Darlington Raceway yesterday announced that its throwback campaign for the '16 Bojangles' Southern 500 racing event on Labor Day weekend (Sept. 2-4) will focus on the '75-84 era of the sport. This season will mark the second year of Darlington's throwback campaign, which saw drivers wheel old-school paint schemes, brought back the original NASCAR logo and honored HOF drivers, among other initiatives. The track will announce events surrounding the throwback weekend as the Southern 500 approaches (Darlington Raceway). FOXSPORTS.com's Tom Jensen wrote the return of Darlington's throwback weekend is "the best news of the off-season so far." That Darlington is "repeating the throwback weekend is no surprise." The inaugural event this year was "a smash hit that delighted fans, teams and the media alike." The Darlington throwback weekend was "probably the best idea any track came up with all season long." It was "just about perfect." All told, 32 teams "ran throwback paint schemes this year, with some drivers going as far as growing hair, beards and sideburns to look period-correct." It was "tremendous fun." At a time when social media is "routinely filled with bile and negativity, nobody had a bad word to say about the Darlington weekend." One of the "big keys was that race team sponsors got behind the effort in a big way" (FOXSPORTS.com, 12/16).
