A historic crown jewel. A continuous staple on the NASCAR schedule and a beacon of the sport. The Southern 500 stands above many settings in stock car racing, with drivers continuously expressing a desire to take the checkered flag.
After Christopher Bell‘s resurgent effort to claim the opening race of The Chase this past weekend (Sept. 6), he’s now back within 12 points of Denny Hamlin for the top spot.
But in 2027, the Southern 500 shifts to the regular season finale. Should this pillar of the sport ultimately be in The Chase beyond then? James Krause and Amy Henderson debate that on this week’s 2-Headed Monster.
The Southern 500 and The Chase Both Feel Bigger When Together
As the sun started to set at Darlington Raceway this past Sunday, the image I imagined when I heard the words “Southern 500” came into view. Cars charging into the corners with the sky a mix of darkness and bright sunshine. For fans of a younger generation like myself, that view is one of the many things we associated with the Southern 500.
The Chase is another.
Would other races benefit more from being the kickoff event of The Chase? Probably, but there’s a few reasons I think the Southern 500 works best for the spot.
First off, I’ll dispel the notion that The Chase somehow undermines the event. NASCAR did its fair share of that itself two decades ago by moving the Southern 500 out of its traditional Labor Day weekend, first to November and then to May.
Even with that and the event losing the luster of throwback weekend, Christopher Bell’s spotter Tad Boyd still called the Southern 500 “epic.”
Speaking of the spot on the schedule, it’s kind of perfect for The Chase. You go through 10 weeks and wind up finishing up the season around the start of November. Unless NASCAR has some sort of death wish and wants to go back to the days of running against the NFL until Thanksgiving, sticking Darlington in The Chase — as the start point or otherwise — makes a whole lot of sense.
Wouldn’t a crown jewel race be the perfect time to try and keep casual race fans who only pop in for the biggest events in a year? The Southern 500 broadcasters, USA Sports, have shown to be more than capable of balancing multiple storylines at once. If any of NASCAR’s four broadcast partners could sell The Chase while not underselling the Southern 500, it’d be them.
One thing they sold well was how tough the Southern 500 is on cars and on the drivers themselves. Bell, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Larson’s battle near the end showed just how tough chasing down a leader can be at Darlington. If NASCAR wants to prove the champion they crown at Homestead-Miami Speedway is undoubtedly the best in the field, why not put them in one of the series’ toughest races?
The Chase doesn’t diminish the allure of the Southern 500. If anything it enhances it. Just like similar feats in famous arenas in sports like Madison Square Garden or Fenway Park, a winning performance at Darlington will make standout moments for drivers in their championship runs. The Southern 500 has been making legends in NASCAR since its start in 1950. Add in The Chase, and the legend grows. – James Krause
This Crown Jewel Needs Its Own Pedestal
The Southern 500 is one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR, behind only the Daytona 500 and, debatably, the Coca-Cola 600. It’s a dream win for drivers and one of the hardest wins to come by. They don’t call Darlington Raceway the Lady in Black for nothing; to win there, drivers have to race — and beat — the track itself to win.
The race belongs on Labor Day weekend, that’s not even up for debate. But should this crown jewel race kick off the championship Chase?
No.
It isn’t that Darlington isn’t a good test of drivers, because it’s arguably the best test on the schedule.
It isn’t that it’s an intermediate oval, because while that is technically true, it’s not like any other track. It doesn’t fit the cookie-cutter mold.
It’s not that it has a smaller seating capacity than many other tracks. It isn’t because it’s too close to Charlotte or too far from a large market or anything to do with its location. The track has been there for three-quarters of a century and has fared just fine.
It’s not about what Darlington isn’t. It’s about what the Southern 500 is.
The season kicks off with NASCAR’s biggest race, the Daytona 500. If that seems a little backwards compared to other sports, it works because the focus isn’t on the championship, or points, or who has to do what to make The Chase. It’s all about the spectacle of that one race. Yes, it pays points; nobody cares about them.
They just want to win the Daytona 500 because it’s the Daytona 500.
The Southern 500 deserves the same reverence. Because it runs on the night before Labor Day, it‘s going to be close to the end of the season, and there’s no getting around that. But why not make it a fixture as the final regular season race? Daytona’s summer race belongs on Fourth of July weekend because that’s its traditional spot.
Bookending the regular season with two crown jewels could easily have its own mystique. Want to make it extra special? NASCAR could offer a bonus payout to any driver who wins the first and 26th races, although having those two trophies means more to a lot of drivers than any extra check.
Once The Chase starts, the focus is on The Chase and only The Chase. Sure, if there’s a spot or two that could change hands at the back of the top 16 in the regular season finale, that deserves coverage, but the field is mostly set and the seeds will fall as they may.
Making the Southern 500 the regular season finale would make the weekend about what it is: NASCAR’s oldest race (though it did get moved around a bit, it never really went away), a crown jewel and a win that every aspiring driver dreams about. The weekend should be about the race, the dance with the Lady in Black, with the championship a distant second.
It’s not that the Southern 500 doesn’t belong in The Chase. It’s about the race being bigger than The Chase. It’s about the race, and the win, being historically significant. The race, and only the race, should be what Labor Day weekend is about.
It’s the Southern-By-God-500. –Amy Henderson
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in Fort Wayne, Indiana covering minor league, college and high school sports. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
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