If you tune in to FOX for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race tonight, they will tell you that this is the Southern 500. And so the race is named.
In the spirit of being true to NASCAR roots, if not a little Shiner fueled you kids get off my lawn rant, I’ll say that the Southern 500 is an historic jewel in NASCAR racing’s Triple Crown of not-too-many-years ago. The Winston Million1 paid a million dollars to whoever could win 3 of 4 of the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 6002, the Winston 5003, and the Southern 5004. The Southern 500 was run on Labor Day weekend, in Darlington SC. In the heat. In the humidity. On a track born out of a desire to provide a speedway where it was all about the driver, his skill and daring. As times rolled on, Darlington, an aging venue in the hard scrabble sand country of South Carolina, where racing is second only to family, community, and faith, fell from favor with NASCAR. Historic Darlington, where fans turned out through good times and bad, and were treated to racing spectacles unequalled virtually anywhere, was all of a sudden not Hollywood trendy enough to compete in NASCAR’s never-ending quest to ring the cash register more frequently, and with more green in the till. I’ve never understood teevee marketing; they always say the “Darlington market” was too small, too homogeneous, too whatever. I’ve watched races from Darlington on teevee in Norton KS, Urbandale IA, Simi Valley CA, Glen Rock PA, and Reston VA. Never once did the “Darlington market” cross my mind. I saw exciting racing, on a track made for racing. This track could have been in BFE for all I cared; it was exciting.
Formerly hosting two races per season, Darlington was cut to one race several years back. And it’s a night race. On Mother’s Day weekend. A weekend in which NASCAR formerly did not race. But in the “let’s throw Darlington a bone” mood, we race there. Tonight. And I’ll watch. And it will be exciting. To my regret, I passed within 10 miles of the track a few years ago, on a Search for America tour. I wanted to turn off, go by the track, and just bask in the glow of this historic old venue. Alas, time didn’t permit.
I owe it to myself, as a race fan, to attend a race there before NASCAR decides that the venue is totally unworthy. Maybe next Mother’s Day weekend. MLB likes racin’, too.
-k-
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