Kenny Bruce: Darlington remains series' toughest track
COMMENTARY
DARLINGTON, S.C. – They’ve repaved Darlington Raceway, but from the look of things, the project has done nothing but make the treacherous old track even meaner than before.
Long considered by many as the most difficult track to navigate, Darlington – site of tonight’s Dodge Challenger 500 – has been gobbling up cars at a record rate this weekend and the action’s just getting started.
If NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series boasts the best drivers in the world, then the “track too tough to tame,” as Darlington is affectionately known, can lay claim to being the toughest old cuss on the circuit.
How tough is it? Consider that four teams were last seen pulling their backup cars off their haulers after damaging the primary entries during Friday’s practice (yes, practice) sessions – Paul Menard, Reed Sorenson, Robby Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson, the guy who has won the last two Cup titles, appeared to be doubly-cursed, crashing his primary car as well as his Hendrick Motorsports backup. Fortunately for Johnson, both he and the car survived the second incident and will start third when the green flag drops.
“You know it’s tough when the 48 [of Johnson] wrecks twice,” said Greg Biffle, who will start on the pole for tonight’s race. “That just tells you how tough it is ... it’s always gonna be tough and it’ll never get any easier.”
Those wall-clanging crashes don’t include the drivers who brushed it, hit it, scrubbed it, tagged it, kissed it ... well, you get the idea.
“Last I heard,” said veteran driver Sterling Marlin, “somebody said something like 29 cars had hit the wall at one time or another.”
With that said, it won’t be a stretch to figure there will be a lot of headaches going around the garage after tonight’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. And it’s just as likely, unfortunately, that the sell-out crowd (fourth in a row for those keeping count) will see a race that might just provide only limited passing.
It’s no different at other tracks hosting Cup races when they get a new surface. Tons of new grip combined with an already narrow racing surface at Darlington, however, will only magnify the situation.
If passing might be limited, those brushes with the wall could lead to a record number of cautions. The current mark of 15 could be history before the race reaches its halfway point.
Then again, these are the best drivers. But at Darlington, sometimes being the best isn’t enough.
