Southern 500

Cook Out Southern 500

NASCAR Cup Series
Venue	Darlington Raceway
Location	Darlington, South Carolina, United States
Corporate sponsor	Cook Out[1]
First race	1950 (1950)
Distance	501.322 miles (806.800 km)
Laps	367[2] Stages 1/2: 115 each Final stage: 137
Previous names	Southern 500 (1950–1988) Heinz Southern 500 (1989–1991) Mountain Dew Southern 500 (1992–1997, 2001–2004) Pepsi Southern 500 (1998–2000) Dodge Charger 500 (2005–2006) Dodge Avenger 500 (2007) Dodge Challenger 500 (2008) Southern 500 presented by GoDaddy.com (2009) Showtime Southern 500 (2010–2011) Bojangles' Southern 500 (2012–2019)
Most wins (driver)	Jeff Gordon (6)
Most wins (team)	Hendrick Motorsports (12)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Chevrolet (29)
Circuit information
Surface	Asphalt
Length	1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Turns	4

The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is 501 miles (806 km) and consists of 367 laps. From 1950 to 2003, and again since 2015, the race has been held on Labor Day weekend. The Southern 500 is largely considered one of the Crown Jewels of the NASCAR calendar, and has been nicknamed NASCAR's "oldest superspeedway race." For decades, the race has been considered by competitors and media as one of the more difficult and challenging races on the NASCAR schedule, owing much to the track's unusual, asymmetrical egg-shape, rough pavement, and overall unforgiving nature. Darlington Raceway itself has a long and storied reputation as the "Track Too Tough to Tame."

The Southern 500 has a storied history, including Bill Elliott famously winning the Winston Million in 1985, and Jeff Gordon doing the same in 1997. It is also the site of Darrell Waltrip's final career victory (1992).

Through 2004, Darlington held two Cup series races annually, the Southern 500 in the fall, and a 400-mile event in the spring. In 2004, the Southern 500 was moved to November and was run as the second-to-last race in the inaugural Chase for the Championship. The following year, as the result of a settlement in the Ferko lawsuit, Darlington lost one of its two dates. The 500-mile race was moved to the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend in May and renamed for the sponsorship of Dodge. The race was held as a night race under-the-lights during this period.

The event re-assumed the Southern 500 name in 2009, and in 2015, moved back to its traditional Labor Day weekend date. From 2015 to 2020, the race weekend has been themed "NASCAR Throwback," with many cars fielding "Throwback" paint schemes (the revitalized spring race has taken that role since 2021). Since 2020, the event is currently scheduled to take place as the first race of the NASCAR playoffs. However, in 2023, the race was announced to be the regular season finale in 2024, and will be the first race of the NASCAR playoffs.

The trophy features photos of previous winners at Darlington.^[3]