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08/29/2018

Legends to pace the field prior to the Bojangles' Southern 500

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CELEBRATING “7 DECADES OF NASCAR” AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY

DARLINGTON RACEWAY PARTNERS WITH CHEVROLET TO PACE THE MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES FIELD WITH SIX GENERATIONS OF THE CAMARO

NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductees and Legends will pace the field prior to the green flag for the 69th running of the Bojangles’ Southern 500

DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA (August 28, 2018) – In another once-in-a-lifetime moment fans will not want to miss, Darlington Raceway and Chevrolet are partnering to have all six generations of the manufacturers legendary Camaro pace the field prior to the green flag for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 race on Sunday, Sept. 2.

Seven different Camaros will take to the high banks of the track Too Tough To Tame driven by the following NASCAR Hall of Famers and legends of the sport:

1969 Camaro (First Gen) – driven by owner Rick Hendrick

1969 Camaro (First Gen) – driven by owner Richard Childress

1981 Camaro (Second Gen) – driven by Jeff Burton and owned by Mark Jones of Wallace, NC

1986 Camaro (Third Gen) – driven by Ray Evernham and owned by Tyler Grube of Darlington, SC

1993 Camaro (Fourth Gen) – driven by Ricky Craven and owned by Jim Ramsey of Darlington, SC

2011 Camaro (Fifth Gen) – driven by Ron Hornaday Jr. and owned by Josh Schmidt of Charlotte, NC

2017 Camaro (Sixth Gen) – driven by Ward Burton and owned by Paul Weatherford of Florence, SC

“We’re excited to have Chevrolet as a partner on this initiative celebrating the history of the Camaro for our ‘7 Decades of NASCAR’ throwback weekend,” track President Kerry Tharp said. “To see all these legendary names of our sport driving one of the most iconic brands in the Chevy family will be a sight to see.”

Chevrolet introduced the Camaro ZL1 to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series this season with much fanfare, highlighted by Austin Dillon’s Daytona 500 victory for Richard Childress Racing in February and Chase Elliott’s first career Cup Series win at Watkins Glen for Hendrick Motorsports.

“Chevrolet has always valued our partnership with the historic Darlington Raceway. This year we will celebrate our mutual history and heritage in racing by participating in a unique way during the throwback weekend,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet US Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports.  “Camaro is an iconic brand and what better way to start the Southern 500, one of NASCAR’s most celebrated events than by pacing the field with six generations of Camaros driven by several NASCAR legends and Hall of Famers.”

The cars will pace the field just prior to the green flag for the Bojangles’ Southern 500, which is slated to start at 6 p.m. Sunday night (Sept. 2) live on NBCSN and MRN.

Darlington Raceway’s award-winning throwback campaign is The Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR featuring the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500® on Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018 at 6 p.m. on NBCSN. The NASCAR XFINITY Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 will race on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018 at 3:30 p.m. on NBC. Tickets are on sale now by calling 866-459-7223 or visiting DarlingtonRaceway.com.

You can keep up with all of the latest news from Darlington Raceway at DarlingtonRaceway.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/DarlingtonRaceway and on Twitter at Twitter.com/TooToughToTame. Fans are encouraged to post their Bojangles’ Southern 500 stories and memories at, #BojanglesSo500 and #SportClips200.