NASCAR’s Top-5 Most Memorable Moments From Darlington Raceway

The 1.36-mile Darlington Raceway is one of the most spectacular race tracks in NASCAR. The heavenly bit of hell is clad in black asphalt throughout its unique egg shape and has made for some truly historic moments over its 75-year history. With the Cup Series field returning to deliver mind-bending action this weekend, here’s a brief ranking of those moments to level up expectations.

5. Brad Keselowski snaps 110-race winless streak – The No. 6 RFK Racing driver was riding the worst dry run of his esteemed career until the visit to Darlington earlier in 2024. He finished 1.2 seconds ahead of runner-up Ty Gibbs and secured his second victory on the track. It was also his first win as the co-owner of RFK Racing. Not something he nor his fans will forget.

4. Jeff Gordon wins the Winston Million – In 1997, Gordon became only the second driver in history to win the Winston Million after emerging victorious in the Southern 500 after Bill Elliott. The bonus was provided in partnership with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. for winning three of the season’s top races. Gordon overcame a late push by Jeff Burton to secure the honor and make history.

3. Dale Earnhardt beats Bill Elliott to victory – Bill Elliott was poised to win the 1987 race at the track until the final lap. He made the mistake of assuming that he could finish his final run of 72 laps on a single tank of gas. His car ran out in the final corner and Dale Earnhardt zoomed past him to take the checkered flag. Notably, it was the Intimidator’s third Darlington victory in four races.

2. Richard Petty’s spectacular crash – The King is undeniably the biggest star to ever embrace stock car racing. He was one of the earliest stalwarts and paved the way for multiple improvements. One such contribution came in Darlington in 1970. The entire nation watched as he went up in the air during the Rebel 400 race. His Plymouth landed on its roof and inflicted in him a dislocated shoulder.

It was a miracle that he ended up surviving the hard crash, which was set in motion by a case of steering failure. Images of his arm hanging out of the window forced NASCAR to mandate the use of window nets in all cars. The purpose was to contain the bodies of drivers inside the vehicles during such impacts.

1. Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch’s wild finish – In 2003, Craven and Busch made for one of the most thrilling Darlington finishes. They were 1-2 for the last few laps in the race when Craven raced ahead with two laps left. Busch regained the lead again shortly but his counterpart got to make the final move ahead of the checkered flag. He went low on the final turn when chaos broke out.

The cars locked up with each other and careened across the finish line, leaving everyone astounded. Officials provided their verdict that Craven had won the race by a narrow margin of 0.002 seconds.