NASCAR Drivers Gang Up on Chase Elliott as Cup Champion Joins Kyle Busch to Hand Reality Check

Has NASCAR’s greatest tribute weekend become a relic of its past? At Darlington, the clock turns backwards every year. Fans dust up old merchandise, crews comb through archives, and Cup vehicles become moving homages to the Earnhardts, the Waltrips, the Gordons, and others, in a celebration of tradition. However, beneath the glossy exterior and nostalgic advertisements, a silent rift has been widening.

The drivers are now forced to take sides in a dispute about NASCAR’s future that started as a celebration of the past, way back in 2015. The controversy reared its head on April 4 as Frontstretch’s lead reporter Dalton Hopkins pointed out a worrying trend going on the NASCAR’s top tourney to Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, “I think it’s around 19 cars this weekend that are not running a throwback paint scheme. I’m sure you’ve seen the talk on social media on…if the throwback weekend has lost its luster. I’m curious on where you stand on that. Do you feel like this weekend has lost its luster over time?”

Notably, half of the 38-car field is not running a throwback scheme this year, including the RFK Racing Fords or the 23XI Racing Toyotas. Why? Well, we will get to that in the later part of our coverage, as what Chase Elliott said on the issue is reportedly not going too well within the community.

“I thought it lost it (its luster) about four or five years ago. So I was way too early to that conversation, I think. But not to be a downer…I joked about this before…years ago…but, like, if we kept going down the road, we’re going to be throwing it back to me in like 2018…At some point, I think we’ve got to chill on it a little bit. I think we’ve rode the horse to death and we tend to do that a little bit too much,” Elliott said, which Kyle Busch and (ironically) Brad Keselowski didn’t take too kindly.

It seemingly began with the RFK Racing owner taking a stroll around the hauler lot where he noticed supporters wearing Rusty Wallace hats, Jeff Gordon shirts, and Dale Earnhardt coats.

So, it wasn’t long before the 2012 Cup Series champion responded to Hopkins’ post on X. The message was direct. While Elliott framed Throwback Weekend as a tired exercise, Keselowski argued it’s one of the few events that unites generations and reinforces what made NASCAR special in the first place. “I went to the merchandise hauler just now where it hit me. Seeing the fans all dressed up in older gear reminded me Throwback weekend is much bigger than paint schemes. This weekend connects new and old fans to our sport’s history in multiple meaningful ways for everyone to enjoy. I understand the frustrations of trying to execute a great scheme, but also think we should be careful to not dismiss the fans that absolutely love this race,” he wrote.

Kyle Busch, who doesn’t require a press release, also made his feelings clear. The 39-year-old began by talking about Xfinity Series racer William Sawalich—who honored the two-time Cup Series champion with a 2016 paint scheme this year—and said, “Well, it took 10 years for somebody to finally do a Kyle Busch one. Thanks to William and the team on the Xfinity side. That’s pretty cool, to finally have one. You know, when I look at fan reception, I feel like the fans really love it, and even if some of the drivers may think it’s overblown or whatever, it’s not for us. It’s for the people that are in the grandstands and for their pure joy in just seeing some of the older, cool schemes that come back to life in this day and age. So, if they’re all for it–trust me, I hear it all the time.”

He then also talked about his own efforts at throwbacks (or the lack thereof): “I think I’ve had, in ten years, I might have had two or three throwbacks. Trust me, I hear it all the time that I don’t do throwbacks, and that’s not on me. That’s just the partners that we’re with.” It was typical Busch: Brief, incisive, and genuine. Busch’s backing for Keselowski went beyond simple encouragement; he made it clear that fans, not drivers, are the focus of this weekend. And that’s important to him.

And then there was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe, who opined, “For me, it’s something that I love about this weekend. Every time you come here, there’s that old-school feel, but then when you walk in the garage, you see paint schemes and stuff. It’s a cool part of the whole weekend. Yeah, I don’t have a throwback scheme this weekend. This is the first time I’ve never ran one, but I don’t feel like this weekend has lost its luster. I think the fans still love the paint schemes that are here, and just anytime you come to Darlington, it’s kind of got an old school throwback feel whether we’re (at) a throwback weekend or not.”

Having said that, Throwback Weekend is more than just fire costumes and vintage typefaces. One of the rare weekends when NASCAR lets its past dictate the course is this one. For Busch, Keselowski and Briscoe, that is very important. To Elliott? Not as much now. Elliott may be weary of the idea, but he’s not the only one who questions whether the custom is sustainable.

Denny Hamlin pointed out last year how sponsor constraints and expenses are making it harder for teams to carry out high-quality schemes. “On the Cup side, it’s going to be tough going forward,” Hamlin said in 2024. Still, he went ahead and paid tribute to Carl Edwards with a full throwback to his 2006-07 Office Depot car—proving that even with concerns, respect for the past can still lead the way,” he said.

But what is Hamlin actually talking about? It is really that tough to bring the past to life in NASCAR?

The Business of Nostalgia: Why Throwback Weekend Costs More Than It Looks

The foundation of Throwback Weekend is respect—a tribute to the pioneers who helped shape NASCAR into what it is today. However, the expense of respecting the sport’s history also changes as it does. What was once a beloved tradition is now a financial and logistical conundrum that teams and even NASCAR officials are finding difficult to resolve.

The fundamental issue? Conflicts of sponsorship. Since modern Cup teams depend on intricate multi-brand alliances, it can be difficult to faithfully recreate vintage paint jobs. Office Depot, STP, DuPont, and other original sponsors are no longer in business, and their trademarks are frequently unusable. As a result, teams are forced to provide ambiguous tributes rather than accurate recreations. NASCAR is fully aware of the issue. In 2023, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition, Scott Miller, acknowledged the mounting pressure and said, “There’s a cost to doing it right. And some teams just don’t have the flexibility, especially with how many sponsors they’re managing now.”

This difference is even more noticeable in the Xfinity Series, where sponsorship arrangements are less rigid and innovation is allowed. Drivers like Ryan Sieg and Josh Williams implemented complete throwbacks in 2024, complete with vintage lettering and historically accurate clothing. In contrast, tribute plans frequently seemed diluted in Cup.

Even Throwback Weekend’s passionate fans have seen the widening divide. Co-founder of JR Motorsports and an outspoken supporter of the competition, Dale Earnhardt Jr,, acknowledged that Cup operations are encountering increasing challenges but commended Xfinity teams for their dedication. “It’s easier for us [in Xfinity] to go full-on with the throwback because our sponsors give us more creative freedom. The Cup side has more red tape. That’s just the nature of where the business is,” Earnhardt said in 2024.

Even NASCAR President Steve Phelps echoed similar concerns, adding that the event must stay meaningful, not just marketable, saying, “What we never want is for the weekend to feel obligatory. We want teams and sponsors to participate because they believe in the celebration of our history, not just to check a box.” Phelps also hinted at possible format changes in the future—perhaps rotating the event or incentivizing deeper team participation. “We’ve talked about ways to re-energize it. We don’t want to lose what made it special just because the logistics have gotten harder,” he said.

In NASCAR, nostalgia is still a potent currency. However, the company that created it is now posing more challenging queries. And even the sport’s most cherished customs could need to change unless there is a more distinct harmony between respect and practicality.