Southern 500

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mountain Dew Southern 500
Venue: Darlington Raceway
Main sponsor: Mountain Dew
First race: 1950
Last race: 2004
Distance: 500 miles (805 km)
Number of laps: 366
Former names: Southern 500 (1950–1988)

Heinz Southern 500 (1989-1991)

Mountain Dew Southern 500 (1992-1997, 2001-2004)

Pepsi Southern 500 (1998-2000)

The Southern 500 was a well-known and prestigious race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup over 500 miles and was one of the former four crown jewels of the series and was NASCAR's oldest superspeedway race until it was abandoned. It was held annually from 1950 to 2004.

When it was first held in 1950, it was the first NASCAR race over a distance of 500 miles and on a paved speedway. It was also the only 500-mile race until the Daytona 500 debuted in 1959. Between 1985 and 1997, the Southern 500 was the fourth race to qualify for the Winston Million . Two drivers, Bill Elliott in 1985 and Jeff Gordon in 1997, won the Winston Million with their victories in the Southern 500.

Before the 2004 season, the race traditionally took place on Labor Day . The year 2004 saw a change in the racing calendar, the date of the event in November. The circuit's management considered the November date better for fans who were raising concerns about the hot weather due to the cooler weather. For this change of date, North Carolina Speedway lost its fall race to Auto Club Speedway and the Pop Secret 500 was postponed to Labor Day. However, neither the fans nor the competitors knew that the 2004 edition of the Southern 500 would be the last in the meantime.

In 2004, Francis Ferko, a partner in Speedway Motorsports , sued the owner of Texas Motor Speedway , NASCAR for refusing to give Texas Motor Speedway a second race like many other circuits had. The Ferko lawsuit was decided in the plaintiff's favor and NASCAR had to give up one of the two races at Darlington Raceway in order to host a second race at Texas Motor Speedway, the Dickies 500 , in its place . Since a sponsorship contract for a race on the speedway with a term of eight years was concluded with Dodge for 2001 , the Southern 500 had to be discontinued accordingly.

winner