NASCAR Podcast
1 17 Matt Kenseth
2 24 Jeff Gordon
3 39 Ryan Newman
4 77 Sam Hornish Jr.
5 20 Joey Logano #
6 31 Jeff Burton
7 9 Kasey Kahne
8 2 Kurt Busch
9 99 Carl Edwards
10 47 Marcos Ambrose
11 16 Greg Biffle
12 5 Mark Martin
13 07 Casey Mears
14 18 Kyle Busch
15 6 David Ragan
16 1 Martin Truex Jr.
17 33 Clint Bowyer
18 14 Tony Stewart
19 19 Elliott Sadler
20 26 Jamie McMurray
Continue reading “Darlington Cup Series Lineup: Kenseth on pole”
The Race: Southern 500 Presented by GoDaddy.com
The Place: Darlington Raceway (1.366-mile oval)
The Date: Saturday, May 9
The Time: 7:20 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 500 miles/367 laps
TV: FOX , 7 p.m. ET
2008 Polesitter: Kyle Busch
2008 Winner: Greg Biffle
Schedule: (All times local ET) Friday–Practice, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m., Final Practice, 1:30–3 p.m., Qualifying, 5:10 p.m.
Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford) has finished last only four times in his 232-race career. One of those four took place last year at Darlington Raceway.
Still, Biffle could be considered a favorite going into this weekend’s Southern 500 Presented by GoDaddy.com.
Despite the 43rd-place finishing, Biffle still owns some of the top Loop Data statistics since the stats’ inception in 2005.
That’s largely because the last-place finish was as deceiving as they get. Biffle had as good a shot at winning as any driver in the field, leading 95 laps.
In fact, he had the fourth-best Driver Rating that race of 108.6, along with an Average Running Position of 16.1, 33 Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 61%.
So those totals already added to the impressive lot that was racked up during back-to-back wins in 2005 and 2006.
Darlington Raceway Through The Years
1950 Californian Johnny Mantz wins the first Southern 500 despite being the slowest qualifier.
1957 Darlington Raceway gets a second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, which is won by Fireball Roberts.
1965 Ned Jarrett wins the Southern 500 by 14 laps, the largest margin of victory in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history.
1968 David Pearson wins his first of a record 10 Darlington races.
1985 Bill Elliott wins the Winston Million at Darlington for capturing three of four selected races during the season.
1997 The track configuration is flipped, making the frontstretch the backstretch and vice-versa.
2003 Ricky Craven edges Kurt Busch by .002 seconds, the closest margin in NASCAR history.
2004 For the first time a Darlington race is held under lights.
2005 Darlington begins a new tradition, hosting its race on Mother’s Day weekend.
One year after NASCAR celebrated its 60th year, Darlington Raceway, is set for a 60-year celebration of its own. Darlington is the second-oldest track in NASCAR and has hosted 105 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races over the past 59 years.
“Darlington is steeped in tradition, as much a part of the Southern NASCAR landscape as the sweet scent of magnolias,” said NASCAR Vice President of Communications Jim Hunter, a former president of Darlington Raceway. “The Southern 500 is the Kentucky Derby and Masters of our sport.”
It is only fitting that as part of its 60th anniversary, the track is bringing back the race name that it has been identified with since its first race in 1950. In addition, the outer retaining walls have been painted with red stripes, something that hasn’t been done since 1989.
Continue reading “Darlington Raceway Steeped In NASCAR Tradition”
