Darlington Raceway green-lights full capacity for September race
Darlington Raceway won’t be at full capacity this weekend, but it will be for its second race date on Labor Day weekend.
The track announced Friday its grandstands will be at full capacity for the Southern 500 weekend on Sept 4-5.
“Our loyal race fans have displayed their passion for NASCAR at Darlington Raceway throughout the pandemic, so this is a key moment in our storied track’s history to fully open our gates once again for the fall race weekend featuring one of the crown jewel races of NASCAR, the Cook Out Southern 500,” Darlington President Kerry Tharp said in release. “Thanks to S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and his administration for their collaboration in helping us take this step forward together as a state to welcome the best fans in motorsports back home to the track Too Tough To Tame.”
Darlington becomes the latest NASCAR track to announce it will go to full capacity for a race weekend as sports continue to open things up after COVID-19 shutdown. Last month, Atlanta Motor Speedway said it will be at full capacity for its July race. Kansas and Daytona also announced Friday that they’re going full capacity. Daytona’s second race is Aug. 27-28, and Kansas is Oct. 23-24.
Last month at an event at the SC statehouse, Tharp was hopeful the track could operate at full capacity (47,000). Darlington is at will 35% — or 16,450 for the Throwback Weekend, which kicked off Friday and ends with Sunday’s Goodyear 400 Cup Series race.
For the first time since COVID-19 restrictions began, there will be sponsors and guests allowed in the garage area at Darlington. Each team manufacturer and the track will get a handful of guests. Those guests must be fully vaccinated and each team must be responsible to confirm if the guest has been fully vaccinated.
Darlington Raceway was the site of NASCAR’s return from COVID-19 last May when it hosted two Cup races and an Xfinity Series race in a four-day span, all without spectators.
The track was awarded a second race date on the schedule this year for the first time since 2004. The spring race will be NASCAR’s Throwback Weekend, while the Southern 500 on Sept. 5 will be the first race in NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Sheldon Creed wins truck race
Sheldon Creed survived a wild final stage to win the Liftkits4less.com 200 truck series race Friday at Darlington Raceway.
The race featured a record 12 cautions, including one on the final lap as Creed was declared the winner. Creed took the lead on the final restart with three laps left.
Ben Rhodes was second and Carson Hocevar was third.
Columbia-area native Jordan Anderson finished 10th, his second top-10 finish this year. He was runner-up at season-opening race at Daytona.
This story was originally published May 7, 2021 at 6:00 PM.
