1.366 miles of race track paved with black asphalt, the Darlington Raceway can be mistaken for no other venue in the country. Constructed in 1950, the venue has become synonymous with NASCAR over the decades and is set to host the 75th edition of the Southern 500 event this weekend.
In celebration of the same, here’s the story of how the track came to be known as The Lady in Black . Thousands of publications have called the venue by this name throughout history. But the sportswriter Benny Phillips in 1965 was the first one to do so.
He compared the track to the German spy Mata Hari in a column and wrote, “As treacherous as Mata Hari. As desirable as Hollywood’s most beautiful actress — as unpredictable as any woman — these are the virtues of ‘The Lady In Black.” Mata Hari was an infamous World War I spy whose cover was to perform as an exotic dancer.
Though the name stuck and began getting picked up by other writers, Phillips mentioned it only once later in 1974. He spent 48 years working for High Point Enterprises in North Carolina and passed away in 2012. He also spent time writing for TBS and the Stock Car Racing Magazine.
There are a few others who attribute the nickname to the track’s asphalt surface and not Phillips. Track president Kerry Tharp told the track media earlier this year, “Whichever theory you want to accept. Let’s just put it this way, The Lady in Black is a nickname that has stuck for years and years and will continue to describe this m.