Southern 500: 70 Years of Dents and Drama at Darlington Raceway

On Sept. 4, 1950, Darlington Raceway played host to a stock car race that was named the “Southern Five-Hundred.” In 1951, the race’s name was changed to “Southern 500.” Before the Daytona 500 came to life in 1959, this was the country’s premier stock-car racing event. Johnny Mantz won that first race, which lasted a little more than 6½ hours. Now at 70 years old, the Southern 500 remains one of NASCAR’s most prestigious races. It’s on NASCAR’s oldest paved superspeedway, ...