How NASCAR Can Make This Weekend A Real Throwback – Forbes

The #43 STP car of Richard Petty in action during a NASCAR event.

Several NASCAR Monster Cup Energy Series cars will carry throwback paint schemes at Saturday night’s Southern 500 in Darlington, S.C. — none more iconic than a red, white and (Petty) blue No. 43, with those big ol’ red STP stickers in full view.

Eric Almirola will drive Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, which will look like the Pontiac that the King drove to his 200th victory, the last of his career and still a record, in the 1984 Firecracker 400 at Daytona Beach, Fla. President Reagan joined Petty in Victory Lane.

(The car was red and white because those were STP’s colors, and it was Petty blue because Richard Petty had insisted on it. Years earlier, Petty had run out of paint for their race car so he had to mix blue and white paint, creating an almost-Carolina light blue. Petty blue became synonymous with victory.)

Anyway, other teams have joined in on the fun at one of NASCAR’s legendary tracks for a Labor Day Weekend race that, in a perfect world, should end the season. The Cup Series drags on for 11 more weeks, bumping into NFL and college football and the baseball playoffs.

The throwback cars are like throwback football, baseball or basketball uniforms: a cute way to sustain interest. But just imagine if NASCAR could make this a real throwback weekend, with everything (except Confederate flags) needed to pack the place:

Convertible racing. The current incarnation of the Southern 500 began as the Rebel 300,  a NASCAR Convertible Series race from 1957 to 1962. Nelson Stacy, who drove a tank in World War II for Gen. George S. Patton, won the final convertible race there in 1962. A convertible race, like a race in the rain (on treaded tires), would be a great change of pace.

A doubleheader. In 1963, a year after the convertibles left, the Rebel 300 was held as two 150-mile races. Gradually, the race was lengthened to 400 miles, then 500 miles, but two races on a Saturday night on Labor Day would certainly keep the fans glued to their seats and buying hot dogs and Cokes.