Race Review: Southern 500

Welcome race fans to the eleventh race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. This week we go to Darlington Raceway for the Southern 500. Yes, the Southern 500 is back! Even if it isn’t on Labor Day weekend like it should be. Darlington lived up to her name as “The Track Too Tough To Tame”. And most everyone earned their “Darlington stripe”.

17 Matt Kenseth starts from the pole with a speed of 179.514. A new track record. 24 Jeff Gordon starts second. 78 Regan Smith has qualified for every race he has entered. 71 David Gilliland was fast enough to get in, as was 87 Joe Nemechek. 25 is Brad Keselowski  from the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He won at Talladega a couple of weeks ago in the 09 car of James Finch.  09 this week is veteran driver Sterling Marlin. 34 is Tony Raines this week. Regular driver, John Andretti, is in Indianapolis trying to make the Indy 500. Jeremy Mayfield in the 41 and rookie Scott Speed in the 82 failed to qualify. However, Nemecheck and Toyota made a deal so that Speed would drive the 87 car from the rear. 48 Jimmy Johnson crashed into the wall while qualifying and will be in a back-up car starting 42nd, with no practice in the car. 43 Reed Sorenson changed the engine and will start from the rear. Twenty-five cars hit the wall before the race starts!

17 Kenseth leads from the pole and pulls away. 20 rookie Joey Logano gets loose and 39 Ryan Newman gets by. The first caution comes out on lap 4. 87 Speed gets into 13  Max Papis and they spin. 48 Johnson, in his back-up car, makes a pit stop. The Green Flag comes out on lap 8. 7 Robby Gordon gets into the wall. 2 Kurt Busch gets by 31 Jeff Burton for sixth. 18 Kyle Busch gets by 31. 9 Kasey Kahne  and 16 Greg Biffle get by 31. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. and 39 battle for third. 24 takes the lead.

The second caution comes out during the commercial. 55 Michael Waltrip hits the wall and spins. 48 stays out to lead, since he pitted in the first caution. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had to back up in his pit stall before they could service the car. 39, with two fresh tires takes the lead. 47 rookie Marcos Ambrose gets into the wall but has a nice save. Brothers 2 and 18 battle. 18 takes the spot. 9 and 48 battle for third.

The third caution comes out when 07 Casey Mears and 83 Brian Vickers get together and into the wall. 31 gets by, but 11 Denny Hamlin gets collected. 2 and 11 pit. 55 Michael Waltrip gets the free pass and is back on the lead lap. 24 gets by 17 for fifth. 24 gets by 16. 1 Martin Truex, Jr. and 17 battle with 1 finally getting by. 9 and 48 battle for second. 9 gets by. 1 gets by 24. 83 is off the pace. 16 and 24 battle. 77 is tight and falls back. 9 and 39 battle for the lead. 9 takes the lead. 5 Mark Martin and 48 get by 16. 48 has to make a pit stop.

The fourth caution comes out when 55 explodes into flames! 98 Paul Menard is the Lucky Dog and gets his lap back. 11 pits before pit road is open. Since 48 pitted just before the caution, he is ahead of the leader, 9 on the tail end of the lead lap. 83 is also ahead of the leader. 25 gets by 99 Carl Edwards for eighteenth. 9 laps 48. 1 is catching leader 9. 26 Jamie McMurray and 39 battle for sixth. 26 gets by. 5 gets by 39. 18 gets into the wall. 24 thinks he has a vibration and pits. 99 drives by 2. 1 catches 9 again in traffic. 1 and 9 battle for the lead. 1 takes the lead.

The fifth caution comes out for spinning 77. 83 stayed ahead of the leader and gets one lap back. 48 Jimmy Johnson is the Lucky Dog. 96 Bobby Labonte stays out to lead a lap, then pits. 16 comes out of the pits first to lead. 00 David Reutimann, 39 and 17 battle for position. 18 makes it three wide with 17 and 00. 88 and 99 battle for fourteenth. 16 has a 5.6 second lead! 17 says he’s plowing. 9 gets by 14 Tony Stewart for second. 00 drives by 5.

The sixth caution comes out during the commercial. 6 David Ragan spins 11. Earlier, 11 got into 6. 5 had a lug nut issue in the pits. 19 Elliott Sadler is the Lucky Dog. They restart on lap 166. 98 Paul Menard saves it. 39 gets by 26. 29 Kevin Harvick and 20 battle for tenth. 9 gets by 14 for second.

The seventh caution comes out for spinning 6. 6 bumped 48 and 42 Juan Pablo Montoya got into 6. 83 Brian Vickers is the Lucky Dog. 6 and 42  stay on the lead lap. 20 and 24 get by 5. The eighth caution comes out when 6 hits the wall. 12 David Stremme is the Lucky Dog, but he pitted and got too close to track workers and went too fast, so they take it back. 47 goes to the garage. 9 gets into the slower car 12, and saves it, then has to pit for a flat tire. 33 Clint Bowyer gets by 25 for eighth.

The ninth caution comes out during the commercial. 2 gets into the wall and spins. 24 Jeff Gordon gets his lost lap back. 1 takes two tires to come out of the pits first. 29 gets into 48 in the pits and 48 can’t get into his stall. 17 makes two pit stops. 33 gets into the wall. The tenth caution comes out when 33 cuts a tire after hitting the wall, and gets into 44 AJ Allmendinger, turning him sideways. 44 gets back into 33 and 33 spins and crashes. A tire from 88 got away. He is penalized. At the restart 00 causes a bottleneck. 83 lets 16 by. 99 gets by 48. 24 and 48 battle for thirteenth. 24 gets by. 31 had an extended pit stop for a broken shock and lost a lap.

The eleventh caution is for debris. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. is the Lucky Dog. 16 is back in the lead. 18 and 1 battle for seventh. 18 gets by. 18 gets into the wall. 00 is very slow on top. He finally makes it to the pits and there is no caution. 17 gets by 5 for fourth. 00 gets back out, but cannot get up to speed. 1 gets by 18 for 8th. 18 gets into the wall after cutting a tire. There is no caution and he heads for the garage, much to the delight of the crowd.

The twelfth caution comes out with 92 to go when 16 blows a tire. The caution is for debris. 20 takes two tires to come out of the pits in the lead. 26 was too fast and goes to the rear. No rookie has ever won at Darlington. 31 gets loose. 99 gets into the wall.

The thirteenth caution comes out because 99 can’t get to the pits after contact with 16 and the wall. He turns right instead of left onto pit road. NASCAR holds him for that. 31 gets by 96 to be the first driver a lap down. 77 goes for a wild spin, but there is no caution. The caution comes out for 16 spinning off turn 4, with 72 to go. 31 Jeff Burton is the Lucky Dog. 44 pits sideways in his stall. 1 and 17 stay on the track. A modified 6 is back on the track. They go Green with 67 to go. 14 drives by 17 for second. 6 heads back to the garage. 20 gets by 5 for sixth. 83 and 48 battle for eighth. 20 and 29 battle for fifth. 5 gets by 29. 77 gets loose and into the wall.

The fifteenth caution is for debris from 77. 96 Bobby Labonte is the Lucky Dog. 5, 48, 38, 25, 11, 19 and 88 stay out. 14 is first out of the pits. The Green Flag flies with 42 to go. 39 and 48 battle for second. The leader, 5 takes off. 88 gets into the wall. 48 catches 5 for the lead in a back-up car with no practice. 83 gets into the wall.

The sixteenth (new record) caution comes out when 83 and 26 get into each other and the wall. 44 AJ Allmendinger is the Lucky Dog. 99 returns to the race. 77 and 18 are back out. They restart with 29 to go. The seventeenth caution comes out with 25 to go. 88 gets into 43 and spins. 9 Kasey Kahne is the Lucky Dog. They restart with 21 to go. 48 and 5 battle for the lead. 5 is on top and 48 can’t get by on the bottom. 16 gets by 20 for eighth. 88 with a tire rub is smoking. 12 also has a tire rub with smoke. 12 pits.

And 5 Mark Martin wins the first Southern 500 since the date went to California after the 2004 season. Darlington is again “The Lady In Black”, with black marks all around her. This moves Mark into eleventh place in the points. 18 Kyle Busch falls two spots and 99 Carl Edwards falls three spots. They are first and second in points in the Nationwide Series. Hmm…

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

NASCAR Race Tracks: Darlington Raceway

This week the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway in Darlington County, SC. NASCAR racing began here at Darlington in 1950. It’s one of the oldest and most historic tracks in the Series.

The track is 1.366 miles around, and is unique in it’s shape. It’s not just an oval, it’s an “egg-shaped” oval. When they were building the track, the owner, Mr. Ramsey, said they could build on the land as long as they didn’t bother the pond on the land. The result was what looked like an egg. Wider on the bottom to accommodate the pond.

The drivers must race the track, not each other. Driver and car must be hooked up  well to race this track. Darlington is known by a couple of names. She is “The Lady In Black”. That is, most drivers end up scraping the wall and leaving a black mark on the wall. At Darlington, the drivers earn their “Darlington stripe”. She is also “The Track Too Tough To Tame”. I don’t know if there was ever a winner who had not gotten into the wall at some point during the race.

Darlington is located in the sand hills. And no matter how hard track officials try to blow away the sand, it still comes back to the top of the track. And if the driver gets a little too close to the wall, the sand makes them slide right into the wall.

Darlington Raceway was repaved last year. That made it smoother and faster. In fact, last year 41 out of the 43 cars that qualified for the race beat the old track record. Turns one and two are much wider than turns three and four. And they’re going so fast and using all the track that it is no wonder that they get into the wall.

In 1950 they started the Southern 500. And it was one of the most prestigious races on the curcuit. The race was run on Labor Day weekend. In 1957 NASCAR started racing at Darlington in the Spring also. Over the years they changed the length of the race from 300 miles to 400 miles, to 500 miles, back to 400 miles and now is back to 500 miles.

2004 was the last time the Southern 500 was run. NASCAR gave the Labor Day weekend date to California (now Auto Club Speedway). Something about California being a better market! And now they race at Darlington on Saturday before Mothers Day. That didn’t go over well with fans. The Southern 500 was too great a race to just leave it behind. So this year NASCAR brought back the Southern 500 to Darlington Raceway.

I look forward to races at Darlington.  And wish there were two races at this track. But I guess I’ll have to take what I can get. In the first practice 12 drivers got into the wall. And two, 82 rookie Scott Speed and 00 David Reutimann will have to get into their back-up cars for the second practice session.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley. Talk to you after the race.

NASCAR Labor Day Weekend

Dear Race fans. I just found out  from Steve Waid of NASCAR Scene that the Historic Darlington Raceway will be hosting an event on Labor Day weekend. All us real NASCAR fans never forgave NASCAR for taking the Southern 500 from Darlington and giving the weekend to California. In my opinion, the Southern 500 was one of the crown jewels of NASCAR. Giving the weekend to California for the sake of marketing was just not right.

Well, Labor Day weekend Darlington will host the inaugural Darlington Historic Racing Festival. It will feature the legendary cars and drivers from a veriety of racing series, including NASCAR and Indy car, from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. Fans will get to see drivers and vintage cars that contributed to racing’s legacy. There will be two days of question and answers and autograph sessions with past drivers. And vintage cars will take laps around the tough, old 1.366 mile track.

Drivers Derrell Waltrip, David Pearson, Charlie Glotzbach, Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Marvin Pauch, Cotton Owens, Ned Jarrett and Rex White will be on hand for autographs and Q&A. As well as crew chiefs Leonard Wood and Wadell Wilson. And owners Bud Moore, Ray Fox and Raymond Parks. Also, radio announcer Barney Hall.

More than 100 vintage race cars will be there and many of them will run laps. Many car clubs will participate as well. Each club that participates will be able to take a lap around the historic track. The Darlington Historic Racing Festival will open for fans at 9 AM on Aug. 30 and 10 AM on Aug. 31. Tickets for the event are $15 for one day and $25 for the weekend. Call Darlington ticket office at 866-459-RACE or online at http://www.darlingtonraceway.com/tickets/

So, all you die hard race fans, make sure you are there, rather than at California. Let’s see how many fans go to see the race in California and how many attend this event. In my opinion, Darlington is the better choice.  No matter what Brian France thinks. California may be a good market, but race fans LOVE Darlington. And, if I may say so, Rockingham as well.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my site: http://www.ilivemynascar.com

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