Tradition Roars Back at Darlington

Fifty-nine years of tradition returns to Darlington Raceway this weekend, as "The Track Too Tough to Tame" regains its long-running moniker, the Southern 500. And for those who remember watching races there years ago, Darlington officials have also brought back the red-and-white-striped walls this year in a nod to the facility's heritage.

Few tracks are as steeped in tradition as Darlington. Even NASCAR's youngest drivers, by virtue of what they've seen, heard or read, grasp the significance of running well and winning at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval. Most of today's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers weren't even competing at this level 20 years ago but those who were can attest to the fact that Daytona, Darlington, Charlotte and Talladega were the tracks at which they wanted to win.

Darlington hosted its first Southern 500 Labor Day weekend in 1950 and has been a cornerstone of our sport ever since. We've gotten away from that tradition a bit in the years since Darlington lost its Labor Day weekend race and accompanying Southern 500 name. But fortunately, we still have the Mother's Day weekend event.

When NASCAR enacted the "realignment" a few years ago that took a date from Darlington and transferred it to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., as well as shut out Rockingham, in favor of a second date outside Los Angeles and other cities, the ultimate goal was to branch out into new and larger markets but the transition has been more difficult than anticipated. In California, a market with millions of people, you wouldn't anticipate a problem selling out a 90,000-seat race track, but it has only happened once. No doubt NASCAR needed to spread its wings, but despite where you take the sport to accomplish this purpose, it's crucial to have tracks conducive to good racing in order to build a new fan base.

Darlington is a great track that consistently produces riveting action - several notches above the product produced at the Fontana facility. Had they built a track such as Richmond, Bristol or Darlington in southern California, NASCAR might have fared better out there because the on-track product may have been easier to sell.

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But anytime a sport tries to stretch its legs and expand its reach, a little bit of tradition and culture are lost. With the elimination of the Southern 500 name, there went a little bit of history and fabric of the sport. Since the realignment, NASCAR has penetrated larger markets and attracted additional sponsors for teams, tracks and the sanctioning body, significant accomplishments from a financial standpoint, but the complexion of the sport has changed, which is not necessarily always a positive. Rockingham is out of the picture, North Wilkesboro has been gone for years, Darlington lost a date and incessant rumors of diminutive Martinsville losing a date continue to circulate.

Forsaking the Southern 500 name rubbed a lot of people the wrong way for the simple fact we don't like to abandon tradition. Despite years of a wonderful business relationship with Coke, Kyle Petty told me the other day that he still catches himself referring to the Coca-Cola 600 as the "World 600" because he's a traditionalist. You can attach a sponsor to the Southern 500's name but it's still the Southern 500 and it's great to have it back as such. It's beneficial to the fans and the sport.

But "The Lady in Black" is certainly a challenge for the competitors because it's an old, narrow track with two distinctly different corners, making it extremely difficult to set up a race car and even harder to drive. The wall threatens to jump out and bite the drivers lap after lap. In fact, it's almost a mark of pride to place on the wall a "Darlington stripe," a black tire mark from the victim's car. Darlington certainly has earned its reputation and assorted nicknames because it's so challenging that it has become one of the most sought-after wins even today.

After 59 years, Darlington still puts on a tremendous show and the driver who wins Saturday night should hoist that trophy high for a long time to come because he has done what most only dream of.

Randy Pemberton is a 23-year veteran of motorsports journalism who currently serves as host of NASCAR in a Hurry and reporter for NASCAR Live on SPEED. He has hosted, produced, reported and written for numerous motorsports programs and specials over the years. Pemberton won the Russ Catlin Award of Excellence for broadcast journalism three times, in addition to being named a multi-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association award for spot news. Pemberton, who joined SPEED in 2007 after years with other networks, has produced, written and served as the talent for more than 500 feature packages for national television productions. For more information on Pemberton or to access the NASCAR on SPEED programming schedule, please visit www.speedtv.com.