Darlington Raceway announces Goodyear 400 Throwback Weekend will be 'grassroots' themed

This year, the Darlington Raceway Throwback Weekend is going to be “grassroots” themed for the Goodyear 400. That means we are going to see NASCAR drivers paying homage to their early racing careers in late models, karts, sprint cars, and more.

NASCAR and the grassroots series are only getting closer in recent years. Think about the new ownership group of the CARS Tour, there was a lot of Chili Bowl crossover this year in Tulsa with Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. among the drivers.

Paying homage to the small tracks, the series these drivers cut their teeth in – it’s perfect. There are going to be a lot of fun throwback schemes that fans will remember from earlier days.

These drivers are excited about it.

Ready to throw it back @NASCARRoots style 😎#NASCARThrowback | #Goodyear400 pic.twitter.com/TrvgqBnoEV

— Darlington Raceway (@TooToughToTame) January 25, 2024

Throwback Weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the season. It is early May, and there are great paint schemes to look at and appreciate in all three series. Also, it’s Darlington! Something exciting is going to happen and the racing is going to be exciting.

Darlington Raceway is a fun facility that has hosted some of the most legendary events in NASCAR history. This year, with some grassroots flair, will we see another thrilling Goodyear 400?

Chaotic Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway in 2023

Last season, William Byron ended up winning the Goodyear 400. Let’s not forget that this race featured some great green flag racing, but also inopportune cautions for certain drivers. Toyota drivers looked strong early in this one, but it didn’t last.

Once this race got into the latter stages, it was filled with caution flags. We saw Martin Truex Jr., a driver who could have won the race, spin out at the end of Stage 2. Truex Jr. would also be wrecked with 13 laps to go in the “big one” which led us to a pivotal moment in the season.

This was going to be a great battle between Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain to the finish until they got into one another with six laps to go. We would soon have the infamous talk between Rick Hendrick and Chastain.

The door was opened for William Byron to zoom by Kevin Harvick on the restart and put his No. 24 Jeff Gordon tribute car into Victory Lane. Just one of those days for many drivers, and a display of Byron’s dominant restart skills.

Darlington Raceway will surely give us another exciting race or two later this year.