Remembering The Past and Imagining the Future of Darlington

As we approach Labor Day weekend, the traditional race weekend for Darlington Raceway, many people are just learning about all the history at the track "Too Tough to Tame."

When NASCAR made the decision to move The Darlington race back to its historic Labor Day race weekend, numerous people said that was the greatest decision NASCAR could have made. 

The Darlington race weekend will have a throwback theme honoring some of the greatest drivers in the history of NASCAR with several drivers having throwback paint schemes. 

In honor of the Bojangles' Southern 500 being the next race on the NASCAR circuit and Darlington returning to Labor Day weekend, here are 3 of my favorite events at the track known as "Too Tough to Tame." 

1. The 1965 Southern 500. The race took place on September 6, 1965. Ned Jarrett defeated Buck Baker by a distance of 14 laps! Third and fourth position finishers were 19 laps behind first place finisher, Ned Jarrett! 

2. The 1980 CRC Chemicals Rebel 500. David Pearson won the race that was troubled by constant rain and darkness because the track didn't have lights at the time. Pearson drove for Hoss Ellington Racing. His victory marked his final cup win and his 105th win. Pearson is Darlington's winningest driver with a total of 10 wins. 

3. The 2003 Dodge Dealers 400. Ricky Craven beat Kurt Busch by 0.002 seconds to take the win in his PPI Motorsports Pontiac. Craven's win at Darlington was the only win for Pontiac in 2003. A few months later Pontiac announced their decision to leave NASCAR's top series. 

Thanks for reading!

Until Next Time, Taylor Smith 

AroundTheTrack.weebly.com

@AroundTrack