Driving in on the bypass highway, past the lumber yard and the cottonseed oil plant, you don't even know it's there. As you approach the automobile auction, light poles begin to appear through gaps in the landscape. Darlington Raceway doesn't rise out of the horizon -- it slides into view a little at a time, with rural homes and businesses gradually giving way to grandstand towers and exterior buildings and finally the old girl herself, curled up in all her rustic grandeur.

There is no dramatic approach, no moment when you spy in the distance this monolithic structure that grows larger and larger as you close in. Darlington is simply there, just as it's been there for 61 years, plopped down in the middle of that old peanut farm and still surrounded on most sides by open land. In an austere, unspoiled sort of way, it's actually quite beautiful. There's absolutely nothing showy or pretentious about the place. Darlington's simplicity has always been viewed by many as the potential cause of its downfall. But it's also the track's greatest strength.

Darlington's simplicity has always been viewed by many as the potential cause of its downfall. But it's also the track's greatest strength.

No question, it can suffer by comparison. Expansion has never come easy at a place hemmed in by a four-lane state highway on one side and that infamous minnow pond on the other, and the result is growth that at best was haphazard and at worst was downright stunted. There is no ring of luxury boxes, in part because there was really nowhere to put them, in part because a former ownership group chose fat dividend checks over improvements that would have kept it up with the times. Yes, Darlington was the trailblazer, NASCAR's first real superspeedway, first paved track, and host of the sport's first 500-mile race. But it's also only 10 years older than Charlotte Motor Speedway, and today the two facilities look like they belong on different planets.

But in an age where so many race tracks seem to be more about entertainment than racing, Darlington is almost a refreshing throwback. There are no elevated viewing platforms or Disney-fied garage areas or elements that, while they certainly may help enhance the fan experience, also look like they belong in an amusement park. Suites are scattered all over, from a hospitality village outside the track to a pavilion inside to a small tower overlooking Turn 3. Certainly, the lack of major-league amenities has hurt Darlington over the years, and was perhaps one reason why the track lost its second annual race to Phoenix six years ago. At the same time, though, the place has something of a no-frills approachability, rare in a sport that many see as too corporate. (Continued)