Another historic celebration of the sport is in store for Darlington Raceway. The track is pleased to announce “Year 3″ of its award-winning throwback campaign for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 race weekend on Sept. 1-3, 2017. The Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR will be celebrating the 1985-89 era of the sport in 2017, which like the 1975-84 period it celebrated in 2016, was a time of exceptional growth and exposure for NASCAR.
“The track will be celebrating the 1985-89 time period of the sport during our throwback weekend in 2017,” Darlington Raceway President Kerry Tharp said. “As we enter the third year of our throwback campaign, we’ll be focusing on drivers, personalities and moments that were compelling in that timeframe, such as the emergence of Dale Earnhardt Sr., Bill Elliott winning the first Winston Million, and the growth of the NASCAR XFINITY Series (formerly the Busch Grand National Series). It will be an exciting era for the track and industry to celebrate.”
As the sport moved into the late 1980’s, NASCAR champions such as Dale Earnhardt Sr., Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace, among others, made a tremendous impact on the sport and will be celebrated during the Labor Day weekend festivities. This year is also the 50th anniversary of Richard Petty’s one and only Southern 500 victory (1967).
For the third straight year, Darlington Raceway is also excited to announce it will once again highlight its rich history with a commemorative ticket design for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 linking the past, present and future. The retro design will link 1987 Southern 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Sr., who ranks second all-time with nine NASCAR Cup Series wins at Darlington Raceway, and 2016 Bojangles’ Southern 500 winner Martin Truex Jr. These special tickets will be used for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500.(Darlington Raceway)(1-19-2017)