If you had told me at the beginning of the year that the Daytona 500 would be won by a 20-year-old kid running for a legendary car owner, I guarantee you my response would be, “Yeah right.” But Trevor Bayne silenced a lot of people as he picked up his first NASCAR victory in the season’s biggest event.
But it’s just one of many crown jewel races in the sport. In the heyday of NASCAR, then-series sponsor R.J. Reynold’s decided to add in a $1 million bonus for a driver to win three out of four major events in the sport. The races included were the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, the Winston 500 at Talladega and the Southern 500 at Darlington.
To this day, those races are still considered to be the biggest on the schedule. You have NASCAR’s “Super Bowl,” the longest race, the biggest track, and the oldest race on the tour.
Saturday night was the next installment of the Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway, but no one could have predicted the end result.
After seeing the ultimate underdog win the sport’s biggest race, the last thing any driver or any fan was thinking about was an upset winner at a track that is known to be better for the experienced veterans.
I’ll be blunt, Darlington is my favorite track on the circuit. It’s a track where no matter how hard you try, there’s nothing to compare too. It’s a mile and a third in length, the only one of it’s kind, and is shaped like an egg. Turns 3 and 4 are narrower than turns 1 and 2, and the backstretch has faster speeds than the frontstretch. But, more than anything, there is only one preferred line to get around this track, and it is not on the bottom. The best way around the track is to get right against the wall.
That means every corner of every lap, there’s a chance to get the right side of the car right against the wall, meaning at any moment, someone is going to get the infamous “Darlington Stripe.”
Two nicknames describe Darlington: The Lady In Black and The Track Too Tough To Tame. I went here in 2009 and the night started with the walls painted white and red, as they were on Saturday night. At night’s end, the black marks on the wall were the entire way around the track. They weren’t there by mistake, they were badges of honor.
So, with a track known for being better for the seasoned driver, who would have predicted that in the second crown jewel event of the season, NASCAR would have a second first-time winner?
Regan Smith did that with his No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet. A single-car operation based out of Colorado, and having very limited budget, stunned everyone in the field. Some consider this an upset, but considering how well the team has run this season both in qualifying and races, it’s not surprising that this team was capable of getting the job done.
That’s been the story of the year, at least when it comes to the big races. It’s the teams with either a limited budget or running a limited schedule that surprises everyone. Look at how Tommy Baldwin Racing landed sponsorship from Golden Corral. Driver Dave Blaney took the single-car operation with a one-race deal at Talladega, ran up front all day and nearly won the race. Then, he went out and held his own at Richmond.
Golden Corral then signed on for 19 races, meaning the Baldwin organization has funding for a strong majority of the season.
Question now becomes, what is in store for the next big race of the season? In the modern era, the Coca-Cola 600 is still considered one of the major races every driver wants to win. The other is the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis because of the rich racing history in that city.
I don’t know if another single-car operation will win that race, but it sure makes an incredible feel-good story for the season. NASCAR definitely wanted to get back in the spotlight in 2011. I’m not sure if this is how they expected to get there, but they’ve got something and are letting it ride as long as they can.
Let’s see what the next chapter in this series will be.
RESULTS: 1-Smith 2-Edwards 3-Keselowski 4-Kahne 5-Newman 6-Hamlin 7-Stewart 8-Biffle 9-McMurray 10-Truex Jr.
NOTABLE FINISHES: 11-Kyle Busch 12-Gordon 14-Earnhardt Jr. 15-Johnson 17-Harvick 27-Kurt Busch 33-Burton
CAUTIONS: 11 for 46 laps. Lap 7-9 (#60 spin-BS), 36-41 (Oil on Track/Competition), 75-78 (#34 accident-T2), 85-88 (#48 spin-T1), 124-127 (Debris-FS), 222-225 (#48 spin-T4), 231-235 (#6, 83 accident-BS), 240-243 (#9, 20 accident-FS), 281-284 (Debris-BS), 359-362 (Oil on Track), 365-368 (#18, 29, 33 accident-FS).
LEAD CHANGES: 21 among 12 drivers. Kahne 1-9, Newman 10-37, Mears 38, Schrader 39-40, Kahne 41-75, McMurray 76-88, Kahne 89-114, Edwards 115-123, Kyle Busch 124-175, Truex Jr. 176, Labonte 177-178, Kyle Busch 179-204, Edwards 205-221, Harvick 222, Edwards 223-235, Harvick 236-281, Kahne 282-332, Stewart 333-338, Kahne 339-340, Edwards 341-358, Kahne 359, Smith 360-370.
TIME OF RACE: 3 Hrs, 53 Mins, 51 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 129.678 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.196 Seconds
POINT STANDINGS (Top-12): 1. Edwards, 378 points; 2. Johnson, -23; 3. Kyle Busch, -39; 4. Earnhardt Jr, -47; 5. Harvick, -50; 6. Newman, -61; 7. Stewart, -65; 8. Kurt Busch, -72; 9. Bowyer, -81; 10. Kenseth, -83; 11. Allmendinger, -91; 12. Biffle, -92.