Passing Lane
A NASCAR BLOG BY Mike Hembree
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Where’s Darlington?
Sep
23
Our friends at ESPN are quite fond of lists. They busy themselves ranking everything from the best all-time pitchers to the best stadium hot dogs.
It’s tough duty. Some of those lists spark quite a bit of commentary, however, and a recent one – the 100 most important sports venues – was of particular interest.
Of note to motorsports fans is the fact that three race tracks – Indianapolis Motor Speedway (No. 7), Daytona International Speedway (No. 20) and Talladega Superspeedway (No. 24) – made the list. (By the way, Yankee Stadium, which hosted its last game Sunday and is nothing less than a national historic site, was ranked No. 1, and that’s clearly the right choice).
ESPN’s racing picks are mostly good, but – and it’s easy to take potshots at subjective lists like this – there certainly should be a place in the top 100 for Darlington Raceway.
Darlington was stock car racing’s first paved superspeedway and hosted NASCAR’s first asphalt race and first 500-mile race. Its unique design makes the track one of the most unusual sports venues in the world, and the stories attached to its 60 years are unending.
As the Fenway Park (ranked No. 11, by the way) of motorsports, it deserves a spot in there somewhere.
It’s tough duty. Some of those lists spark quite a bit of commentary, however, and a recent one – the 100 most important sports venues – was of particular interest.
Of note to motorsports fans is the fact that three race tracks – Indianapolis Motor Speedway (No. 7), Daytona International Speedway (No. 20) and Talladega Superspeedway (No. 24) – made the list. (By the way, Yankee Stadium, which hosted its last game Sunday and is nothing less than a national historic site, was ranked No. 1, and that’s clearly the right choice).
ESPN’s racing picks are mostly good, but – and it’s easy to take potshots at subjective lists like this – there certainly should be a place in the top 100 for Darlington Raceway.
Darlington was stock car racing’s first paved superspeedway and hosted NASCAR’s first asphalt race and first 500-mile race. Its unique design makes the track one of the most unusual sports venues in the world, and the stories attached to its 60 years are unending.
As the Fenway Park (ranked No. 11, by the way) of motorsports, it deserves a spot in there somewhere.
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Comments
1 response to "Where’s Darlington?"
david larison said:
Sep 23, 2008 at 12:37 PMWhat about Bristol, the most popular track?
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