It was the right race at the right time. Saturday night’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway showed doubters that NASCAR can still deliver a great show. After weeks of races featuring few caution flags and long green flag runs, Darlington seemed to come alive under the lights Saturday night.
The historic track provided drama, hard racing and capped it off with a fight on pit road after it was over. There were no spectacular crashes, but there didn’t need to be; there were enough cautions to keep the field from getting too strung out in the second half of the race. Greg Biffle dominated early and for awhile it looked like it would be his race to lose. It wasn’t to be however, as the sun went down like the living thing some claim it is, the track changed character.
While nearly everyone was earning Darlington stripes, the entire field was forced to change setups during green flag pit stops in order to keep up. Third place finisher Tony Stewart suffered with a myriad of problems the first half of the race, but overcame those to come on strong the second half. After it was over, an exhausted Stewart said the track was losing its grip, changing as the night wore on. MORE>>>
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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