DID YOU KNOW? … Ford Racing driver Joey Logano is the only current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to advance to the final round of qualifying for every event this season.
DID YOU KNOW? … The first driver to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway was Curtis Turner, who won the Southern 500 in 1956.
DID YOU KNOW? … Four Ford drivers have won back-to-back races at Darlington Raceway, including Nelson Stacy (1961-62), Bill Elliott (1985), Jeff Burton (1999) and Greg Biffle (2005-06).
DID YOU KNOW? … In 1985 Bill Elliott won the inaugural Winston Million bonus that then-series sponsor Winston put up for any driver who won three of the four “crown jewel” races in one season (Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Winston 500 and Southern 500). Elliott, who was later dubbed “Million Dollar Bill” and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, won at Daytona, Talladega and Darlington that year.
DID YOU KNOW? … Ned Jarrett won the 1965 Southern 500 by a NASCAR-record 14 laps and clinched Ford’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship in the process.
DID YOU KNOW? … The first of Dale Earnhardt’s three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins with Ford and car owner Bud Moore came on April 4, 1982 when he won the CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 at Darlington Raceway. His other two wins with the Blue Oval came in 1983 at Nashville and Talladega.
DID YOU KNOW? … David Pearson holds the record for most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Darlington Raceway with 10 and eight of those came in Ford Motor Co. products. He won six times driving the famed No. 21 Wood Brothers Mercury (1972,’74,’76-2,’77) and twice in a Holman-Moody Ford (1968 and ’70).