Darlington Raceway: A visual throwback of a NASCAR icon - NBCSports.com

Built by Harold Brasington and opened in 1950, the 1. 366-mile egg-shaped track has long been known for colorful nicknames – “The Lady In Black” and the “Track Too Tough To Tame” – for the difficulty drivers have had in racing and winning there. A driver doesn’t become a true member of the Darlington fraternity until they earn a “Darlington stripe” for sideswiping the track’s outside retaining wall. Now, after an absence of more than a decade, Darlington’s trademark race, the Southern 500, returns to its former Labor Day weekend tradition, one that ran from the track’s first race on Sept. One of the most noteworthy decades in track and Southern 500 history was the 1970s, which we flash back to with the following photos:. Source: nascartalk.nbcsports.com