR Hall of Famers — and father and son — Ned and Dale Jarrett in the broadcast booth for a portion of Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 telecast on NBC (7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Not only will the race look like a blast from the past, it will sound like one, too.
“Something I’m looking extremely forward to is to have a chance to call some of the race with my dad and Ken Squier, who really helped put our sport on the map,” said Dale Jarrett, who appears on NBC’s pre-race show along with Krista Voda and Kyle Petty.
Viewers can expect to be transported to a different era in the sport with approximately 30 cars running retro paint schemes and the broadcast set to adjust even fine details, like making its graphics and logo authentic to the time. The track nicknamed “Too Tough to Tame” is itself a perennial “throwback” to some of the most noteworthy historical times in NASCAR.
Described Squier, “Darlington is truly like no other, its imperfections … it’s the perfect competitive place for NASCAR.”
“Authentic” was the buzzword Tuesday afternoon as the NASCAR on NBC team shared its collective thoughts about one of the sport’s most traditional races, the Southern 500 and its long-awaited move back to its Labor Day weekend position on the schedule for the first time since 2003.
Squier called it “the best move NASCAR has made in a decade.”
Others spoke at length about how this weekend’s race at the notoriously tough Darlington venue also represents a bridge between the longtime NASCAR purists and the new generation of fans.
“I think it’s really important to understand where you came from to know where you’re going, and what a perfect weekend to do it,” NBC analyst and former Darlington winner Jeff Burton said. “At a time we look back and celebrate the past, we can celebrate what’s going on now too.”
Fellow analyst Petty agreed the weekend would please those who hang onto the memories of Richard Petty battling David Pearson, Ned Jarrett’s record 14-lap margin of victory, Dale Earnhardt’s afternoons charming “The Lady in Black” and Bill Elliott winning $1 million in the old Winston Million incentive program. At the same time, there is hope the attention generated this weekend will pique the interest of new fans who have a wide field of young new talent ready to follow in the legends footsteps here.
“It’s a time to wax nostalgic, but also an opportunity to educate fans to the history of the sport at a place that has that much history … and at the same time introduce them to what the sport has now,” Petty said. “There are certain places that evoke history and the guys that came before you, and Darlington’s that place. It’s still the exact same place my granddad drove around 50-60 years ago.
“I was ecstatic when they moved it back to Labor Day. … This is where it should be.
“All is right with the world this week for me because we’ll be in Darlington and it’s Labor Day.”