Darlington Raceway holds such a special place in the hearts of stock car racing its’ got two nicknames.
Whether you call it “The Lady in Black,” or the “Track Too Tough to Tame,” it’s embedded in NASCAR’s DNA. And the legend will continue to grow on Saturday.
Jeff Burton says “my Southern 500 win means more to me than any other win I’ve ever had.To me that’s the race I circle every year because of the history. I’ve been lucky enough to win in a Cup car couple of times and I won a lot of Nationwide races there.”
Built in 1950 it was NASCAR’s first superspeedway at 1.366 miles.
Drivers consider it one of the biggest challenges in the 36 race schedule. The winningest driver, the Silver Fox David Pearson, has 10 victories. Jimmie Johnson, although dominant elsewhere, has only one win there in his career. “It just hard core racing,” Jeff Burton added.
Jeff Burton, who drives the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing calls it “the epitome of NASCAR. It’s what NASCAR is all about. You can imagine when that race track was built how tight it was how narrow it was for those type of cars that were racing then.”
Only the half-mile paper-clipped shaped Martinsville Speedway, built in 1949, is older than Darlington as an active Sprint Cup track.
Jeff Burton noted “it was built around a pond that that egg-shaped at either end.”
The track was constructed on land which formerly grew cotton and peanuts in South Carolina. To get enough land to construct the track, founder Harold Brasington, had to deal with land owner Sherman Ramsey’s wish that his minnow pond be undisturbed during construction leads to the track’s unique egg-shape
The track was reconfigured and repaved in 1997, but, was previously known for “the Darlington Stripe,” when a driver got too loose in turn two and scraped the wall adding a black dings on the passenger side of their cars.
This track used to be so tough because the surface was so abrasive,” said Gordon, who will drive a specially painted No. 24 DuPont/ National Guard Chevrolet this weekend. “And you had to use a lot of finesse as a driver while dealing with the two very different ends of the track.
“Now it’s smoother and it has more grip, but it’s still pretty treacherous because you run right up next to the wall. It’s still an awesome race track that is much faster now. And it can still bite you.”
Until 2003 the Southern 500 was held on America’s traditional end of summer, Labor Day weekend, but that fall date was moved in 2004 to California Speedway.
Although it continued to have two Cup events in 2005, by 2006 it was reduced to one date, the Mother’s Day Saturday, where it has enjoyed a renaissance of interest.
Drivers respect the Lady in Black as Burton says “there are not too many fluke winners at Darlington.”
Whether you call it “The Lady in Black,” or the “Track Too Tough to Tame,” it’s embedded in NASCAR’s DNA. And the legend will continue to grow on Saturday.
Jeff Burton says “my Southern 500 win means more to me than any other win I’ve ever had.To me that’s the race I circle every year because of the history. I’ve been lucky enough to win in a Cup car couple of times and I won a lot of Nationwide races there.”
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| Courtesy Darlington Raceway |
Built in 1950 it was NASCAR’s first superspeedway at 1.366 miles.
Drivers consider it one of the biggest challenges in the 36 race schedule. The winningest driver, the Silver Fox David Pearson, has 10 victories. Jimmie Johnson, although dominant elsewhere, has only one win there in his career. “It just hard core racing,” Jeff Burton added.
Jeff Burton, who drives the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing calls it “the epitome of NASCAR. It’s what NASCAR is all about. You can imagine when that race track was built how tight it was how narrow it was for those type of cars that were racing then.”
Only the half-mile paper-clipped shaped Martinsville Speedway, built in 1949, is older than Darlington as an active Sprint Cup track.
Jeff Burton noted “it was built around a pond that that egg-shaped at either end.”
The track was constructed on land which formerly grew cotton and peanuts in South Carolina. To get enough land to construct the track, founder Harold Brasington, had to deal with land owner Sherman Ramsey’s wish that his minnow pond be undisturbed during construction leads to the track’s unique egg-shape
The track was reconfigured and repaved in 1997, but, was previously known for “the Darlington Stripe,” when a driver got too loose in turn two and scraped the wall adding a black dings on the passenger side of their cars.
This track used to be so tough because the surface was so abrasive,” said Gordon, who will drive a specially painted No. 24 DuPont/ National Guard Chevrolet this weekend. “And you had to use a lot of finesse as a driver while dealing with the two very different ends of the track.
“Now it’s smoother and it has more grip, but it’s still pretty treacherous because you run right up next to the wall. It’s still an awesome race track that is much faster now. And it can still bite you.”
Until 2003 the Southern 500 was held on America’s traditional end of summer, Labor Day weekend, but that fall date was moved in 2004 to California Speedway.
Although it continued to have two Cup events in 2005, by 2006 it was reduced to one date, the Mother’s Day Saturday, where it has enjoyed a renaissance of interest.
Drivers respect the Lady in Black as Burton says “there are not too many fluke winners at Darlington.”