Rookies earn their ‘stripe’ quickly

Drivers attempting to conquer Darlington get a learning experience during practice

By PATRICK OBLEY - pobley@thestate.com

DARLINGTON — They’re new. Fuzzy-cheeked. Full of you-know-what and vinegar.

They’re ready to roll. They’re here to kick some tail, ready for their great feats to be regaled in fable and song.

The Lady in Black welcomes them all.

Rookies and Darlington Raceway go together about as well as long-tailed cats and rocking chairs. This funky 1.366-mile egg makes or breaks the young ones.

Some will come out of this weekend humbled.

But a fortunate few might head into NASCAR’s all-star weekend with their heads held high, proud of the fact they served notice as contenders for the long haul.

Emphasis on the “few.”

At Darlington, a clean car is a clunker. In driver-speak, you ain’t a man if you can’t put the right side of your ride into the wall.

First test: Practice.

Passing grade: A Darlington Stripe.

“Elliot Sadler told me if you don’t get a stripe on your car, you’re not going fast enough,” said rookie Patrick Carpentier, who is driving Gillett-Evernham’s No. 10 Dodge. “If that’s true, I hope we have the whole right side of the car full of stripes.”

Darlington 1, Carpentier 0.

“I was lost,” Carpentier said following Thursday’s first practice. “I’ve never been on an oval in my life where you turn twice in the same corner. In the beginning, I was in everybody’s way.”

Regan Smith, the current rookie points leader, has several Darlington starts under his belt on the Nationwide Series.

He had what he called a “little stripe” on his No. 01 DEI Chevy after Thursday’s practice. He was gunning for something a little more impressive, but the newly paved surface proved defiant.

“It was weird going around Darlington so fast. It’s quicker than it’s ever been,” Smith said. “I liked it when it was rough and chewed up tires. You really had to pay attention then.”

Thursday, Smith found the surface so full of grip he experimented with passing low in between the third and fourth turns. That’s unheard of. Somewhere, David Pearson and Cale Yarborough are sharing a shiver.

Sam Hornish Jr., second to Smith in rookie points (97-96), was climbing into a Sprint Cup car at Darlington for the first time. The open-wheel veteran proudly pulled his No. 77 Penske Dodge into the garage with a prominent stripe.

“I got my Darlington Stripe,” he said. “We were getting some pretty good lap times out of it and I felt like I had a really good lap so I drove it down into (turn) three a little bit harder and the front end gave up and flat-sided the car. I guess you’ve got to get that out of the way.”

Michael McDowell’s head had been stuffed full of fearsome visions instilled by veteran drivers. He expected the worst when he pulled his No. 00 Waltrip Toyota onto the “track too tough to tame” for the first time.

“It’s obviously a pretty intimidating place,” McDowell said. “I’ve never been here, but everyone talks about how abrasive it was and how bumpy it was and now it’s super-smooth. You’re definitely hauling the mail here getting into Turn One and not out of the gas very long, so it’s pretty cool.”

For the record, McDowell failed to earn a Darlington Stripe.

He must not have been going fast enough.

Reach Obley at (803) 771-8473.