Darlington 1464

Darlington

Inspired by a visit to the Indianapolis 500, local peanut farmer Harold Brasington built a speedway in his hometown and instituted a new Labour Day tradition – NASCAR’s Southern 500.

Inspired by a visit to the Indianapolis 500, local peanut farmer Harold Brasington built a speedway in his hometown and instituted a new Labour Day tradition – NASCAR’s Southern 500. The first race on Darlington’s odd, egg-shaped facility attracted a field of 75 cars and was won by Johnny Mantz in a Plymouth. A difficult circuit to master, Darlington has seen many a driver end his day in the unforgiving wall. The banking is different at both ends of the speedway, making car set-up particularly difficult. Turns 1 and 2 are 25 degrees while 3 and 4 are two degrees shallower and each end has a different radius. Modernisation during the 1990s led to the start being moved to allow space for larger 65,000-capacity grandstands.

Circuit

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Type

Paved oval

Length

1.366 (Miles)

Change

Start moved to southern straight

Fastest Qualifying Lap

Aric Almirola (Ford Fusion), 26.705s, 184.147 mph, NASCAR, 2014

Type

Paved oval

Length

1.366 (Miles)

Change

Extended (originally listed as 1.375 miles but re-measured in 1970)

Type

Paved oval

Length

1.25 (Miles)

Change

Original circuit

Latest Races

3,413

Championships

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19,330

Results

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25,216

Drivers

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14,546

Teams

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917

Circuits

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