Darlington sellout streak currently too close to call

Track has sold out four in a row since move to May

By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
May 4, 2009
03:26 PM EDT

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Several times a day, Darlington Raceway president Chris Browning walks over to the track's ticket office to get a progress report on sales. Recently, he's liked what he's seen. Even so, a fifth consecutive sellout for the historic facility is far from certain as Darlington gears up for Saturday night's revival of the Southern 500.

"We're slightly behind where we were this point last year. If we sell it out, it's going to come down to the wire," Browning said Monday. "We're still optimistic we've got a shot at it. We had a great week last week. About the last probably two and half, three weeks, our daily sales have beaten the daily sales of the previous year. That's all positive."

Darlington has sold out four consecutive races since its lone event was moved to the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend prior to the 2005 season. This year the track is bringing back a Southern 500 race name that was a fixture at the South Carolina facility from its founding in 1950 until 2004, when it was phased out.

With a seating capacity of roughly 62,000, Darlington is one of the smaller facilities on the Cup Series tour. Yet the track is bidding to become only the third venue this season -- along with Daytona and Bristol -- to announce a sellout. In past years, Darlington sold out a week or more in advance. That was before the current economic recession, which has made it very difficult for many tracks to sell tickets.

"We have a shot at it, but everything's going to have to line up perfectly for us to do it. But we still do have a shot at it," Browning said. "I know that if we sell it out, it will probably end up being on race day."