Nine days, and counting. That will bring us to May 10th and the running of the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway, also known as The Lady in Black.” While I’ve not attended anywhere near the number of races that I’d like to have, I’m looking forward to this race more so than any other race that I have been able to attend.
For starters, Darlington Raceway was the very first NASCAR Cup series track I ever went to. I was already a NASCAR fan, but when my uncle took me to the track I was just a boy. I remember being so in awe of everything. It’s one of my favorite childhood memories.
Second, this year is going to be a special year for the track itself. The track now sports an infield access tunnel large enough for the team haulers and emergency vehicles to pass through it. The “Lady in Black” is also sporting a new black dress in the form of 15,000 tons of asphalt that makes up the newly repaved racing surface. It’s been reported that the construction crew used 4 million reference points around the race track to make sure that the character of the tracks corners and banking remained true to the legendary Darlington track design.
Third, after the repaving job was complete Goodyear held a couple tire tests at the facility. Drivers Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle and this years Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman were on hand to perform the tire test. All three drivers piloted their cars to over 200 miles per hour on the new racing surface! Think about that, 200 miles per hour on a track less than one and one-half miles in length!
Fourth, I will also see a special one-time-only throwback paint scheme on the #88 Mountain Dew AMP Energy/National Guard entry driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. To kick off Mountain Dew’s “Old School New School” promotion, Earnhardt will pilot the #88 Mountain Dew AMP Energy/National Guard Chevy with a throwback paint scheme modeled after the 1981-82 entry driven by Darrell Waltrip. For me personally, this paint scheme is one of the most iconic schemes in NASCAR history and is also one of my all time favorites. I can’t wait to see it on the track in person for the first time!
Finally, above all else I’m looking forward to this race because it will be a special bonding day for me and my son. He is about the same age as I was when I first visited Darlington, and now, this will be his first visit to a stock car race and it’s at the same track as mine was. No sisters, just father and son with some friends and a tent in Camp Darlington for Saturday night. I simply can’t wait to witness my son’s reactions while attending the race!
Earn your Darlington stripe and win!
To share some of the excitement I have for this race, I’ve decided to offer up a little something for those of you playing in the Champs, Chumps & Sleepers fantasy game here on OneBadWheel.com. It doesn’t matter where you are in the overall point standings of the game, you’ve got an equal shot at winning! Here are the details:
- If you’re not already playing the game, then join now and create your team. It’s free & easy to do. Once you’re in the game, you’ll need to go to “Groups” and click the “Join a Private Group” link.
- Join my private group with the following information: Group Name = Darlington Raceway Contest.” The password = Lady In Black“.
- That’s it, well, other than actually filling out your team roster of course. The team with the highest race score for the Darlington race will win the prize.
The prize is a “six pack” of 1:87 scale diecast cars as shown in the image above. I got into collecting these cars this year and I have them lined up around my desk at my “real job.” I put together six cars that I had duplicates of. The winner will receive the diecast cars shown of Kevin Harvick, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, and both the Amp & National Guard cars of Dale Earnhardt Jr..
There are of course some simple rules.
- You must join the group before the deadline. The deadline for joining the group will be the same as the deadline for making your roster picks for the Darlington Race. After the deadline, you’ll no longer be able to edit your roster and the password will become inactive. This will prevent someone from sneaking in after the cutoff time or after the race with a high score and try to claim the prize. You can join anytime before the deadline, so go ahead and jump in the private group NOW to ensure your eligibility!
- Winner must be in the United States or Canada for me to ship it to them via US Postal service. Other international players are welcome to play too, but will have to pay for US Postal International Mail if they want to collect the prize.
- Winner must respond to my e-mail or contact me by the end of segment one (Dover race). That’s 3 weeks after the Darlington race to claim your prize. If no contact can be made with the winner by that time, the prize will be forfeited (and likely used for another contest!)
- Other than my team (Foothills Racing) and my wife’s team (Bread Girl), all other OneBadWheel related staff, family, volunteer writers, sponsors, and NASCAR bloggers are also eligible to win with their fantasy race teams…. so long as they make the deadline!
Good luck everyone!
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