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Former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace defended Chase Elliott after his comments on NASCAR's throwback livery tradition sparked debate on social media. The #9 Chevy driver claimed that the tradition had lost its "lusture" a couple of years ago and was just being carried on by a couple of teams.
Drivers and teams pay tribute to the sport's legends annually at Darlington Raceway as NASCAR celebrates a throwback weekend. The drivers come up with retro paint schemes, giving the field a Halloween environment.
However, 19 teams this year decided to opt out of the unofficial celebration as they continued to race with their regular liveries. When Elliott, NASCAR's Most Popular Driver awardee, was questioned about this, he claimed that the event had lost its "lusture" over five years ago.
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"I thought I lost it (its luster) about four or five years ago, so I was way too early to that conversation, I think," he said (via Motorsport).
His comments gained quite some attention on social media as people debated his ideology on the topic. Former driver Kenny Wallace also jumped in on the discussion on his "Coffe with Kenny" programme on social media.
Talking about the comments that Elliott shared about the event, Wallace claimed that drivers using special liveries don't "hurt anybody." He further suggested that at the same time, one can't be furious at a particular driver for not driving in a throwback livery.
"It started out as bobblehead day. It started out as bat day, right? 'Hey, it's throwback weekend at Darlington!' And now 10 years later, we're doing the same thing. I don't think it's hurting anybody. My opinion is it's not hurting anybody. Just keep it going. However, if somebody doesn't play along, you cannot get mad at them. Okay, I'll meet you all halfway," Wallace said (07:40 onwards).
Chase Elliott reminisces about a joke he cracked about the throwback weekend earlier
The Chase Elliott has quite a strong opinion on the NASCAR throwback weekend. While it is usually a way for drivers to pay tribute to legendary drivers and their iconic paint schemes, it is also a fun weekend for the fans as they can be seen in the grandstands wearing retro merchandise.
However, the 29-year-old feels that the teams might be overdoing it now. He reminisced about a joke he cracked a few years ago that if the throwback weekend were to continue at this pace, drivers would soon be using the livery from 2018.
"Not to be a downer -- I joked about this years ago, but if we kept going down the road, we're going to be throwing it back to me in 2018," Elliott continued (via Motorsport). "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 has been having his ups and downs in the races this season. He has managed to pull in four top-10 finishes and was within the top-20 in the rest of the races.
