It’s no surprise that so many drivers, crew chiefs, team members, and others affiliated with NASCAR also love to go fishing in their spare time. Among some of the sport’s top fishermen over the years have been Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Sr., and his son Dale Jr., and a number of others. But how many people know that fish almost cost NASCAR one of its crown jewels of racing facilities?
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Darlington Raceway, also known as “The Lady In Black,” was all laid out and ready to begin construction back in 1950 when Sherman Ramsey, the owner of a tiny little minnow pond that abutted the planned track layout, cried foul. Minnow ponds in the Deep South back then were almost considered religious and Ramsey would not allow track developer Harold Brasington from draining the pond and ultimately paving over it.
Not to be deterred, although the land footprint he had to work with made it difficult to still squeeze a racetrack onto that plot of land, Brasington adjusted the angles of what would today be known as turns 3 and 4 (they previously were known as turns 1 and 2 before the turns were switched around), essentially turning an oval similar to Indianapolis Motor Speedway — which was the model for what Brasington wanted to build in Darlington — into an odd egg-shaped oval of sorts.
From there, the legend of Darlington Raceway, with arguably one of the oddest and also most unique layouts, was born. Today, the 1.366-mile egg-val (as some longtime fans refer to it for its egg shape that is still considered an oval, as well) is the second-oldest track on the NASCAR circuit after Martinsville.
Since it opened in 1950, with the immortal Johnny Mantz earning his first and only win in NASCAR annals, Darlington Raceway in the northeast part of South Carolina, has played host to 127 Cup races, 69 Xfinity races and 12 Truck Series races.
NASCAR returns to Darlington for this weekend’s annual “Throwback Weekend,” one of the most unique and anticipated events not just in motorsports, but in all forms of sport. Throwback Weekend prompts teams to bring unique paint schemes, most being recollections or reimaginations of past cars that used to race — and win — at Darlington.
Believe it or not, the minnow pond is still just on the outskirts of the racetrack, one of several fan attractions around the track, including the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame and Museum along the outside of the backstretch.
But the track and the races held there are unquestionably the No. 1 attraction. Drivers have a love-hate relationship with the track, which many claim has the hardest walls of any they’ve ever hit.
And when you come to Darlington, expect to hit those walls PLENTY of times in the course of a 400- or 500-mile race.
“You don’t have time to relax at Darlington,” NASCAR Hall of Famer Ricky Rudd told Autoweek. “It’s so narrow and so different at each end. It sometimes feels like the walls just jump out and grab you. No question, it was the toughest place I ever raced.”
Darlington is also a throwback to old-style racetracks
Darlington has such a great history in its 75 years of operation. So many major races have been held there, most notably the Southern 500 and, more recently, Throwback Weekend.
And you’re not a good driver unless you’ve earned a “Darlington Stripe” (having hit one of the walls, sometimes numerous times in the same race, yet still have been able to keep going).
“It’s a track where you really have to race the track as much as the competitors,” NASCAR Hall of Famer Terry Labonte, a two-time Darlington winner, told Autoweek. “(It’s) hard to go out there and run 500 miles by yourself and not hit the wall at least once or bounce off it or something.”
In addition to having the colorful “Lady In Black” nickname, Darlington is so challenging that it also warrants a second moniker, namely, “The Track Too Tough To Tame.”
Indeed, it is one of the most difficult tracks not just in NASCAR but in all forms of motorsport. Not only is it tough for drivers, with all of its rough surface and bumps, but it’s also equally as tough for crew chiefs, who find it extremely difficult to devise race-winning setups, as there are four unique turns.
At most tracks (with the exception of road or street courses), crew chiefs typically devise the same strategy for ovals, as most turns are the same as their counterparts at the other end of the oval.
One of the only other tracks that compares to Darlington when it comes to having difficult setups is Pocono Raceway, a 2.5-mile tri-oval where all three of its turns are all radically different from each other, just like Darlington is.
Darlington: Where a driver can go from hero to zero from one race to the next
Winning at Darlington is a unique achievement, one of the most compelling achievements a driver can earn in his lifetime. The late David Pearson was arguably the master of Darlington with 10 career wins there, the most of any driver (in addition to his 10 wins, Pearson had a total of 24 top five and 30 top 10 finishes in 47 starts at the track some call simply “D-Ton”.
Whoever wins Sunday’s race will join the likes of Pearson, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Labonte (and brother Bobby), Cale Yarborough, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and add their name to what is without question a Who’s Who of NASCAR history.
And whoever wins, for at least one day in their life, The Lady In Black will look upon that driver with good favor — but also with the promise (some might call it a threat) that the next time they return to race the egg-shaped oval, they could go from hero to zero and finish last.
That’s Darlington for you.
