Darlington Raceway, Oval

Darlington Raceway is a distinctive egg-shaped oval just outside the city of Darlington in north-eastern South Carolina, a fixture of the NASCAR calendar since 1950. Built by former dirt racer Harold Brasington on a converted cotton field, its lopsided shape was forced by a neighbouring minnow pond whose owner refused to relocate, obliging Brasington to make one end tighter and narrower than the other. The asymmetry creates competing setup demands at each end, a quirk that has tormented drivers and engineers for decades and earned the track the nicknames 'The Lady in Black' and 'The Track Too Tough to Tame'. The inaugural Southern 500 in 1950 drew 25,000 fans and was won by Johnny Mantz, who used durable truck tyres to outlast rivals. A 1952 rebuild added steeper banking in turns three and four and, remeasured under a new method, set the official lap at 1.366 miles. International Speedway Corporation bought the worn facility in 1982 and modernised it from 1993 onward, adding grandstand towers and, in 1997, switching the start/finish line to the back straight. Night-racing lights arrived in 2004 and SAFER barriers in 2005, followed by a major repave in 2007. The venue also houses a stock car racing museum and is famed for the 'Darlington stripe' drivers earn by brushing the outer wall.

Operated by: NASCAR (International Speedway Corporation)