1 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s Chevrolet
2 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont / National Guard Facebook Chevrolet
3 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota
4 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
5 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
6 39 Ryan Newman Haas Automation Chevrolet
7 47 Marcos Ambrose Kingsford / Scott Branded Products Toyota
8 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota
9 12 Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge
10 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Ford
11 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet
12 43 A J Allmendinger Insignia / Best Buy Ford
13 20 Joey Logano The Home Depot Toyota
14 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge
15 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
16 82 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota
17 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford
18 55 Michael McDowell PRISM Motorsports Toyota
19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet
20 98 Paul Menard Turtle Wax / Menards Ford
21 6 David Ragan UPS Ford
22 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet
23 71 Bobby Labonte TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet
24 14 Tony Stewart Old Spice / Office Depot Chevrolet
25 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge
26 7 Robby Gordon BAMVIP.com/JmsOtto/WhtnyDncn Toyota
27 33 Clint Bowyer The Hartford Chevrolet
28 66 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota
29 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Black Ford
30 46 JJ Yeley Whitney Motorsports Dodge
31 26 David Stremme Air National Guard Ford
32 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
33 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
34 38 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford
35 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet
36 32 Reed Sorenson Braun Racing Toyota
37 64 Todd Bodine Little Joe’s Auto Sales Toyota
38 19 Elliott Sadler Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford
39 18 Kyle Busch Doublemint Toyota
40 34 Travis Kvapil A&W Alll American Food Ford
41 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford
42 37 Kevin Conway # Extenze Ford
43 13 Max Papis GEICO Toyota

1 20 Denny Hamlin Z-Line Designs / Operation Helmet Toyota
2 18 Kyle Busch Z-Line Designs / Racing for Kids Toyota
3 22 Brad Keselowski Ruby Tuesday Dodge
4 88 Jamie McMurray Hellmann’s Chevrolet
5 60 Carl Edwards Copart Ford
6 12 Justin Allgaier Verizon Wireless Dodge
7 33 Kevin Harvick Rheem Ruud Chevrolet
8 27 Greg Biffle Redman Moist Snuff Ford
9 99 Trevor Bayne Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota
10 21 Clint Bowyer Zaxby’s Chevrolet
11 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Casino & Hotel Toyota
12 10 Jason Leffler ABF Freight Toyota
13 11 Brian Scott # AccuDoc Solutions Toyota
14 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # Roush Fenway Racing Ford
15 38 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Toyota
16 98 Paul Menard Richmond / Menards Ford
17 32 Brian Vickers Dollar General Toyota
18 23 Coleman Pressley R3 Motorsports Chevrolet
19 70 Mark Green Royal Purple Chevrolet
20 81 Michael McDowell MOBILE-Shop.com Dodge
21 7 Steve Arpin JR Motorsports Chevrolet
22 90 Danny O’Quinn Jr. D’Hondt Humphrey Motorsports Chevrolet
23 43 Scott Lagasse Jr. American Red Cross / O’Reilly Auto Parts Ford
24 91 David Gilliland D’Hondt Humphrey Motorsports Chevrolet
25 40 Mike Bliss Westerman Companies Chevrolet
26 1 James Buescher # AndreBauer.com/Andre for Gov Chevrolet
27 66 Steve Wallace 5-Hour Energy Toyota
28 41 Stanton Barrett Kids Embrace Car Seats Chevrolet
29 15 Michael Annett Germain.com / Pilot Travel Centers Toyota
30 73 Derrike Cope Charter Dodge
31 56 Kevin Lepage Mac Hill Motorsports Chevrolet
32 28 Kenny Wallace Royal Purple / AAA Parking Chevrolet
33 61 Josh Wise Ride to the Rock for Autism Ford
34 34 Tony Raines Long John Silver’s Chevrolet
35 16 Matt Kenseth Coupons.com Ford
36 26 Brian Keselowski K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge
37 07 Danny Efland C3i Sports/AmrcnsHnrng Amrcns Chevrolet
38 35 Jason Keller upillar.com Chevrolet
39 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet
40 01 Mike Wallace OneHourAirCndtning & Heating Chevrolet
41 24 Eric McClure Hefty Odor Block Ford
42 09 Chad McCumbee TheGPSStore.com / Garmin Ford
43 92 Dennis Setzer K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge

Darlington has reached out and grabbed a bunch of Cup Series drivers already, here’s a list.

CLICK HERE FOR A CHANCE TO WIN DOVER TICKETS

1 Jamie McMurray
16 Greg Biffle – BU
18 Kyle Busch – BU
20 Joey Logano
33 Clint Bowyer – BU
34 Travis Kvapil
36 Casey Mears – BU
42 Juan Pablo Montoya
47 Marcos Ambrose – BU
82 Scott Speed BU
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. – BU
87 Joe Nemecheck – BU

BU- Going to a backup car

New fans, a Darlington stripe is simply when a stock car hits the wall and puts a stripe on the wall, and their car.  It’s especially unique at Darlington due the tracks odd shape.

Guest Column By Cathy Elliott

It’s race week in Darlington, and I am sitting in my office — also in Darlington. I am surrounded by flyers and posters and cardboard stand-ups of various drivers smiling hopeful smiles, most of which will be replaced by scowls and a few choice words once the green flag drops at the cantankerous old track.

I’m thinking about what happened last year and 10 years ago, and what might happen next week, when that familiar wave of nostalgia hits me. For those who are fans of NASCAR’s grand and slightly checkered past as well as its glamorous present, there is simply no better time of year than the month of May.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events run in May offer some of the best racing of the season at three of the sport’s finest – and oldest – tracks.

These include, in addition to Darlington Raceway, Richmond International Raceway, whose furious short track action generally fans a few flames and whips up some sort of a grudge match headed into Darlington, and Charlotte Motor Speedway, home of both the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the annual NASCAR marathon also known as the Coca-Cola 600.

These places can only be described as legacy tracks. Darlington’s first race was held in 1950, and Richmond was hot on its heels, opening the gates in 1953. Charlotte is the baby of this family; they didn’t start superspeedway racing until 1960.

Just to add a little icing on the cake, the NASCAR Hall of Fame will officially celebrate its grand opening this month, as well.

Seriously, May is so richly grounded in racing tradition it’s like one of those chocolate truffles that are so sweet they actually hurt your teeth. It almost makes you want to give the other months a hug, just to make them feel better about themselves.

Cruising through the garage on race weekend at some of these older tracks makes you feel like an extra in the movie Back to the Future. On any given day you might see David Pearson eating a sandwich while explaining the vagaries of Darlington’s Turn 2 to a rookie driver, Bud Moore leaning up against a stack of Goodyears in Charlotte, or Richard Petty pretty much anywhere, ambling around and just being nice to people, because that’s how he rolls.

Not too many years ago, you stood a pretty decent chance of bumping into another guy, checking things out with a sharp eye while chomping on a hot dog, which was his favorite food. Media-friendly drivers aside, the late Bill France, Jr. is probably stock car racing’s most recognizable face.

The new book titled Bill France Jr.: The Man Who Made NASCAR, couldn’t have been released at a more appropriate time. As the races this month chronicle the expansion of NASCAR’s early years, the book chronicles the hand that primarily guided its growth for more than three decades.

As author H.A. Branham has structured the story, France’s life and career mirrors the evolution of the sport with which his family’s name is synonymous.

For example, France spent his early days selling snow cones at the track and yanking people off fences who were trying to watch the races for free.

Later, he brokered the groundbreaking sponsorship deal with RJR that would brand the entire Cup Series with the company’s top product name. Back then, the sheer scope of such an idea was basically untried and unheard of. Branham describes it as “a match between an outlaw sport and an outlaw product.”

During those first couple of decades of racing at these tracks we now consider the cornerstones of the sport, NASCAR really was a snow cone-eating, fence-yanking kind of animal – a renegade. But thanks in large part to that outlandish sponsorship idea, a trail was blazed for companies like current series sponsor Sprint to move in with innovative technology that provides the perfect vehicle for the contemporary face of stock car racing. Sadly, France is gone, but his son Brian stepped into those ambitious shoes, and kept right on walking.

And the beat goes on. Sponsors will inevitably come and go, and NASCAR will continue to identify its boundaries, and then expand them.

The cool thing is that while moving ahead just as far and fast as it can go, the heart of NASCAR will still find a way to remain grounded in its past. If history came alive in the classroom like it does at Darlington, Richmond and Charlotte, we would all have been much better students way back when.

Thank goodness – and thank NASCAR – these old teachers are still on the job. Just ask the drivers still pursuing those elusive A+ trophy grades – they still have something left to teach us.

The opinions expressed in this articles are solely those of the author and not this website.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 6, 2010) – Jack Hoenstine, who in 1951 drove with friends from Pennsylvania to Darlington, S.C., to check out a new sport called NASCAR, will be attending Saturday’s Showtime Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway for the 60th straight year.

Hoenstine, then 17, had read in a racing magazine about a big stock car race in Darlington. He bought four tickets, and drove 540 miles from his home in Queen, Pa. to the track. Hoenstine was smitten by the racing action, but even better, the chance to meet drivers such as Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly and LeeRoy Yarbrough after the race. Since his first visit to Darlington Raceway, Hoenstine, a retired truck driver, has not missed a single NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at “The Track Too Tough to Tame.”

“I just immediately got into it, and loved it right away,” the 78-year-old retired truck driver said.

Hoenstine still attends about a dozen NASCAR Sprint Cup races a year, adding to attendance streaks nearly as impressive as Darlington. Since attending Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 1964 spring race (known then as the World 600), Hoenstine has been to the Coca-Cola 600 every year. He hasn’t missed a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover since 1969.

The sport is taking notice of this iron fan’s incredible devotion. Hoenstine is featured in the new NASCAR Library Collection book, The Weekend Starts on Wednesday: True Stories of Remarkable NASCAR Fans by Andrew Giangola, and will be the subject of a special fan profile on ESPN2’s “NASCAR Now” airing on Saturday, May 8.

“I’ve been to hundreds of NASCAR races over the years, too many to even count,” Hoenstine said. “My sister-in-law asked me, ‘My goodness, Jack, what if you saved all that money instead?’ Well, I wouldn’t have seen all them races, met the drivers, fans I’ve come to know, and had such a good time. I’ve always wanted to enjoy life, and NASCAR’s been a big part of that.”

As described in The Weekend Starts on Wednesday, “The rough-around-the-edges sport that grabbed Hoenstine’s attention has evolved into a polished multi-billion dollar enterprise that fans follow on their mobile phones. Back in the days of rotary phones and cracking AM radio race broadcasts, Hoenstine stayed in a room at a boarding house in nearby Florence. Darlington Raceway’s grandstands were uncomfortable concrete slabs. The drivers had scant protection – maybe an open-face helmet with a seat belt across their laps. Fonty Flock drove in Bermuda shorts and a t-shirt. The closest thing to a pre-race flyover was NASCAR’s resident wild man Curtis Turner buzzing the crowd with his propeller airplane. Drivers would enjoy a cigarette during tire changes, which were usually performed by a friends volunteering for pit duty. A few drivers would keep a Thermos under the seat. The best part was any fan could meet these colorful characters. After the Darlington races, the gate under the flagstand would open, and fans dashed down to meet the hard-charging, hard-living drivers.”

“Nothing was fenced in,” Hoenstine said. “LeeRoy Yarbrough, Marvin Panch and Coo Coo Marlin, Sterling’s dad, would be leaning against their cars. Anyone could go strike up a conversation.”

On the way home to Pennsylvania, Hoenstine would stop at Richard Petty’s race shop in Randleman, N.C., which was an inauspicious two-car garage. Like many other NASCAR fans, he posed for photos with The King, who would always thank Jack for taking time to visit and came to know him by name.

As the Darlington races grew in popularity, local motels sprouted up, drawing drivers and team owners as well as fans. In the late 1970’s, Hoenstine befriended Ronnie Thomas, who wanted to enter the race but was short of money. Jack and his friends pooled the cash to buy tires, and got their names on Thomas’ No. 25 Chevrolet.

For a time, Hoenstine did his own racing on short tracks in Pennsylvania. But his career was short-lived, ending in the early 1950’s when his cousin sold the race car.

But Jack still found a way to get onto the track. Following a Darlington race in 1965, he and a friend stopped in Rockingham, N.C. to see the new raceway.

“We were in my buddy’s new Pontiac and noticed the gates were open. We started running laps, but a man in a suit came out and flagged us down. He turned out to be a nice gentleman. Asked us how we liked the track Gave us his business card, and said to call him if we ever needed tickets. He told us, ‘Go ahead and run a few more laps, but don’t wreck!’”

Hoenstine took the wheel and stood on the gas of his powerful Bonneville.

“Coming off turn three, my friend reached across and grabbed onto my thigh so hard, I had black-and-blue bruises for three weeks,” he remembered.

Fifteen years later, on the way to Daytona, Hoenstine would take a detour through Charlotte and spot an open gate at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He ran a few laps in his Chevy Suburban, this time undetected by track management.

In addition to Hoenstine, more than 30 remarkable NASCAR fans are profiled in The Weekend Starts on Wednesday – from a Lexington, .N.C, man who’s been to every single Daytona 500 to a male nurse with a fear of heights who braved the elements to bring the Sprint Cup flag to the top of Mt. Everest. A critically acclaimed work of wit and feeling, the NASCAR Library Collection book The Weekend Starts on Wednesday