It's true that the Daytona 500 is the most prestigious race on the Nextel Cup schedule, and it's true that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is auto racing's most celebrated racetrack. But in a lot of NASCAR fans minds, the old 1.366-mile awkwardly egg-shaped oval is what stock racing is all about.
The track was built on an old cotton field back in 1949, and the first race was held at Darlington on Labor Day of 1950. The man with the vision, Harold Brasington, anticipated a crowd of 10,000. Instead, over 25,000 stock car fans showed up for the inaugural Southern 500 won by Johnny Mantz.
Over a span of 50-plus years, legendary names such as Herb Thomas, David Pearson, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, and Jeff Gordon have recurrently graced victory lane at NASCAR's original super speedway.
Because of the track's unwieldy shape, Darlington Raceway has been considered one of the most difficult tracks to drive. Winning at Darlington means that you possess exceptional skills behind the wheel. The track has been nicknamed 'The Lady In Black', and dubbed the track 'Too Tough To Tame'.
"You never forget your first love," seven-time Cup Champion Dale Earnhardt once said, "whether it's a high school sweetheart, a faithful old hunting dog, or a fickle racetrack in South Carolina with a contrary disposition. And, if you happen to be a race car driver there's no victory so sweet, so memorable, as whipping Darlington Raceway."
Many of NASCAR's elite will echo those sentiments.
That race on Labor Day of 1950 set the stage for what stock car racing was to become. Over the next two decades, more contemporary super speedways such as Charlotte, Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta were built.
The sport's popularity began to soar throughout the Southeast.
But, once NASCAR began to creep into mainstream, larger, more prevalent markets began to vie for dates on the Nextel Cup schedule. Texas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, California Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, and Kansas Speedway have all been added to the schedule over the past decade.
In 2004, for the first time since 1950, Darlington Raceway was quiescent on Labor Day weekend. The race was moved to November, and then to Mother's Day in 2005. The 400-miler held at Darlington was abandoned, so the old feisty racetrack was left with only one date per season. Many old-school fans feared that Darlington Raceway would suffer the same fate as other Carolina venues such as the tracks located in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina and Rockingham, North Carolina.
Fortunately, the fans in the Southeast have stepped up and the two Mother's Day events have sold out, erasing any suggestion of Darlington being scratched from the Nextel Cup agenda.
email the author: autoracing@suite101.com
