“You were once wild here. Don’t let them tame you.” American dancer Isadora Duncan perfectly captured the demanding and intricate nature of Darlington Raceway. The track, also known as the ‘Lady in Black’ will be the hosting grounds for the first round of playoffs in this year’s Cup championship. As the racers prepare for their upcoming contest, veterans of the race have opened up on the unique challenges presented by it.

Former Cup Series winners Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven draw on their iconic Darlington finish in 2003 to give insight into the racetrack.

Kurt Busch on Being Part of the Greatest Finish in Racing History

In one of the closest finishes witnessed by NASCAR, #97 of Busch and #32 of Craven gave the audience a race to remember for a lifetime.

With the last few laps remaining at Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, Busch was in the lead, with Craven right behind him. Eventually, Craven made a move to the front at the final turn and locked his car with that of Busch. The two racers went across the finish line together with the crowd and commentators going wild.

Craven was a hair length ahead and had beaten Busch by 0.002 seconds. The race and their cemented friendship went down in history.

Both racers recently came together as part of the 75th-year celebrations of NASCAR to discuss the grueling track.

Talking on NASCAR HUB Live, Busch emphasized the need to prepare differently for the qualification and the main race, as he relayed his fondness for the track. “Darlington is something very very special. I love the way the tires drop off. The way you have to qualify is one thing. The way you have to race is another thing. And then it’s the completion that you have to settle at the end.”

He further stressed the importance of knowing your car thoroughly, but relenting to the requirements of the track. “You have to know your cars, set up fuel, speed, but at the same time, which is rule number one, the race track is in charge.”

Owing to this level of difficulty and prestige, each driver would try to win the Cook Out Southern 500 this weekend. As Ricky Craven would remind them, no amount of preparation is enough.

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Darlington is built around a pond leading to short corners and uneven laps. Racers often find walls closing in on them suddenly, leaving their cars with the ‘Darlington stripe’ mark. Darlington winner Ricky Craven would be the first to admit that he wasn’t entirely prepared. However, he made it a personal goal to overcome the difficulties of the track ‘too tough to tame’.

“There’s nothing I have done at a race car that’s prepared me for this racetrack…If I could only win one race in my career, I wanted to be at the toughest track on the circuit…It has the speed of a superspeedway and requires the technique of a short track.”

Also present at the race was FOX analyst Larry McReynolds, who had wise words for anyone attempting to tackle Darlington. “Race the racetrack. That’s your biggest competition. It’s not the competitors, it’s this mile and third race track.” 

But at the end of the day, the key to conquering Darlington is forgetting that it’s Darlington and just going out there and doing your best racing. According to McReynolds, this is exactly what Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven did in 2003. “When I watched those two drivers in these closing laps, they totally dropped their guard. They forgot about it being Darlington.”

Six of the sixteen playoff contenders this year have already won a race at Darlington Raceway. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin has won it an incredible four times. Hendrick Motorsports’s William Byron is the only one who has dominated the track this year, and he is currently leading the playoff standings. Do you think he is ready to re-tame the punishing racetrack?

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