DARLINGTON IS AN OLDIE BUT GOODIE.

Byline: Pete Iacobelli Associated Press 

Forget your fan-friendly mega-speedways and comfortable luxury boxes. Forget the talk of crumbling old-time racetracks built for bootleggers' boys and rednecks being swept aside for gleaming new corporate palaces.

For all the new fans and sponsors coming to NASCAR, the sport's biggest story could unfold at Darlington Raceway, its oldest superspeedway.

When Dale Jarrett lines up to go for the Winston Million in the Southern 500 on Sept. 1, he'll do it basically on the same layout as Fireball Roberts and Buck Baker ran on back in the 1950s.

``Darlington needs a pretty good shot in the arm,'' said Robert Yates, owner of the Ford Thunderbird driven by Jarrett, who is seeking the $1 million bonus to winners of three of the sport's four major races.

``I'd at least like to see Darlington keep the Southern 500 every September,'' Yates said. ``Maybe this will keep Darlington where it needs to be.''

And where it has been since Harold Brasington cleared out a field and avoided a fish pond on his farm to form the track's unique oval in 1949.

The raceway quickly became a regular stop on NASCAR's circuit and joined Daytona as one of the series' most famous tracks. Drivers coveted a Southern 500 title like no other because it meant successfully swinging through the tight course and finishing free of the tricky turns.

For four decades, Darlington stood as the most daunting of Winston Cup challenges. But as NASCAR spread to tracks like New Hampshire International Speedway and Sears Point at Sonoma, Calif., more new markets and corporate sponsors were demanding racers break away from the older Southern tracks.

``I think this is the best thing that could happen,'' track president Jim Hunter said. ``With all those Taj Mahal's of racing, we're just Darlington.''

The track is owned by the same group that owns Daytona and Talladega, so it probably has a better chance of keeping its two race weekends - the TranSouth 400 and Southern 500 - in future NASCAR schedules.

Hunter does not expect Darlington to wind up like North Wilkesboro (N.C.), a Winston Cup track since 1961 that held only 40,000 people and was thrown out of the 1997 schedule.

Hunter said Darlington has tried to modernize by expanding (it now holds 75,000), promoting (radio ads throughout South Carolina) and pressing the flesh (Hunter regularly meets with state officials) to draw business to the area.

Jarrett is also excited - not only at his shot at capturing the Winston Million, but also at winning the Southern 500 like his father, Ned, did in 1965.

Jarrett knows Darlington will never look like NASCAR's newer, fancier tracks. But having his big day come at Darlington is more important to him and NASCAR.

``It says a lot about the people in this sport who are keeping things in perspective,'' Jarrett said. ``I'm sure they've had many, many opportunities that we don't know about, and never will, of selling out.''