RELATED: Darlington throwback paint schemes
Darlington’s throwback theme for Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 already is a hit with racers and fans alike, bringing out the creativity in the industry with special paint schemes and providing opportunities to honor great racers who have gone before.
But what if along with those throwback paint schemes, like Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Valvoline No. 88 nod to Cale Yarborough and Clint Bowyer‘s No. 15 salute to recently passed Buddy Baker, we could actually bring back the NASCAR legends themselves for this one race. Who would you pick?
Hall of Fame crew chief Dale Inman could fill the whole 43-car field with legendary race car drivers. He won seven premier series championships with Richard Petty and an eighth with Terry Labonte, competing against some of the most storied personalities in the sport.
“Damn, I’ve seen ’em all. I don’t know …” Inman said of trying to choose just one driver to place in a throwback ride. “Earnhardt Sr. was good there you know.”
Bowyer, too, wished Earnhardt Sr. could join the field at the 2015 Southern 500.
“Obviously for me it would be Earnhardt for me because we lost him, you know. That’s first and foremost. Anyone you ever lost is who you’d want to bring back.”
But Bowyer said bringing back the man with the most wins (47) and most poles (47) at Darlington, David Pearson, would be the ultimate measuring stick for today’s Sprint Cup drivers.
“Pearson … man, what a character and just a genuine badass and an aggressive and successful racer. Anytime you have someone who’s successful in the sport you make a living in, you want to be able to see what he had, what he’s made of and see how you stack up.”
Eddie Wood, co-owner of Wood Brothers Racing, fondly remembers those days with Pearson driving the No. 21 Purolator Mercury. Pearson drove for the Woods Brothers from 1972-79 and won seven times at “The Lady in Black” during that span with two runner-up finishes.
“That was his place,” Wood said of Pearson’s dominance at the South Carolina track. “The hotter the better for David. He liked it HOT, so we’d have to run in the daytime for him.”
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Inman attributed some of Pearson’s success at the track also called “Too Tough To Tame” to his ability to take care of his equipment. This was extra difficult, as Inman recalled, because the track promoter sometimes would put bear’s grease on the track between Saturday’s practice and Monday’s race. Blue laws prevented NASCAR from running on Sundays in South Carolina then.
“Pearson just had a knack for taking care of the car. He always had a good car too,” Inman said. “At least most of the time. For Darlington we put bars under the fenders. You knew you were gonna hit the wall, so we just put bars in and just bolted them to the right side. But the guard rail wasn’t smooth like it is now. And they’ll wear the sides out this time with the low downforce package.”
Aside from the drivers who racked up at the track, including Richard Petty and Buck Baker, Inman said Parnelli Jones’ performance at Darlington had lasting impact on the racing there.
“Parnelli Jones came out here in maybe 1956 or 57 was the first one to really use the high bank to what it is now. I remember him just sliding up to the fence. He didn’t finish, of course.”
Jones crashed at Darlington in both 1956 and 1957. He finished 50th in a field of 70 cars in 1956 in the No. 1 Torrance Motors Ford and 34th in the No. 11 Ford owned by Oscar Maples in 1957. In 1958, Jones did finish the Southern 500 running, coming in 18th in a field of 48 cars during his last race there.
The list of great performances at Darlington is nothing short of epic. Just the list of winners sends any racing fan on a long ride down memory lane: Curtis Turner, Fireball Roberts, Fred Lorenzen, Bobby Allison, Fonty Flock, Neil Bonnett, Benny Parsons, Harry Gant.
How would they stack up against Jeff Gordon, the active driver with the most wins at Darlington (seven)?
“Herb Thomas and Buck Baker were both really good,” Inman added to the list. “But Herb had it as good as anyone in those old Hudson Hornets that Marshall Teague built, and I think he won in a Chevrolet, too.”
Now that would be an entirely different kind of throwback idea. Run at Darlington again in restored Chevrolets, Fords, Hornets, Plymouths, Pontiacs and Dodges.
