For the Darlington Cup race, NASCAR is continuing the tradition of throwback schemes. However, this year, since the car is the divisive Next Gen with its numbers pushed forward, the resemblance to the historic paint schemes from the past won’t exactly be there.

But a bigger concern than the resemblance is the possibility of NASCAR confusing its new fans, not to mention, potentially offending the old fans with a throwback car that’s not exactly a throwback car.

This was something that spotter Brett Griffin spoke about in the recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast. The spotter argued that NASCAR simply cannot win with one foot on each boat.

“From a marketing perspective, you can’t win here. Because you’re trying to build equity in this new look and yet you’re trying to throw it back. Well, you can’t do both at the same time,” Griffin said.

“You literally cannot win with this particular paint scheme and calling it throwback weekend, when in reality your numbers are in the 2022 location and not the central location they were in for the first two-million years.”

“So NASCAR, do I think they made a wrong decision from a throwback perspective? I would say yes. From a new car branding perspective, they don’t wanna lose the equity they’ve gained and potentially confuse, maybe the new fans,” he continued.

“NASCAR can’t win right here.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had asked NASCAR to reconsider the strict number placement rules

In a segment from his podcast in 2020, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had spoken about the strict number rules that NASCAR had announced in place for the Next Gen car.

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The NASCAR Hall of Famer had pleaded that the decision-makers “chill out” with the strict number rules for the Darlington race.

“I’m just telling you, man. Loosen up the guidelines. Chill out. Let people do what they want to do for one damn weekend. Drop the rules and guidelines on the strict paint scheme criteria and see what happens,” he said.

Of course, NASCAR didn’t listen to Dale Jr. then, and chances are, they won’t listen or consider his advice now. The reality is, that they are going ahead with forward numbers on a throwback paint scheme which has led them into a curious dilemma, whether they acknowledge it or not. NASCAR is now trying to move forward while trying to drag along the past, all at the same time.

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