Darlington Raceway

Darlington Raceway
The Track Too Tough to Tame
The Lady in Black; A NASCAR tradition

Address: 1301 Harry Byrd Highway, Darlington, South Carolina
Darlington , South Carolina , USA
Route type:	permanent race track
Owner:	International Speedway Corporation
Operator:	International Speedway Corporation
Architect:	Harold Brasington
Start of building:	1949
Opening:	1950
Speedway oval
Egg-shaped oval
Route data
Important events:	Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles' Southern 500 NASCAR Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200
Route length:	2.198  km (1.37  mi )
Curves:	4th
Curve superelevation:	Curve 1 & 2: 25 degrees Curve 3 & 4: 23 degrees Start-finish straight: 3 degrees Back straight: 2 degrees
Audience capacity:	63,000
http://www.darlingtonraceway.com/

Coordinates: 34 ° 17 ′ 43 "  N , 79 ° 54 ′ 20"  W.

The Darlington Raceway is a Speedway in Darlington , South Carolina with a length of 1.366 miles (2.198 km). Opened in 1950, the racetrack has a capacity of 65,000 and is considered one of the most legendary NASCAR tracks . Every year races of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series are held.

The Darlington Raceway is often referred to as "The Lady in Black" because the outer boundary walls, which are painted white before each race, are mostly black in many places after the race due to the many wall contacts. Accordingly, the term "A Track Too Tough To Tame" ("A track, too difficult to tame") has become established, since many newcomers in particular create " Darlington Stripes ".

configuration

The first two turns are 600 feet (182.88 m) radius with a 25 ° cant. Curves 3 and 4, on the other hand, have a significantly smaller radius of 525 feet (160.02 m), which means that the course describes an egg-shaped oval, which is unusual for oval courses. The elevation of curves 3 and 4 is 23 °, that of the home straight 3 ° and that of the back straight 2 °. The straights are each 1,229 feet (374.60 m) long. The length of the pit lane is 2025 feet (617.22 m).

history

The idea of ​​building the Darlington Raceway goes back to Harold Brasington, who visited the Indianapolis 500 in 1948 and noticed the large number of spectators. Brasington was previously a racing driver himself and also drove against Bill France senior , the founder of NASCAR , among others , but retired from racing towards the end of the 1940s to concentrate on agriculture and architecture.

Impressed by the crowd at the Indianapolis, Brasington thought, “If Tony Hulman can do it here, I can do it back home.” (“If Tony Hulman can do something like this here, I can do it at home”) and began accordingly he was planning a new speedway in Darlington. To build it, he bought 70 acres from a farmer named Sherman Ramsey and began converting a cotton and peanut plantation into a racing circuit. Since Brasington Ramsey had promised that his pond on the west side of the property would remain intact, he was forced to build the racetrack in an unusual egg shape. As a result, the curve on the west side is narrower and steeper than the curve on the east side. The construction time was around a year.

In the summer of 1950, Brasington signed a contract with Bill France Sr. to have a 500 mile speedway race  on Labor Day . The first Southern 500 offered a record $ 25,000 prize  pool and was run under the collaboration of NASCAR and the rival Central States Racing Association . More than 80 drivers tried to qualify for the race, which was held in a format similar to that of the Indianapolis 500 over two weeks. The first winner was Johnny Mantz in a car owned by France.

Over the years, the route has been reconfigured several times. For example, the start-finish straight became the back straight and vice versa. The seating capacity has also been increased to 65,000, which is still limited due to the still existing pond and a highway behind the back straight. In the winter of 2007 the raceway got a new asphalting, the costs amounted to about ten million US dollars.

The Darlington Raceway is considered a legendary racetrack by drivers and fans: at the time of its construction, compared to the other NASCAR racetracks at the time, it was a real super speedway, which allowed high speeds for the racing cars. The very first NASCAR race over 500 miles was held on it - the Daytona 500 did not take place for the first time until nine years later in 1959.

See also

• List of motorsport racetracks

Web links

Commons : Darlington Raceway  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website

swell

1. ^ ^{A b c} Bill Fleischman, Al Pearce: The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide (1998-99) . Visible Ink Press, 1999, p. 7.
2. ↑ Fleischman, p. 8
3. ↑ Tire dispute: Goodyear takes a stand - Gordon tests