The 'Lady' gets a fresh makeover
By RICK MINTER Cox News Service

Cox News Service Darlington Raceway boasts a rich legacy in NASCAR racing.

Darlington Raceway, NASCAR's "Lady in Black," has gotten herself a shiny new coat - of asphalt.

The new racing surface, the first for the track since 1995, is part of a $10 million capital improvement project. It is the largest one-time expenditure of its type in the 58-year history of the 1.3-mile egg-shaped oval. Another key part of the improvement project is a new infield-access tunnel large enough to accommodate car haulers, motorcoaches and emergency vehicles.

But it's the new racing surface that's

on the minds of most drivers and fans as the Sprint Cup circuit heads to Darlington for Saturday night's Dodge Challenger 500. There are many drivers, including seven-time Darlington winner Jeff Gordon, who enjoy racing there no matter what the racing surface is like.

"I love Darlington," Gordon told reporters at Richmond last week. "I'm excited about racing under the lights there."

He said he's optimistic that it won't be long before the new asphalt produces the great racing for which Darlington is known.

"The first race, we're going to be challenged with that new surface, but I think long-term wise, it's going to be fantastic," he said.

Clint Bowyer participated in a recent tire test at Darlington and said time will tell whether the pavement will produce good racing right away.

Tracks often are one-groove until the asphalt weathers a season or two.

"We'll just have to see," Bowyer said. "Looking forward to it. Everybody loves going to Darlington. There's so much history behind that place. I'm anxious to get there and see how the new pavement is."

For many fans and drivers, one of the best aspects of the latest improvement project is that it signals that Darlington won't meet the fate of other historic Southern tracks like North Wilkesboro and Rockingham (both in North Carolina), which have been dropped from the Cup schedule in favor of racetracks in bigger markets.

Gordon said he believes it's important for the sport to keep Darlington on the schedule.

"I always have said you've got to keep up with the times," Gordon said.

"Unfortunately, what I've seen happen is that we've looked more at the market that the tracks are in instead of just the racetracks. That's why some of the tracks like Rockingham have gone away. And sometimes, you wish you could pick those tracks up and put them in the market that NASCAR wants to be in because it's hard to re-create some of these great racetracks, especially the history that's there, and you don't want that to go away.

"So I'm certainly pleased that Darlington is one that is surviving and they are putting money back into it."