T. Jay Maddox - SCR

Same Ole' Darlington, Sort Of

May 13, 2008
T. Jay Maddox - SCR

They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. The same could be said for the Darlington Raceway, simply known most as Darlington, The Track too Tough to Tame or the Lady in Black. Darlington had many changes in store for the running of the Dodge Challenger 500 this past

Saturday night, but for the most part the changes did not ultimately change how drivers approached this legendary track. The Lady must be respected.

The biggest change for this year was the new pavement which made the "Lady in Black" appears even blacker. The new track was smooth and faster than ever and the speed showed in the new qualifying track record set by Greg Biffle. Biffle broke the old track record by more than 5 miles per hour at 179.442 besting Ward Burton's 1996 qualifying record speed of 173.797. The entire field, even those who did not qualify were faster than Burton's record; and that was a testament to the track's new found speed. Cars were reaching 200 mph at the end of the straightaway, speeds unheard of at Darlington.

The next big change was tire wear. The new track surface gave tremendous grip and when combined with the hard compound tire that Goodyear brought, the tire wear was extraordinary. Two tire stops at Darlington were unheard of in the past but actually occurred Saturday night. The old track with its small, sharp stones poking out from the weathered and worn pavement literally shredded any tire used in the past. Making tires last through a fuel run was nearly impossible. Tires could literally be spent in a handful of laps on the track prior to its new surface. But on Saturday night, tire wear was a non-issue. The biggest wear on the tires was apparent on the right rears where nearly every pit stop revealed a tire with all of the yellow Goodyear letters missing.

This was the result of the traditional Darlington stripe. Whether a badge of courage or stamp of shame Darlington stripes have been around forever. Prior to the repaving, cars were forced to slide up

near the wall on this narrow track to get around the turns. With the tires worn to the cords, banging the rear quarter panel off the wall was a necessity to complete the turns on many laps. The stripe tradition continued this year but under different circumstances. Since the tire was not an issue, sliding the car wasn't either. This year many drivers either turned well or slapped the wall a good deal harder than in the past. The new Sprint car's durability was tested greatly but was still up to the challenge. The stripes were much longer than the quarter panel, even on the cars that finished upfront. Kyle Busch's winning car was nearly devoid of numbers and decals from the right front fender to the rear. Early in the race, Busch pancaked the wall but continued to run strong and upfront. Some things never change and the Darlington stripe forges on.

Passing was difficult. Cars already running tight were made even worse by the cooling air and track temperatures as day turned to night. Running out-front kept maximum air on the car's nose and cars that were out front tended to stay that way. In traffic though the largely one groove track was made even more difficult when approaching cars from the rear. With the air taken off the nose from the car running in front, passing required a daring and treacherous move underneath which was taken with great caution by most in the field. The cross-over move made famous at Darlington where a car that had been passed, ducks immediately under the passer and is passed back was no where to be found on Saturday night.

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Darlington was expected to be a wreck fest, but that did not pan out. Largely based on the results of practice for the Sprint Cup race, where two-time Cup Champion Jimmy Johnson wrecked both his primary and his backup, and the many wrecks that occurred during the Nationwide race the night before, most felt the 500 would be marred in debris. Many times when the best drivers in the world see carnage before the race, they show the track, and their competitors, a good deal of respect. That is what appeared to happen on Saturday night. Cautions were few, with only one major wreck. Only two cars failed to finish the race and only 8 caution flags flew.

Respect is probably the most important tradition of all at Darlington. Most drivers who have been successful there have said the keys to winning are running your own line, racing the track and not other cars until the end of the race, and keeping in mind that to finish first you must first finish. So while many changes were evident at the track this year, many of Darlington's traditions carry on. The more things change the more they stay the same.