The Southern 500 Presented by GoDaddy.com is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually in the spring, usually on Mother's Day, at Darlington Raceway. This is a race which has had many versions, beginning in 1957 as a 300-mile race in the Convertible Division, and known then as the Rebel 300. In 1966, the race was expanded to 400 miles, and then to 500 miles in 1973. In 1994, the race was returned to 400 miles.
In 2005, as part of the settlement of the Ferko lawsuit and as part of a Sprint Cup schedule realignment, the "Rebel" returned to its classic Confederate Memorial Day weekend date, and raised back to 500 miles. Without a title sponsor for 2009, the race tentatively adopted the label of Southern 500, which was the traditional name of the fall race run from 1950-2004 on Labor Day weekend; organizers have since agreed upon a one-year deal with GoDaddy.com for sponsorship of the 2010 race.
Besides having had many different lengths and names over the 53 year history of the Southern events, there have been some notable moments to have actually taken place on the track as well. One memorable race was the 1979 Rebel 500 which had Darrell Waltrip locking horns with "The King", Richard Petty, in a classic duel which ended with Waltrip as the victor, after the two NASCAR icons had traded the lead with one another four times on the final lap!
It was that very same 1979 race in which David Pearson made a pit stop, thinking the Wood Brothers crew was only going to change two tires, but with lug nuts loosened all the way around, Pearson sped out of the pits after two tires had been replaced. This critical misunderstanding resulted with the loose wheels flying off by the end of pit road, thus ending Pearson's day. The following week, the Woods Brothers released Pearson from his ride, despite his having notched 43 wins on the Virginia-based team's belt from 1972 to 1978.
