TRUCKS: Darlington Return Invokes Different Feelings

Camping World Trucks

TRUCKS: Darlington Return Invokes Different Feelings

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is set to compete at Darlington Raceway for the first time since 2004...

Jared Turner | Posted August 12, 2010 Charlotte, NC

Darlington Raceway is set to host the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this weekend. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

When it comes to NASCAR tracks, they don’t get any tougher than the track “Too Tough to Tame.”

It seems fitting then that the Camping World Truck Series – known for its fraternity of tough truckers – is returning to Darlington Raceway this weekend after a nearly six-year absence.

But while Saturday’s appropriately named Too Tough to Tame 200 at Darlington is highly anticipated by many members of the Truck Series garage, the race also raises concerns for veterans and newcomers alike.

That’s because the track that hosted its first race on Labor Day 1950 always has and always will be one of the most intimidating stops on any NASCAR series tour.

Saturday's race will be televised live on SPEED, starting at 7 p.m. ET with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Setup, hosted by Krista Voda.

“There’s never a corner, a straightaway, not a single moment when you are under green that you can forget about the race track,” said Truck Series points leader Todd Bodine. “You race it every lap and you are racing the 35 trucks around you. It takes a lot of patience and at the same time, you’ve really got to get after it.”

The track’s unusual egg-shaped configuration and thin racing groove make it difficult for even the most accomplished drivers to navigate.

Truck Series veteran Matt Crafton is making a cameo ARCA start this weekend. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The quickest way around Darlington is unconventionally the longest way – up next to the wall – but that increases the risk of multiple excursions into the concrete.

Those excursions notoriously leave drivers with all manner of black marks, or “Darlington stripes,” on their cars or trucks.

“Darlington takes 100 percent concentration every lap,” said Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota and a 41st-place finisher in his lone Darlington start in a Nationwide Series car in 2007. “The second you lose focus, ‘The Lady in Black’ will quickly remind you why she demands so much respect. There’s a reason it has a reputation for being such a difficult track. You’re always just inches away from adding another stripe to the wall.”

Matt Crafton, who competed at Darlington when the trucks last raced there in 2004, makes no bones about the track's difficulty - or his lack of enthusiasm about this weekend.

Page 1 of 2