Darlington becomes Carlington at Southern 500

The Southern 500 returned to its Labor Day weekend roots Sunday night at Darlington Raceway. Everything about the race had a retro/throwback/time warp feel to it. All but a handful of the 43 cars had old-time paint schemes. The NBC crew donned sport coats that would have made Starsky and Hutch turn flush with envy, and the old peacock made a return appearance.
NASCAR broadcasting legends Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett joined in the fun, calling the race for about 35 minutes. The link of the segment is out there on the NASCAR on NBC Facebook page, and it’s definitely worth sharing.
Even the music selections used to lead race viewers in and out of commercials grabbed hold of the 1970s theme, which made for a Southern 500 that was awesome as much as it was long – nearly four and a half hours with a record-setting 18 caution flags.
Carl Edwards came through in the end and turned Darlington into “Carlington” for his first win at the legendary track dubbed “Too Tough to Tame” and second of 2015. It continued the dominance of the Toyotas in the Joe Gibbs Racing camp as the team has won seven of the last 10 races. Four came from Kyle Busch, two by Matt Kenseth, and Edwards joined in the fun.
As for the “Carlington” idea, it came when a crew member from his No. 19 Arris Toyota stuck just enough white tape – at least that’s what it looked like from the TV pictures – to turn the “D” on a portion of an infield wall into a “C.”
Darlington to Carlington, get it? All kidding aside, that was a great touch from a great broadcast of a darn good race in spite of the time length.
Thank goodness most of us didn’t have to work on Labor Day.
With Edwards’ victory secured, that means there are still five spots for non-winning drivers with one race remaining in the “regular season” on the way to the Chase. Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer are just about locked in for NASCAR’s version of postseason play, but anyone else behind them within the top 30 has one last shot to get in with a victory at Richmond on Saturday night.
McMurray and Newman have their spots for the Chase in lockdown mode. Gordon is basically in unless he has enough of a bad finish to allow Bowyer and Menard to pass him along with someone from outside the top 16 winning Saturday’s race.
Bowyer is the only one with the most to lose in the final race of the regular season. Unless he surpasses Menard in the points – Bowyer trails by 10 – he’ll be the one forced into 2016 testing mode if someone like Aric Almirola or Kasey Kahne wins at Richmond.
Those outside the top 16 aren’t exactly instilling fear among the five non-winners who would be in the Chase, though. At the Southern 500, Kyle Larson was the highest finisher among the group, coming home 10th.
Heading to Richmond, Bowyer has a 29-point lead on Almirola and 31 over Kahne. Almirola was 11th on Sunday, Kahne came in 12th, and Bowyer finished 17th. It’s clearly all-or-nothing time now for those with dreams of winning the 2015 Sprint Cup title.
The likelihood of any serious drama may be low for the fans come Saturday night, but any driver worth his salt doesn’t need to worry about details or opinions
Get in, sit down, tighten the belts, and hold on. Hope can lurk around any corner.

Followers and comments are welcome on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Richmond International Raceway (.75-mile short track oval), Richmond, Virginia

SPRINT CUP: Federated Auto Parts 400, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance; 400 laps, 300 miles.

2014 champion: Brad Keselowski

XFINITY SERIES: Virginia 529 College Savings 250, Friday, 7:30 p.m, ET/4:30 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 250 laps, 187.5 miles.

2014 champion: Kyle Busch

CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until Sept. 18 for the American Ethanol E15 225 at Chicagoland Speedway.