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Southern hospitality Gordon looks to continue Darlington dominance
By B. Duane Cross, CNNSI.com With 12 races remaining, time is quickly running out on the Winston Cup field chasing points leader Jeff Gordon. And it won't get any easier this weekend at Darlington, NASCAR's oldest superspeedway. Gordon has five wins at The Track Too Tough To Tame, including four consecutive in the Southern 500 (1995-98). He also finished fourth in this race last year. David Pearson holds the track record with 10 victories, but Gordon can move into third place with a win (currently tied with Bobby Allison, Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough). "I don't know what it is with me and the Mountain Dew Southern 500," says Gordon, who trails only Yarborough's five Southern 500 victories. "It takes a lot of things to win races at Darlington. It takes more than just having a great race car. I really like it here. It's a tough little track." With 24 top-10 finishes and a spring 1991 victory at Darlington, Ricky Rudd enters this Southern 500 determined to perform well, and after racing here for 25 years, he knows the ingredients to succeed. "I have always liked racing at Darlington," says Rudd. "I enjoy racing here because it's what I call a patience track. I'm generally a patient driver and this season, that has definitely been a plus."
Rudd enters Sunday's race 308 points behind Gordon and fully understands the importance of staying out of on-track trouble. "Our goal right now is to gain points on Gordon," says Rudd. "To do that, we have to be consistent week in and week out and be careful about every move we make. "Darlington is a challenge to drive. It's a track that has definitely earned its reputation because it takes a lot of thought and concentration to drive here. Drivers come prepared to give this track the respect she deserves. You can run at Darlington forever, but if you don't stay on top of yourself mentally, it can get to you. I've always worked hard at racing the track and being focused for the entire event and I think that has helped me." Says James Ince, the crew chief for Johnny Benson: "Darlington is all about springs, shocks and getting the right setup underneath the race car. As a crew chief you can have a lot of impact. That's why I like it. I finished second [in the spring race] here a few years ago with Ted Musgrave. We ran second in 1997 when he and Dale [Jarrett] were rubbing on the last lap for the win. Believe me, I think about that race a lot, and nothing would be better than getting a little bit of vengeance this weekend." For his part, Benson says, "It will be the same old Darlington. I think this race will be just like the race in the spring." Benson finished seventh in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 on March 18. "I know we keep talking about it, but the new tires that Goodyear has come out with should make it a better race," he says. "I think the difference between Darlington and other places where this tire is used is that at Darlington you are still going to come into the pits whenever a yellow comes out. You might not do that at other places where this compound was raced."
John Andretti is one of a few drivers to own a "white jacket" from the famed track. Andretti and others are inducted with the prestigious jacket in the Darlington Record Club for winning the pole while breaking the event record. Andretti accomplished the feat for Ford in the fall of 1995 in only his 56th NASCAR Winston Cup start. "There is a lot of heritage at this track and especially to this race," says Andretti. "To win this race means you get to put your name next to the pioneers of the sport. You get your name next to guys like Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and David Pearson. This race has been run for a very long time, and to prove it just watch any old video of NASCAR racing -- all you see is Darlington Raceway and the Southern 500. "The tradition of this sport runs deep and so does the Southern 500. This track has a lot of nicknames -- a few I guess you can't print -- but all of the names they give this track really do fit." Jeremy Mayfield has five top-five finishes in the last seven races at Darlington. He was third in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 on March 18 after qualifying 37th. "For some reason, Darlington has been pretty nice to us the past couple of years for the most part," says Mayfield. "The place is downright tough, let's face it. It's tough to get the car set up the way you want it and it's tough to drive. "If you are on top of your game and you can get through the gremlins that Darlington throws at you from time to time, you can have a really good day there." Joe Nemechek, who has one top-10 finish at Darlington, echoes those sentiments. "It's a tough, tough race track. It's tough because of its shape. But the shape goes further than just affecting your chassis setup. The shape eats the tires up too. If you abuse your tires at any point in time, you're going to pay for it later. Any long run, you're going to be sliding around. It's up to you how soon that sliding starts.
"The thing that makes Darlington so frustrating for so many people is you are trying to be perfect at a place where perfect is impossible," says Nemechek. "A perfect race is impossible at most places. At Darlington, a perfect lap is just about impossible." Kyle Petty, who continues to struggle in his first season in a Dodge, says Darlington keeps drivers on their toes. "I've always had kind of a love-hate relationship with Darlington. When you are running really good at a place, it's a good track. Those days you are struggling, it's a bad track. I could be racing in a gravel pit but if I've got this Sprint Dodge out front, it's my favorite track in the whole world. "Darlington might take it one step further. It's a track where you almost need to be out front. The place is so tricky there isn't a perfect place to be. Probably the best place to be is in the lead two laps after a restart. That way you are in front of everybody else and the only mistakes you have to worry about are your own. Any place else at Darlington is the worst place to be."
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