As the holiday marking summer’s traditional end is within view, old school traditionalists might still be missing something that goes together like peanut butter and jelly. NASCAR’s Cup Series is gearing up for the final twelve races and words that rolled off all of our tongues for so many years are not spoken anymore. Labor Day and the Southern 500.
Darlington Raceway in South Carolina was the host for the storied event for many years. The egg shaped oval was the first superspeedway a NASCAR sanctioned race was held at. Johnny Mantz scored the coveted victory in what was also NASCAR’s first 500-mile race.
The Southern 500 remained the only race with that special ‘500’ moniker until the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959. As the years ticked by, more shiny speedways began to rise from the southeastern landscape. But Darlington, and in particular the Southern 500, remained crown jewels on NASCAR’s highest tour.
The final Labor Day holiday contest at the 1.366-mile course took place in 2003. Terry Labonte hoisted the trophy that overcast day.
The 2004-Cup season brought some date and schedule altering. Lawsuit and business decisions were the catalyst for the changes. The North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham lost one of it’s dates, Texas Motor Speedway was granted a second, Darlington’s fall race was shifted to November, and Fontana, CA was scheduled for the Labor Day weekend.
Climate was one justification for the Labor Day alteration. The Pee Dee region of South Carolina was typically hot and humid in late summer. However the decision for the Los Angeles region to host the circuit’s new date made fans and teams suffer through triple digit dangerously high thermometer readings.
Darlington’s race dates were reduced to one per season in 2005 and the Saturday night of Mother’s Day weekend was the new home for the track’s single 500 mile race.
During this past May’s race, the topic of the Southern 500 name and Labor Day were brought up. Jeff Burton spoke during a press conference about how hot the former traditional date had been. On this same weekend, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was terse and short with the media during a question and answer session at the rear of the team’s transporter. He cited the heat had him in a bad mood. The race day high was eighty-eight degrees.
As the 2009 annual holiday nears, the Cup Series readies to set up camp in Atlanta. The Fontana event has been moved to October and Talladega was moved a few weeks later.
The forecast for Fontana Sunday is a high of eighty-nine and sunny. Wednesday’s high is 102. Atlanta will be eighty-three and partly cloudy for race day. Darlington is looking at a high of eighty-six and isolated thunderstorms. All three destinations appear to be sporting raceable weather.
A question that I posed in an earlier column was with all the date swapping why didn’t Darlington get its traditional date returned? If the weather and heat was a concern why is this week’s race being held slightly further south?
NASCAR is working hard to always attract new fans. In so doing they have been criticized by long time followers about abandoning tradition and changing too many aspects about the sport so many of us love. Holding the Southern 500 at Darlington this coming Sunday would have been a nice way to reach out to traditionalists. And at the same time show some newer fans an important piece of racing history. A piece that helped get this sport to where it is today.
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Patrick, NASCAR has me wondering if they even care about the fans anymore. Some of the changes they’ve made lately really leave me feeling like they just don’t care. Some of the drivers have brought up valid points lately about changes and there not listening.
NASCAR could do themselves a big favor if they moved the Labor Day race BACK to Darlington, although I know that it will never happen. If they think the heat is too much for a daytime race, run it at night just like they are going to do at Atlanta this year.
I’ll continue to boycott watching the races run at fontana, even on TV. I have other things to do rather than watch a high speed parade at a track that produces a boring race. It may be a big market, but they have to give away tickets just to fill the seats. That doesn’t say “race fans are interested” to me.
And get rid of the IROC ugly car, take a good look at the schedule and do things that make sense with it.
Has NASCAR gotten to the point where they make so much money from their various revenue streams that fans really do not matter any longer?
Sad as it is, NASCAR is no longer about racing and tradition. One only has to look back at old races and it is painfully obvious.
At least Darlington still has a race every year.
I went to the night race at Darlington and loved it.
Mothers Day or Labor Day?
Who cares; its still great racing.
Enjoy it!!!
NASCAR fans did this to themselves, i am a big fan of NASCAR and i am sore at myself for never having been to Darlington. The declining interest and attendance at Darlington are what led to this, and now the “fans” get up in arms about it! Why werent you fighting for Darlington when the attendance was bad?
Matt, I’m sorry you have never been to a Darlington race. I have been all but one since 1982. Yes, the stands where not always packed full and yes it was extemely hot at times. But race fans did not “do this to themselves”. NASCRAP’s greed did this and nothing else. I have never been able to pick out a section of grandstand at Darlington that was void of spectators like you have been able to do at California or even Kansas. It was nothing more than NASCRAP wanting the “BIG” market and how has that worked out for them? I’m not trying to slam you here but it appears you have believed entirely too much of what the NASCRAP press has spewed over the last five years. If you ever have a chance to make to Darlington you owe it to yourself as a race fan to go. And take in everything that is there.
The big argument Nascar made was the heat at Darlington. Well, with lights there now, you run the race at night when its cooler. There is very little difference in the temperatures at Atlanta or Darlington. And, being a Holiday Weekend, you could spend time in Myrtle Beach and still see the race at Night and the Kids were off from school on Monday. I truly believe the place would be packed and they would have to add more seats to Darlington if they moved it back to nights. I think it’s an insult to move the race back to the south and not put it back at Darlington where it belongs! Now, Nascar has moved the race several times, so why don’t they move it back to Darlington at night and see what happens? They can always change it again if it fails but I don’t believe it will.
Labor Day Weekend at Darlington-
Ahh yes, a wonderful tradition.
Where have all the traditions gone?
Where have all the race fans gone?
Come on Nascar get back on track!
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