Return is latest chapter in Darlington’s rich legacy
DARLINGTON, S.C. » Harold Brasington III recalls riding around the infield at Darlington Raceway as a youngster with his late grandfather, track builder Harold Brasington, watching as his granddad said hello to the likes of Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough and Dale Earnhardt.
The younger Brasington, 52, will see history once more on Sunday: The 70-year-old raceway will host the return of NASCAR Cup Series racing, among the biggest events so far as sports makes a halting comeback from a global shutdown forced by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Xfinity Series will then fire up for the first time since March on Tuesday at the 1.366-mile, eggshaped oval. Cup racers come back for Wednesday for a weeknight, primetime race — the kind fans have urged NASCAR to try — to cap a busy time for the “Lady in Black.”
“I think Darlington is the poster child for inspiration and luck kind of linking up together,” Brasington said.
It’s hard to argue. The track hosted two NASCAR races every year from 1950-2003, including the
Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend, an event considered a marquee race for the stock car series. But a push for bigger TV ratings and fancier, modern raceways — and some neglect in upkeep at the old country track — had some wondering if Darlington might join the list of shuttered, defunct Southern tracks like Rockingham and North Wilkesboro.
Instead, it has held on as NASCAR embraced its history as the oldest paved superspeedway. Since 2015, Darlington has held the circuit’s throwback weekend — back on Labor Day — with a popular celebration of NASCAR’s colorful past.
Come Sunday, that legacy will be one of hope as NASCAR powers back up. “For us, it’s exciting that we have our chance to go out there and compete,” Kurt Busch said.
Darlington is perhaps best known as “The Track Too Tough To Tame” and, like all the old speedways, has its quirks. Brasington had envisioned a standard oval, but he had a problem: A local landowner didn’t want to give up his minnow pond, so Darlington was built with what is now turn four tighter than the other end of the track.
Speak with almost any driver and it won’t be long before they say of Darlington that “you have to race the racetrack.” The assymetrical corners mean drivers who spend too much time focused on their foes will undoubtedly hit the wall — and often do.