VISITING NASCAR'S PAST IN DARLINGTON

Back in the later 1970's and through the 1980's I was a huge NASCAR Fan. This was perhaps when NASCAR was at it's most popular. It was a sport born in the south and the majority of its sold out race tracks were located in the south.  But in the 1990's NASCAR abandoned its southern roots and it's popularity began to decline.  One of the most popular tracks was located in the small town of Darlington, South Carolina.  The Darlington Raceway is NASCAR's oldest track. Holding it first race in 1950.

During the 1970's and through the 1980's I use to attend both the Rebel 400 and the Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway. I would camp in a pop-up camper and have the time of my life. But NASCAR turned its back on its southern root and took the Rebel 400 race away from Darlington and Move the Southern 500 from it's traditional Labor Day Weekend. I attended my last NASCAR race in 2003, since then I have not been back to a race track and i have not watch a full race on TV. In 2014 while I was on the way to the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Raleigh, I had the opportunity to travel through Darlington and I stopped at the Lady in Black paid my $5.00 and toured what used to be the Joe Weatherly Stockcar Museum. The drivers like Fireball Roberts, Rex White, Joe Weatherly, Buck Baker, Darrell Waltrip Richard Petty and David Pearson, still live here in this small museum in the sand hills of South Carolina.

In the early to mid 1980 the R. J. Reynold's Tobacco Company through it Winston Brand offered a 1-million dollar bonus, called The Winston Million, to any driver who could win 3 of NASCAR 4 biggest races, the Daytona 500, the Worlds 600, the Winston 500 and the Southern 500. In 1985, Bill Elliott drove this 1985 Ford Thunderbird to victory in the Southern 500. Having won the Daytona 500 and the Winston 500 earlier in the year, Million Dollar Bill claimed the Winston Million.


Below is a short video that I made during my visit to the Darlington Raceway Museum. It is a wonderful little museum that captures the history and tradition of NASCAR. It holds a very special place in the heart of NASCAR Fans who remember the glory days.