Southern 500 Tradition
NASCAR's oldest superspeedway race, the Southern 500 is a crown jewel known for its tough, egg-shaped track and Labor Day tradition.
The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is 501 mi and consists of 367 laps. From 1950 to 2003, and again since 2015, the race has been held on Labor Day weekend. The Southern 500 is considered one of the Crown Jewels of the NASCAR calendar, and has been nicknamed NASCAR's "oldest superspeedway race." For decades, the race has been considered by competitors and media as one of the more difficult and challenging races on the NASCAR schedule, owing much to the track's unusual, asymmetrical egg-shape, rough pavement, and overall unforgiving nature. Darlington Raceway itself has a long and storied reputation as the "Track Too Tough to Tame."
Quick Facts
- Venue
- Darlington Raceway
- Location
- Darlington, South Carolina
- First held
- 1950
- Track surface
- Asphalt
- Track shape
- Egg-shaped oval (1 mile)
- Series
- NASCAR Cup Series
- Nickname
- The Lady in Black
Lore & Background
The race began in 1950, as NASCAR's first 500-mile race, and it was the only race of such distance until the Daytona 500 debuted in 1959. Through most of its history, the race was one of NASCAR's premier events, and was known as one of Crown Jewel on the NASCAR circuit. From 1985–1997, it served as the fourth race of the popular Winston Million. Two drivers, Bill Elliott (1985) and Jeff Gordon (1997), clinched the Winston Million with victories in the Southern 500.
The Southern 500 was one of the last races on the circuit to embrace naming rights in its title. In 1989, the race added Heinz as a title sponsor, but kept the traditional "Southern" moniker in its official name. From 1992 to 2004, it was sponsored by PepsiCo products (Pepsi or Mountain Dew). From 1950 to 2003, this annual event was traditionally held on Labor Day weekend (typically the first weekend of September).
In the years before 1984, the race was held on Monday, Labor Day itself. From 1953 to 1996, there was a Miss Southern 500 beauty pageant where the event winner competed in the Miss South Carolina Pageant the following year. In the entire history of the pageant, only two Miss Southern 500s ever won Miss South Carolina (Amanda Spivey: 1995, Janet Powers: 1997).
Reader's Guide
The race is held at Darlington Raceway, an asymmetrical egg-shaped track. The race distance is 501 miles (367 laps). Since 2020, the event is currently scheduled to take place as the first race of the NASCAR playoffs. However, in 2024, the race was the regular season finale, due to broadcaster NBC’s coverage of the Olympics pushing the schedule one week later. The trophy features photos of previous winners at Darlington. Cook Out assumed naming rights for the Southern 500 in 2020.
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