Southern 500 - A Labor Day classic
Labor Day weekend marks one of the greatest traditions in auto racing -- the running of the Southern 500 at Darlington, South Carolina. Widely considered one of the most challenging tracks in motorsports, drivers battle “the track too tough to tame,” as much as each other for 500 grueling miles. First held in 1950, winning the Southern 500 is a major career milestone for any NASCAR driver.
In 1993, Mark Martin entered the Labor Day classic on a three race winning streak. Victories at Watkins Glen, New York; Brooklyn, Michigan; and Bristol, Tennessee, gave Martin a chance to tie the record for most consecutive wins in NASCAR’s modern era (since 1972). Martin was well known to Springfield race fans. A native of Batesville, Arkansas, he was a regular competitor at the Fairgrounds Speedway in the late 1970s. Martin and another NASCAR driver, Rusty Wallace, learned many valuable lessons in Springfield as they battled the legendary Larry Phillips.
Rain forced the race to start almost three hours late as officials dried the track. Martin dominated the event when racing got underway and led 243 miles. Martin was leading by 8 seconds when the caution flag came out on lap 335 and the drivers made a pit stop for tires and fuel. With darkness enveloping the speedway, NASCAR announced they would race for just 10 more laps. Martin beat Brett Bodine to the checkered flag by 1.51 seconds to claim his fourth straight victory. Another 16 laps would have completed the scheduled distance of 500 miles.
Martin’s chance at history came a week later in Richmond, Virginia. “We feel really good about going to Richmond,” he said. “But there will be bigger odds there than here. Every time we win another one, it gets harder, not necessarily to outrun your competition but to beat the odds. It’d be neat to do it, but if the string does happen to get broken there, we’ve had a good run.”
Martin ran well in the race at Richmond, but several slow pit stops in the closing laps forced him to settle for a sixth place finish. As Martin said after Darlington, it had been a great run and the Ozarks favorite became just sixth NASCAR driver since 1972 to win four straight races. Ironically, Martin’s old Fairgrounds rival Rusty Wallace took the checkered flag after leading 206 laps.
Wallace won 55 races in NASCAR's top division and was the 1989 series champion. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2013. Mark Martin won 40 NASCAR races and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017.
The above photograph of Mark Martin and the Ozarks Area Racer's Reunion in 2017 courtesy of Michael Price.
References: The Greenville (S.C.) News, September 6, 1993 and the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.), September 12, 1993
Watch the highlights of Martin’s historic victory
Tonight, August 30, at 7 p.m. in the Library Center auditorium, celebrate the rich history of auto racing in the Ozarks and area drivers with Local History Associate Michael Price.
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