Southern 500

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**Southern 500**

Venue	Darlington Raceway
Corporate sponsor	GoDaddy.com
First race	1957
Distance	501.322 miles (806.800 km)
Number of laps	367
Previous names	Rebel 300 (1957-1965) Rebel 400 (1966-1972) Rebel 500 (1973, 1975-1978) Rebel 450 (1974) CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 (1979-1982) TranSouth 500 (1983-1993) TranSouth Financial 400 (1994-1999) Mall.com 400 (2000) Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 (2001-2004) Dodge Charger 500 (2005-2006) Dodge Avenger 500 (2007) Dodge Challenger 500 (2008)

This article is about the race known as the Rebel 500 held on Confederate Memorial Day since 1957. For more information about the Grand Slam race which had the same name from 1950 through 2004 and removed as part of the Ferko lawsuit, see Mountain Dew Southern 500.

The Southern 500 presented by GoDaddy.com is the annual spring NASCAR Sprint Cup race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, USA, and is the second such event at Darlington to bear the name. It began in 1957 as a 300 miles (480 km) race in the Convertible Division, known as the Rebel 300. In 1966, the race was expanded to 400 miles (640 km), and in 1973 to 500 miles (800 km). 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 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 monikor of Southern 500, the traditional name of the fall race run from 1950-2004 on Labor Day weekend.

[edit] Memorable moments

April 8, 1979 - In a race that was seen on ABC's Wide World of Sports, Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty hook horns in a memorable duel. On the final lap the lead changed hands 4 times, as Waltrip prevailed over Petty. During the race, David Pearson made a pit stop, and thought the Wood Brothers were going to change only two tires. With the lug nuts loosened all the way around, Pearson sped out of the pits after two tires had been replaced. The loose inside wheels flew off near the pit road, ending Pearson's day. A week later, Pearson was released from the Wood Brothers ride, despite scoring 43 wins from 1972 to 1978 with the Virginia-based team.
1987 - Bill Elliott ran out of fuel on the final lap, and coasted out of turn 4, allowing Dale Earnhardt to sweep by and take the victory.
March 16, 2003 - Before a national television audience, Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch fought a memorable duel that came back down to the final turn, when Craven edged out Busch by 0.002 seconds (about 1-2 inches) in the closest finish in NASCAR history (since NASCAR started using electronic transponders to determine scoring).

[edit] Past winners

Year	Date	Driver	Car Make	Winner's Prize (USD)	Distance (miles)	Average Speed (mph)
Southern 500 presented by GoDaddy.com
2009	May 9	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	$317,486	501.322	124.372
Dodge Challenger 500
2008	May 10	Kyle Busch	Toyota	$313,700	501.322	140.350
Dodge Avenger 500
2007	May 13 ^[1]	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	$317,486	501.322	124.372
Dodge Charger 500
2006	May 13	Greg Biffle	Ford	$290,175	501.322	135.127
2005	May 7	Greg Biffle	Ford	$305,975	505.42^[2]	123.031
Carolina Dodge Dealers 400
2004	March 21	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	$151,150	400.238	114.001
2003	March 16	Ricky Craven	Pontiac	$172,150	400.238	126.214
2002	March 17	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	$190,642	400.238	126.07
2001	March 18	Dale Jarrett	Ford	$214,612	400.238	126.557
Mall.com 400
2000	March 19	Ward Burton	Pontiac	$132,725	400.238	128.076
TranSouth Financial 400
1999	March 21	Jeff Burton	Ford	$161,900	224.024^[3]	121.294
1998	March 22	Dale Jarrett	Ford	$110,035	400.238	127.962
1997	March 23	Dale Jarrett	Ford	$142,860	400.238	121.162
1996	March 24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	$97,310	400.238	124.792
1995	March 26	Sterling Marlin	Chevrolet	$86,185	400.238	111.392
1994	March 27	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$70,190	400.238	132.432
TranSouth 500
1993	March 28	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$64,815	501.322	139.958
1992	March 29	Bill Elliott	Ford	$64,290	501.322	139.364
1991	April 7	Ricky Rudd	Chevrolet	$62,185	501.322	135.594
1990	April 1	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$61,985	501.322	124.073
1989	April 2	Harry Gant	Oldsmobile	$59,935	501.322	115.475
1988	March 27	Lake Speed	Oldsmobile	$49,435	501.322	131.284
1987	March 29	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$52,985	501.322	122.54
1986	April 13	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$52,250	501.322	128.994
1985	April 14	Bill Elliott	Ford	$42,900	501.322	126.295
1984	April 15	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	$39,450	501.322	119.925
1983	April 10	Harry Gant	Buick	$30,050	501.322	130.406
Chemicals Rebel 500
1982	April 4	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$	501.322
1981	April 12	Darrell Waltrip	Buick	$	501.322
1980	April 13	David Pearson	Chevrolet	$	258.174^[4]
Rebel 500
1979	April 8	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	$	501.322
1978	April 9	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet	$	501.322
1977	April 3	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	$	501.322
1976	April 11	David Pearson	Mercury	$	501.322
1975	April 13	Bobby Allison	'75 Matador	$	501.322
Rebel 450
1974	April 7	David Pearson	'73 Mercury	$	450.78
Rebel 500
1973	April 15	David Pearson	'71 Mercury	$	501.322
Rebel 400
1972	April 16	David Pearson	'71 Mercury	$	400.238
1971	May 2	Buddy Baker	'71 Dodge	$	400.238
1970	May 9	David Pearson	'69 Ford	$	400.125
1969	May 10	LeeRoy Yarbrough	'69 Mercury	$	400.125
1968	May 11	David Pearson	'68 Ford	$	400.125
1967	May 13	Richard Petty	'67 Plymouth	$	400.125
1966	April 30	Richard Petty	'66 Plymouth	$	400.125
Rebel 300
1965	May 8	Junior Johnson	'65 Ford	$	301.125
1964	May 9	Fred Lorenzen	'64 Ford	$	301.125
1963	May 11	Joe Weatherly	'63 Pontiac	$	301.125
1962	May 12	Nelson Stacey	'62 Ford	$	301.125
1961	May 6	Fred Lorenzen	'61 Ford	$	301.125
1960	May 14	Joe Weatherly	'60 Ford	$	301.125
1959	May 9	Fireball Roberts	'59 Chevrolet	$	301.125
1958	May 10	Curtis Turner	'58 Ford	$	301.125
1957	May 12	Fireball Roberts	'57 Ford	$	301.125