Don’t expect Southern 500 back at Darlington

The romantic in Jim Hunter would love to see the Southern 500 back at his beloved Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.

The pragmatist in NASCAR's chief spokesman is certain why it shouldn't.

Seemingly ever since the Southern 500 left the country track for California Speedway on Labor Day weekend after 2004, whispers have abounded about a triumphant return to South Carolina where the race was run for 54 years.

Hunter doesn't expect more changes. ''We could sell 55 to 58 thousand tickets here on Labor Day five years ago,'' Hunter said Saturday. ''We moved it to California and they sell 90 or 92 [thousand] or something. From a business standpoint, that is a no-brainer.''

Hunter, a South Carolina native, was Darlington's president from 1993 to 2001. He still has a home here and loves how the old layout has reinvented itself with lights and more grandstand seats the past few years.

Still, track owners International Speedway Corp. have responsibilities to those who own the stock.

''Do I feel bad about it? As a shareholder of ISC, I don't feel bad about it at all,'' Hunter said. The Morning Call