WATCH: Richard Petty breaks down what makes Darlington “too tough to tame”

Richard Petty is a three times race winner at Darlington.

WATCH: Richard Petty breaks down what makes Darlington “too tough to tame”

NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 at DAYTONA Feb 16, 2023 Daytona Beach, Florida, USA Former driver and team owner Richard Petty on pit road before the start of the Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 at Daytona International Speedway. Daytona Beach Daytona International Speedway Florida USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJohnxDavidxMercerx 20230216_jdm_sx1_002

The NASCAR Cup Series garage is at Darlington Raceway for the 13th Cup race of the 2024 season. It’s a track that is infamous for being the most demanding for the drivers involved, giving it the nickname “The Lady In the Black” and “The Track Too Tough to Tame”. Recently Seven times Cup champion Richard Petty has explained what makes the track too tough.

Richard Petty, who has seen Cup racing at Darlington from 1950 pointed out that the track changes it groves and other such characteristics as the race car changes. So the drivers who doesn’t have the best understanding of the car would never get successful there. Every time drivers come to the track with different cars, they have to first learn the cars to fit the track before even starting to think about getting an advantage over opponents.

But again, it was so demanding, not just on the driver, but it was demanding on the car. The grooves changed as the cars changed, so they run a completely different groove and stuff now, then what we used to run, just because of the way the cars are. So, people had to learn the race track, but then they got to learn the cars, to fit that race track.
Richard Petty said.

The LMC co-owner, who is the most successful Cup racer with 200 wins, has just won thrice at the track, making it one of the least successful places of his career. The two wins as well came in a span of two years and before and after these triumphs, he never was able to secure a win at the track in his illustrious career.

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Jeff Burton explains what makes Darlington a tough track

NASCAR legend Jeff Burton has also shared his view on what makes Darlington a big challenge. He pointed out it’s a track that is always changing and the drivers have to consistently make adjustments to optimize the performance at the 1.3 miles facility. What’s good about it though is the fact the fans can see the adjustments being made.

Jeff Burton (Credits: Net Worth Post)
Jim Burton (Credits: Net Worth Post)
To me, what makes Darlington so great for drivers and fans, is that it’s really hard. It’s a difficult race track, and you can see it. You can see the drivers ride against the wall. You can see them having to change lanes. It’s always changing. When it’s changing as a driver, you’re having to make those adjustments, but the fans can see the driver making those adjustments.
Jeff Burton said.

The NASCAR community will be hoping to see a high octane like last week’s event at Kansas where Kyle Larson won the race with a 0.001 second gap. With the right tier wear and the natural challenge, the track offers it is possible that there will be impressive race on Sunday.

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