Memorable moments at Darlington Raceway

Darlington Raceway is one of NASCAR's oldest and most unforgiving tracks. It's a fast track that shows no mercy toward drivers. Darlington has been a staple in the NASCAR Cup Series since its opening in 1950. Look back on the memorable moments at "The Track Too Tough to Tame."

Sept. 3, 1950: The second Southern 500 saw 82 car entries, making it the largest field of cars to ever run a NASCAR race. Herb Thomas emerged victorious from the large fleet. 

Sept. 5, 1955: Herb Thomas once again made history at Darlington by lapping the entire 69 car field and becoming the first driver to win back-to-back races at Darlington Raceway.

Sept. 6, 1965: Ned Jarrett only claimed one race victory at Darlington, and it will forever stand in the NASCAR history books as the largest margin of victory ever. Jarrett finished 14 laps ahead of runner-up finisher Buck Baker, winning in dominant fashion. 

May 11, 1968: David Pearson, a South Carolina native, finally broke through and captured his first win at Darlington Raceway. Pearson would go on to win nine more times at Darlington during his Hall of Fame career to become the most winningest drivers at the track. 

Sept. 2, 1968: Cale Yarborough, a South Carolina native, wins his first career Southern 500 at Darlington.

May 9, 1970: All of America watched in awe as Richard Petty went airborne and wrecked on national TV during the 14th Annual Rebel 400 Auto Race. "The King" only suffered a dislocated shoulder and minimal cuts. 

April 8, 1979: Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty shared a classic battle for the win during the spring contest. The two swapped positions for the lead four times in the closing laps and ended with an epic pass by Waltrip down the inside for the win. 

Sept. 1, 1985: NASCAR set a $1 million bonus -- called the Winston Million -- to any driver who could win three crown jewel events during the season. The wildly popular Bill Elliott became the first driver to capitalize, converting a pole into a win and beating out Cale Yarborough at the start/finish line.

March 29, 1987: Dale Earnhardt passed Bill Elliott (who ran out of gas on the final lap) to take the checkered flag. 

Aug. 31, 1997: Jeff Gordon celebrated after winning the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and becoming the second driver in NASCAR history to win the Winston Million.  

March 16, 2003: Although Ricky Craven led only one lap during the spring race at Darlington, he led the most important circuit by bumping Kurt Busch and edging him out by 0.002 seconds for the win. 

May 7, 2011: Regan Smith claimed his first and only NASCAR Cup Series victory of  his career in great fashion by outdueling Carl Edwards by 0.196 seconds in the Southern 500.

Sept. 6, 2015: Carl Edwards posted his first and only Darlington victory by winning the Southern 500 on NASCAR's first-ever throwback weekend. It was a classic race in itself, with Edwards coming back from two laps down and passing Brad Keselowski for the win with 11 laps to go, turning Darlington into 'Carlington' for the night. 

May 17, 2020: NASCAR returned to racing after suspending its season in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Darlington was the first race scheduled once the season resumed, and Kevin Harvick was able to provided some familarity to fans during unprecedented times, leading 159 circuits and nabbing his first of nine wins that season. 

May 12, 2024: A sunny South Carolina day established a picture-perfect setting during the spring running at the historic track. Three-wide battles between 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick and RFK Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher eventually saw the 2012 champ in Keselowski prevail following contact between Reddick and Buescher. As a result, Keselowski snapped a 110-race winless streak, while Buescher and Reddick continued the confrontation on pit road following the race's conclusion. 

Sept. 1, 2024: The iconic track hosted the regular season finale for the first time and gave us an epic between Chase Briscoe and Kyle Busch, two drivers who needed wins to clinch a playoff berth. Briscoe held out strong in front for the final 26 laps and earned Stewart-Haas Racing's final Cup Series win. 

As for the Regular Season Championship, Tyler Reddick was dealing with sickness all evening and was nearly level on points with Kyle Larson for most of the race. However, Reddick's 10th-place finish was enough to secure the title over Larson by one point.