Some old Darlington pictures

[ricklou]

Indeed the old girl has seen quite a lot











Thinking about it ... Darlington encompasses everything with stock car racing. Just imagine all of the bad things. Hot, dirty, it takes too long. Tragedy, triumph. It.is all here.

I recall an exerpt from Stock Car.Racing Magazine in 1976 concerning the Southern 500
It was so hot that knats would not fly. After David Pearson took the checkered flag completing a triple crown season a dissapointed Richard Petty instructed his crew to cover the car as it was terribly beat up after more than one meeting with Darlington's walls. Richard somehow managed a second place finish.

In 1965 Cale Yarborough made the highlight reels after leaving Darlington's storied banks. Afterwards an unhurt Cale mentioned to a journalist that he had led every race he was in for the 1965 season. The reporter questioned him after Yarborough's high flying act at Darington. Cale responded, I was leading when that happened.

[ricklou]

Fred Lorenzen had plenty to think about at Darington's Spring event in 1963. What was Freddie thinking about ? How to pass Curtis Turner to win this race.

Lorenzen knew that passing Turner would not be easy as the red head would surely use the chrome horn preventing a pass. Fred used everything in his book to make a clean pass on Curtis as he took the trophy in the 1963 Rebel 300.

[pettycash]

Darlington was a track that Petty teams just never really seemed to figure out. Lee never won there. Kyle never won there. Richard had 3 wins - but only in 1966 and 1967. He had several more 2nds and other T5s but not more wins. And other Petty drivers such as Paschal, Lund, Baker, Hamilton (both of them), Labonte, etc. couldn't land a trophy either.

The track was also a tragic one for PE. Bobby Myers (Chocolate Myers' dad) was killed during the 1957 Southern 500 while driving a #4 Petty Engineering Oldsmobile.