History
NASCAR's first 500-mile race was launched in 1950 at the first superspeedway, Darlington Raceway in Darlington, SC.
Darlington was originally planned as an oval track, but the owner of the land wanted to preserve a minnow pond near turn 2, so the layout was drawn in and turns 1 and 2 were narrowed, giving the 1.366-mile track a unique egg shape.
Harold Brasington built the speedway specifically to host a 500-mile race. There were many doubters, including Bill France, the founder of NASCAR.
However, a rival stock car organization announced plans to hold its own 500-mile race on a 1-mile dirt track. France persuaded the organization to move the race to Darlington's longer, paved track, guaranteeing that NASCAR's top drivers would participate, and the Southern 500 was born.
The race was originally run on Labor Day weekend, then moved to mid-November. Since 2005, it has been held in May. The name has varied because of sponsorship. It was known as the Heinz 500 from 1989 through 1991 and as the Pepsi Southern 500 from 1998 through 2000. From 1992 through 1997, it was the Mountain Dew Southern 500, and it took that name again in 2001, when Mountain Dew resumed its sponsorship.
The race was held on Labor Day weekend until 2004, when it was moved to November, largely because many fans had complained about the early September heat in Darlington. That led to a suit against NASCAR because the move deprived the Texas Motor Speedway of a race. The court ruled against NASCAR, so in 2005 the November date was given back to the Texas track. But, instead of moving the Southern 500 back to September, NASCAR elected to increase Darlington's Carolina Dodge Dealer's 400, held in May, to 500 miles. The race was renamed the Dodge Charger 500.
In 2009, it became the Southern 500 presented by GoDaddy.com. Showtime Networks was the titular sponsor in 2010 and 2011 and Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits became the sponsor in 2012.