All is right in the NASCAR universe once more, as Darlington Raceway returns to its rightful place on the schedule on Labor Day Weekend. And the NASCAR community has embraced it fully, turning back the clock for a throwback weekend for the sport. Here’s the four storylines to follow for NASCAR at Darlington Raceway.
Turning Back the Clock
When Darlington Raceway was announced as the Labor Day race, the track’s promoters wanted to celebrate the track’s historic roots from the 1970s. They had hoped for a handful of throwback schemes this weekend for both races. Instead, they will get more than forty across both series. Add onto that the efforts of NASCAR on NBC to turn back the clock, and people will be rethinking whether or not this is 2015 or the 70s all over again.
Third Time Is the Charm?
Darlington becomes the third race of the season that NASCAR will debut a new rules package. The low downforce package combined with a new Goodyear tire package for the Sunday night show will be the first test of such a package before a potential debut of more rules in 2016.
Two. Races. Left.
There are only two races left before the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins. With only Darlington and Richmond left, there isn’t much time for drivers like Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola to sneak their way in. While the points spread is fairly large between sixteenth and seventeenth in points, one win from a driver outside of the Chase grid could make the battle to get in at Richmond even tighter.
The Restart Zone
NASCAR has worked in recent weeks to address the growing concerns from drivers and teams about policing restarts. After the issues of restart advantages arose at Michigan, and continued through the races following, NASCAR will debut a newly marked “Restart Zone” at Darlington, making it easier for drivers, teams, officials, and fans to see how the restarts pan out.
Be sure to catch all the action from the Lady in Black, with the Xfinity Series on Saturday afternoon on NBC, and the Sprint Cup Series on Sunday night on NBC as well.
Main Image
