DARLINGTON — When fans show up to watch their favorite drivers duke it out under the lights at Darlington Raceway on Friday and Saturday night, they will likely notice that what was once old is new again at the Track Too Tough To Tame.
Crews spent almost all of the third weekend in April painting 40-foot-long red stripes all the way around the outside wall on the 1.33-mile track, evoking images of the Winston Cup glory days of the 1980s at Darlington, a throwback to the days of R.J. Reynolds’ sponsorship of NASCAR’s flagship series.
“It’s something I think people will associate with the early days of racing, when (Richard) Petty, (David) Pearson and (Cale) Yarborough were out here battling it out,” said Jake Harris, the track’s director of public relations. “It seemed like a natural for the 60th season.”
Yarborough, who took a few exhibition laps with NASCAR rookie Joey Logano a few weeks ago at Darlington’s annual media day, said the sight of the red and white stripes made him feel right at home.
“It brings back a lot of memories,” said Yarborough, a three-time NASCAR Spring Cup champion and native of nearby Sardis.
“I think it’s going to be something special that I think people are going to talk about for a long time to come,” Harris said.
Harris said it took crews more than 50 hours to paint the walls, and he said the work is far from over.
“We do re-paint the walls after the Friday night race,” he said.
So many cars smack the wall in the Nationwide Series event,that it needs some touch-up work before the lights come back on for prime time Sprint Cup action in the Southern 500 on Saturday night.
“It’s something that’s definitely worth it for the fans,” Harris said. “The facility looks great, it’s fresh, and ready for some more Darlington stripes.”
The Darlington Raceway used a retro font to celebrate this year's return to the name "Southern 500" for the race at Darlington Raceway on Wednesday, May 6, 2009. Photo by Angela E. Kershner/MORNING NEWS.
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