How the 1950 NASCAR Southern 500 at Darlington Changed Everything

• It began sometime in the 1930s when local entrepreneur/farmer Harold Brasington attended an Indy 500.

• He marveled at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, its throng of spectators, the spectacle of the 500, and the economic windfall to the area.

• That visit planted a seed that became Darlington Raceway and the Southern 500.

During its first short season of 1949 and most of 1950, every NASCAR race seemed identical.

Understandably so, since almost every track measured less than a mile and was covered with dirt. That’s what drivers faced for the first 20 Cup Series races. The 21st race, though, was unlike anything a NASCAR credential-holder had ever seen.

The inaugural 1950 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in northeastern South Carolina changed everything about stock car racing.

It began sometime in the 1930s when local entrepreneur/farmer Harold Brasington attended an Indy 500. He marveled at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, its throng of spectators, the spectacle of the 500, and the economic windfall to the area. That visit planted a seed that became Darlington Raceway and the Southern 500.