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Mountain Dew Southern 500
Venue Darlington Raceway
Corporate sponsor Mountain Dew
First race 1950
Distance 500 miles (805 km)
Number of laps 367
Previous names Southern 500 (1950-1988)

Heinz Southern 500 (1989-1991)

Mountain Dew Southern 500 (1992-1997,2001-2004)

Pepsi Southern 500 (1998-2000)

The Mountain Dew Southern 500, known traditionally as the Southern 500, was a 500 mile (805 km) NASCAR Winston Cup race held from 1950-2004 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, USA. NASCAR national series race tracks The following is a list of race tracks currently used by NASCAR as part of its Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, Darlington Raceway is a Race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington South Carolina. Mountain Dew is a popular drink distributed and manufactured by PepsiCo. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing ( NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of Stock cars in the United States. Darlington Raceway is a Race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington South Carolina. Darlington is a city in and the County seat of Darlington County, in the northeastern part of the U The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The first running in 1950, is notable as NASCAR's first 500 mile race, and the only race of such distance until the Daytona 500 debuted in 1959. The Daytona 500 is a 200-lap long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach Florida. Through most of its history the race was one of NASCAR's premier events, and was known as one of four Crown Jewels on the NASCAR circuit. From 1985-1997, it served as the fourth race of the popular Winston Million. The 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Season began on Sunday February 10 and ended on Sunday November 17. The 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Season began on Sunday February 9 and ended on Sunday November 16. The Winston Million was a cash prize award program on the NASCAR Winston Cup series based on the Grand Slam concept Two drivers, Bill Elliott (1985) and Jeff Gordon (1997), clinched the Winston Million with victories in the Southern 500.

Prior to 2004, this annual event was held on Labor Day weekend. The 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup season began on Saturday February 7 and ended on Sunday November 21. Labor Day is a United States Federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September For the 2004 season, a shuffling of the schedule saw the race move to November. Track management considered the November date would allow for cooler, more comfortable weather for fans, whom had increasingly voiced concerns about the weather. Rockingham lost its fall date to Fontana, and the Pop Secret 500 was moved to the lucrative Labor Day weekend date. This article is about the Rockingham North Carolina Track for the track located in Northamptonshire, United Kingdom see Rockingham Motor The Auto Club Speedway of Southern California (formerly California Speedway) is a two-mile low-banked D-shaped oval Superspeedway in Fontana California The Pepsi 500 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held annually at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California. Incidently, and originally unbeknownst to fans and competitors, the 2004 Southern 500 would be its last running, despite the seemingly popular move to November.

In 2004, Francis Ferko, a shareholder of the company that owned Texas Motor Speedway, sued NASCAR, saying they had violated anti-trust laws by refusing to have a second race at Texas Motor Speedway, as many other tracks had. The Ferko lawsuit is a common nickname for an American lawsuit that was challenged between plaintiff Francis Ferko a shareholder of Speedway Motorsports Inc Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U The judge ruled in his favor, and NASCAR was forced to give up the Southern 500 date so that a second race could be held at Texas Motor speedway, which became the Dickies 500. The Dickies 500 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car race held at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, USA

In 2005, the Mountain Dew Southern 500 was removed from the NASCAR schedule and Darlington's Spring race, the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, was lengthened into the Dodge Charger 500 and changed its date on the calendar to a Saturday night race in May. Spring is one of the four Temperate Seasons Spring marks the transition from Winter into Summer.

The absence of the Labor Day Southern 500 race continues to be a sticking point between NASCAR and much of its fanbase, especially the more traditional wing.


See also: List of current NASCAR races

Past winners

Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937) is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the Winston Cup Series Darel Dieringer ( June 1, 1926 – October 28, 1989) is a former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup driver Ned Jarrett (born October 12, 1932 in Newton North Carolina) is a retired race car driver and two-time NASCAR champion Elzie Wylie Baker Sr better known as Buck Baker ( March 4, 1919 in Richburg South Carolina - April 14, 2002 in Charlotte Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts Jr ( January 20, 1929 – July 2, 1964) was one of the pioneering race car drivers of Jim Reed was an American Soccer coach who served as head coach of the United States men's national soccer team from 1959 until 1961 finishing with Alfred "Speedy" Thompson (born April 3, 1926 in Monroe North Carolina &ndash died April 2, 1972 in Charlotte North Curtis Turner ( April 12 1924  &ndash October 4 1970) was an early NASCAR driver Herbert Watson Thomas ( April 6, 1923 &ndash August 9, 2000) was a NASCAR pioneer who was one of the series' most successful drivers Truman Fontell "Fonty" Flock ( March 21, 1920 - July 15, 1972) of Fort Payne Alabama was an early NASCAR driver Johnny Mantz ( September 18, 1918 Hebron Indiana &ndash October 25, 1972) was an American Racecar driver.
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