Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 3B
Down the Stretch
Legendary Southern 500 rises once again
T raditional race fans got
a pleasant surprise last
Thursday morning when
the announcement was made
that the Southern 500 would be
returning to the NASCAR Sprint
Cup schedule, in name at least,
at Darlington Raceway in South
Carolina in 2009.
The Southern 500 was one
of the races that helped build
NASCAR into what it is today.
But a desire to cash in on a
supposed goldmine of fans
in California (that has since
failed to materialize) saw
Darlington’s traditional date go
to the California Speedway in
2003. The Southern 500 event
itself, after a one-year run in
November, was done away with
in 2005.
Darlington’s lone cup event,
now run on the Saturday night
before Mother’s Day, has
become one the toughest tickets
to get in NASCAR. Despite this,
officials seemed to have no inter
est in returning the legendary
event name to the record books.
But Thursday, some sanity
returned to the world. For long
time race fans, it’s akin to the
Dodgers announcing that they
are not only moving
back to Brooklyn, but
that they’ll be rebuild
ing Ebbets Field to
boot.
Darlington Raceway
came into existence
at the hand of pea
nut farmer Harold
Brasington in 1949.
Brasington, a retired
racer, traveled north
to Indianapolis in
1948 to witness the
500-mile classic. The
huge crowds that
Tony Hulman brought into the
venerable speedway impressed
Brasington, who figured a simi
lar event could be held back in
his home state of
South Carolina.
Brasington pur
chased 70 acres
from a farmer near
Darlington, and began
laying out plans for
his dream track.
Those plans had to
make a slight detour
when he was forced
to alter one end of the
track to accommodate
a farmer’s prized minnow pond
on the west side of the property.
Because of the changes, the
track’s shape resembled that of
an egg, making one turn more
tight and narrow than the other.
Little did Brasington, the farm
er or the minnows know that by
doing that, they had given birth
to a legend.
The first Southern 500 was
held on Labor Day of 1950.
California driver Johnny Mantz
won, piloting a lightweight,
underpowered Plymouth. Mantz
simply drove around, protecting
his car and his tires while the
other drivers drove hell-bent for
leather, blowing tires left and
right.
Since then, Darlington became
the track the
drivers hated
to race at, but
wanted to win
more than any
other. The
track was
dubbed “Too
Tough To
Tame,” and
nicknamed
“The Lady In
Black” because
of how hai'd
it was to win,
and how gruel
ing the track could be on equip
ment and drivers. Just to com
plete the Southern 500 was an
accomplishment, much less win.
As such, it’s had many
memorable moments.
Like in 1965, when Ned
Jarrett won the race by a
whopping 14-laps over
Buck Baker. The night
before, a local preacher
had told Jarrett he had a
feeling he would record a
big win.
In 1970, Buddy Baker
became the first second-
generation driver to win
the 500, piloting Cotton Owens’
winged Dodge Daytona to vic
tory.
In 1985, Bill Elliott drove into
the history books by winning the
Winston Million with a victory
in the Southern 500, launching
a media frenzy that had been
unseen before in NASCAR.
When NASCAR made the
move to reduce Darlington to
one event in 2005, many saw it
as the beginning of the end for
the venerable old speedway. But
the fans said otherwise. They
bought the tickets, they camped
out, and they refused to let the
old track go quietly into that
good night.
Now their reward is the return
of the Southern 500, although
most purists would prefer it to be
held Labor Day weekend. But
it’s a start. More importantly,
it’s a tribute to those who refuse
to completely give up on tradi
tion.
As for the first Southern 500
in four years, you can expect an
exciting and unpredictable race.
That’s because the Lady In
Black has been waiting quietly
for four years for her signature
event to be returned. Now that
she’s got it, she’s going to be
looking for some revenge.
Brandon Reed is a reporter for
Mainstreet Newspapers. E-mail
comments about this column to
brand on @ mainstreetnews. com.
“As for the first
Southern 500 in four
years, you can expect
an excfing and unpre
dictable race. That’s
because the Lady
in Black has been
waiting quietly for four
years for her signature
event to be returned.”
brandon
reed
Auto Racing
The Banks County News
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SENIOR STANDOUT
Leopard senior Justin Beasley, running for yardage against Johnson, is primed for a standout
senior season for BCHS this fall. Photo by Lyn Sengupta
Football... continued from page IB
Several Leopards made standout
plays in the scrimmage last week.
Lyn Hester recovered a fumble and
returned it to the 1-yard line.
That play eventually led to a BCHS
touchdown run by Justin Beasley for
the first score of the contest. Hester
capped off the score with the point
after kick.
Zack Dale recovered two fum
bles in the scrimmage while Chase
Armour played well from his safety
position. Eli Autry also recovered a
fumble.
Beasley also scored the second
touchdown for the Leopards on a
3-yard run in the second half. Dylan
Lackey scored the third and final
touchdown for BCHS on the first
play of the fourth quarter.
Officially, Johnson held on for a
21-20 win in the scrimmage although
the junior varsity players took the
field during the fourth quarter. The
Leopards were even at the Johnson
half-yard line in the final minute of
the game before turning the football
over on downs.
“We were very vanilla in the
schemes we ran,” Armstrong said.
“We didn’t want to show anything
that other teams might see.”
Game planning has already begun
for Washington-Wilkes, Armstrong
said, as well as other opponents.
“We are planning ahead for all
teams we will face,” the coach said.
“We have some small details we are
putting in for Washington-Wilkes.
They were in our region last year so
we know a good bit about them. We
know they are going to be tough.”
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