Darlington will play host to Cup's first Mother's Day weekend date in 17 years. Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Darlington's Browning says track is here to stay

The following analogy is outlandish, sure. But, to me, it most accurately parallels the mindset of those striving to ensure that Darlington Raceway does not fall victim to contraction:

Every four months, my wife and I have our puffy pair of Himalayan cats shaven clean in an effort to free them from the thermonuclear coat of dreadlocks they've tolerated for the past 30 days.

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Once it's over they adore it. It's getting them there that presents a problem.

They utterly despise the maroon, plastic pet-porter kitty-carrier contraption we use to transport them -- it may as well be San Quentin -- and will go to extreme measures to avoid it. (I swear one of them once hit bone while digging into my shoulder in a last-gasp effort to remain on the outside.)

And the sneakier we are, the quicker they know something's up. Act "normal," they catch on even easier. See, they've been there before. They know what to look for. And no matter how innovative Lainie and I get, no matter how hard we try to sugarcoat it, they know:

The signs are evident, and this time it could be the vet.

That's how Darlington Raceway president Chris Browning approached last week's International Speedway Corp. board meeting. Sounds odd, sure, but it's true. Browning has been burned before, and therefore has a keen sixth sense about what to look for, when.

Background check:

One year ago last week, Browning, then the head cheese at Rockingham, submitted a proposal to the ISC board requesting upgrades to the facility. And when even the most minimal requests were declined, he knew the Nextel Cup Series had graced The Rock for the final time.

"We had submitted several capital projects, down to just small things, and it went before the board and nothing got approved," Browning recalled Wednesday from his office at the racetrack. "When I got that back, I knew something was going on."

Darlington Raceway Year Winner 1950 Johnny Mantz 1951 Herb Thomas 1952 Dick Rathmann 1952 Fonty Flock 1953 Buck Baker 1954 Herb Thomas 1955 Herb Thomas 1956 Curtis Turner 1957 Speedy Thompson 1958 Fireball Roberts 1959 Jim Reed 1960 Joe Weatherly   Buck Baker 1961 Fred Lorenzen   Nelson Stacy 1962 Nelson Stacy   Larry Frank 1963 Joe Weatherly   Fireball Roberts 1964 Fred Lorenzen   Buck Baker 1965 Junior Johnson   Ned Jarrett 1966 Richard Petty   Darel Dieringer 1967 Richard Petty   Richard Petty 1968 David Pearson   Cale Yarborough 1969 LeeRoy Yarbrough   LeeRoy Yarbrough 1970 David Pearson   Buddy Baker 1971 Buddy Baker   Bobby Allison 1972 David Pearson   Bobby Allison 1973 David Pearson   Cale Yarborough 1974 David Pearson   Cale Yarborough 1975 Bobby Allison   Bobby Allison 1976 David Pearson   David Pearson 1977 Darrell Waltrip   David Pearson 1978 Benny Parsons   Cale Yarborough 1979 Darrell Waltrip   David Pearson 1980 David Pearson   Terry Labonte 1981 Darrell Waltrip   Neil Bonnett 1982 Dale Earnhardt   Cale Yarborough 1983 Harry Gant   Bobby Allison 1984 Darrell Waltrip   Harry Gant 1985 Bill Elliott   Bill Elliott 1986 Dale Earnhardt   Tim Richmond 1987 Dale Earnhardt   Dale Earnhardt 1988 Lake Speed   Bill Elliott 1989 Harry Gant   Dale Earnhardt 1990 Dale Earnhardt   Dale Earnhardt 1991 Ricky Rudd   Harry Gant 1992 Bill Elliott   Darrell Waltrip 1993 Dale Earnhardt   Mark Martin 1994 Dale Earnhardt   Bill Elliott 1995 Sterling Marlin   Jeff Gordon 1996 Jeff Gordon   Jeff Gordon 1997 Dale Jarrett   Jeff Gordon 1998 Dale Jarrett   Jeff Gordon 1999 Jeff Burton   Jeff Burton 2000 Ward Burton   Bobby Labonte 2001 Dale Jarrett   Ward Burton 2002 Sterling Marlin   Jeff Gordon 2003 Ricky Craven   Terry Labonte 2004 Jimmie Johnson   Jimmie Johnson

Word is something's going on with Darlington right now. Speculation of late says Bruton Smith is soon to purchase Darlington from ISC, then take its date and ship it to the strip.

And while Browning's superiors have assured him that such rumors are baseless -- that ISC hasn't so much as spoken with Smith about Darlington -- he knew the board's response to his most recent proposal would provide the proverbial proof in the pudding.

"The timing of our board meeting last week is ironic, because we'd gone down to Daytona in January and presented a presentation to a couple of members of senior management on our ideas for some capital improvements, just really start getting conversation and dialog going on our future," Browning said. "And it was very well received.

"And when we came out of that meeting they said, 'OK, you guys go ahead and start trying to put together some things to admit for the April board meeting. So we did that, and at the board meeting on Wednesday they approved the first steps."

Booyah.

Additional restrooms and a tunnel renovation are first on the docket, and Browning said plans to repave the track are already in the beginning stages.

Moving forward, he also hopes to refurbish the concrete grandstands at the track and possibly even add grandstand seating, as well as considerably upgrade the competitors' garage area.

"These are all good things, because that's a substantial amount of money [ISC] is looking at spending," Browning said. "Plus, we've already had dialog about creating a five-year plan, which we'll start on right after this race.

"By the end of this year, I plan to have a true five-year plan for this track, as far as what it's going to look like and what we're going to do each year and we want to do each year to improve it."

Ticket sales, of course, serve as the key element to this equation. If Browning sells out, NASCAR can't take his race date. And right now, ticket sales for the Dodge Charger 500 are through the roof.

"The bottom line is, and what has been said to us from senior management, is we need to fill the place up and have demand," Browning said. "Well, I think we're showing that now."

Using an equation that takes into account the number of tickets sold against the number of days remaining until the event, Browning said Darlington has currently sold some 7,500 more tickets than they did in this time frame last November. Moreover, those tickets have been purchased in 48 states.

And to think, he was concerned about having the first Mother's Day weekend date in 17 years.

"There were thoughts and concerns about running on Mother's Day, and there were comments about being set up to fail," Browning said. "The last time anyone ran a Cup event on Mother's Day was 17 years ago at Atlanta, and nobody showed up.

"I had reservations. I'm not going to lie to you. I was concerned about it. I figured it would be either a true home run out of the ballpark, or it'd be a total flop. It wouldn't be right down the middle."

Browning credits the rapid growth of the female fan base and the shift to night racing for the improvement at the box office. He also says that Rockingham's demise and having just one date at Darlington has eliminated the over-saturation argument.

"Running on Mother's Day weekend hasn't hurt us any," Browning said. "It actually seems to have helped. We came within a couple hundred tickets of selling out the November event, so technically it was a sellout.

"And the fact that we're 7,500 tickets up right now is outstanding. That's the best news we could have. People are getting behind the date, behind the track, everything is looking really good for Mother's Day."

And judging by Browning's to-do list, the future looks promising, too. This heartens me greatly. I've said before that I'm all for national exposure and big market penetration and mainstream appeal.

I'm not näive. I know how important that is to the television partners and the team sponsors. But don't tell me there's no room for old school. That's asinine. Do folks in Martinsville, Va., not buy Budweiser and Sharpies, too?

You can have electronic toilet paper dispensers and window-to-the-world fan zones and sushi at the concession stand and every other conceivable amenity, but if the on-track product lacks entertainment value it's a glorified movie theatre.

There's something special about an old, cranky joint in the middle of nowhere. Character is earned, not given, and no place has more character than Darlington.

Plus, it has mainstream appeal. Retro is in. Darlington is as retro as your grandfather's dentures.

Losing Darlington from the Nextel Cup schedule would be the last straw for many folks, an unforgivable transgression. I think Jeff Burton said it best two weeks back at Bristol. He and I were discussing track contraction, and I brought up Darlington:

"The day that they take Darlington completely off the schedule is the day I'm going to really be sick. I just ... you can't take Darlington off the schedule. I don't care if nobody comes. To lose Darlington would be a disaster, in my opinion, for the history and the heritage of our sport."

Agreed. It looks like Darlington is safe for the time being. Browning is confident, and he knows the signs. He isn't about to be fooled into a trip to the vet.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.