Brian Vickers Diary: Darlington. Finally.

Finally -- Darlington. I'm looking forward to getting back to "The Track Too Tough To Tame," especially because it's my favorite stop on the schedule. No, I'm not kidding.

Some drivers will tell you their favorite track is wherever the race is being held that week. Not me. I have a handful of places that I really enjoy, like Atlanta and Bristol, but in my book, neither compare to "The Lady In Black."

It's going to be a different Darlington for all of us (drivers) when we show up on Friday because of the recent installation of SAFER barriers. I've heard the SAFER walls have taken away up to 30 inches of race track in the turns, which should make an already interesting place to race even more interesting.

I understand what they're trying accomplish by installing the system, but if we cut through it all, there are plenty of other tracks that should have taken priority over Darlington.

For instance, last week we were at Atlanta Motor Speedway -- the fastest track on the schedule --- where we run in excess of 190 mph. They don't have the SAFER walls. Why is that?

BRIAN VICKERS  •  Driver Page  •  Diary: Lovin' Atlanta  •  Diary: Learning so much from the Hendricks  •  Diary: First Daytona an experience to remember  •  Hangin' with Vickers on the set of TRL  •  Hendrick team not resting on laurels for '04

I commend the folks at Darlington. They're looking out for the safety of the drivers - which we all certainly appreciate -- but I'm not sure the timing makes much sense. Shouldn't some of the other, more dangerous tracks come first?

To be fast at Darlington, you have to run right up against the wall -- literally brushing your right-side quarter-panels several times throughout the race. If we're already running that close, it normally wouldn't leave enough room for us to incur a relatively significant impact compared to a place like Atlanta.

I could be wrong, but I think the new configuration should present plenty of challenges for teams on Friday. Maybe too much is being made out of it? Without having been there, it's hard to say how it will all shake out. Give me a couple of days on the track and I'll have a better idea.

Our No. 25 GMAC team was supposed to test at Darlington a couple of weeks ago, but it had to be canceled because the SAFER barriers were being installed. At least everyone is going there in the same predicament, without having made any laps after the walls were put in.

Who knows? Maybe I'll be fortunate enough to have similar success to the Busch Series race last August? Winning there was unbelievable given the history of that place. I was 19 at the time, but the track is 50-something years old. More than anything, it was an honor to visit Victory Lane, knowing our team was able to master the toughest track on the schedule.

But our Busch team wasn't the only Hendrick Motorsports squad to do well because Terry Labonte and the Kellogg's crew took the checkered flag in the Cup race the very next day.

Seeing Terry win the Southern 500 was pretty cool and, in my opinion, the perfect send-off for that Labor Day weekend event

I guess a new tradition will start this weekend in Darlington, knowing the track has been changed somewhat and that instead of racing there again on Labor Day weekend, we'll have to wait until November.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself. First thing's first -- Darlington on Sunday.

Brian Vickers' Diary appears periodically on NASCAR.COM.