10 memorable NASCAR moments in the history of Darlington Raceway – USA TODAY

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After two months devoid of any sports competition because of the COVID-19 pandemic, NASCAR returns to the track for live racing to give sports a shot in the arm.

Darlington Raceway will host its 117th Cup Series race on Sunday, marking the first NASCAR event since the coronavirus interrupted the 2020 schedule in early March.

Johnny Mantz, a little-known driver from Long Beach, California, won the first Cup race at Darlington on Sept. 4, 1950.

Mantz would finish 76th out of a record field of 82 cars the following year and never raced at Darlington again, but his victory in 1950 set the stage for 70 years of racing at the track knows as "The Lady in Black" and Too Tough to Tame.

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Following are some of the more memorable moments at the famed speedway Darlington, South Carolina:

On Sept. 6, 1965, local favorite Cale Yarborough sailed over the wall after bumping Sam McQuaig while attempting a pass in the Southern 500. Yarborough, driving a 1965 Ford, emerged from the wreckage without a scratch and told reporters hed sailed through the air like an astronaut.

On that same race day in 1965, Fred Lorenzen and Darel Dieringer combined to lead 256 of the first 325 laps. But Ned Jarrett came on strong late and wound up winning by the widest margin in the history of NASCAR 14 laps. Jarrett prevailed in a battle of attrition as only 15 of the 44 cars that started the race were able to finish and Jarrett claimed his 12th of 13 victories that season.

The closest race in NASCAR Cup Series history unfolded on March 16, 2003, at Darlington. Ricky Craven led only one lap, but won by battling Kurt Busch in a final-lap, bump-and-grind for the ages, edging Busch by two one-thousandths of a second. The slim margin of victory has since been matched, but the drama that unfolded in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 will live forever in fans minds. It was OK to lose because of the respect we had for each other on the track, Busch said.

Ricky Craven, right, crosses the finish ahead of Kurt Busch to win the NASCAR Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 Sunday, March 16, 2003, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C.(Photo: Alison Sidlo, AP)

On May 11, 1968, David Pearson stepped into the winners circle for the first time at Darlington, but it would be far from his last trip there as the Spartanburg driver would go on to post a record 10 NASCAR Cup victories at Darlington Raceway during his Hall of Fame career. Pearson won $13,900 for his win in the Rebel 400.

Cale Yarborough, a driver from nearby Timmonsville, held off Pearson on Sept. 2, 1968, to win for the first time at Darlington, referring to it as the happiest day of my life. Yarborough led the Southern 500 for 169 of 364 laps in his 1968 Mercury.

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Carl Edwards posted his first and only victory at Darlington by winning the Southern 500 on Sept. 6, 2015, coming from two laps down to claim the win, prevailing after a record 18 cautions.I guess we made it Carlington for a couple of minutes, Edwards said after his crew taped over part of the letter D along Darlingtons retaining wall.

Regan Smith claimed the first and only NASCAR Cup Series victory of his career by outlasting Carl Edwards by less than two-tenths of a second in the Southern 500 on May 7, 2011. This is no knock against Talladega at all, Smith said. But I would trade in a lot of Talladega wins for one win in the Southern 500.

Regan Smith celebrates after winning the SHOWTIME Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in 2011. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

In one of the most hotly contested Cup races at Darlington, Darrell Waltrip nipped Richard Petty and pole sitter Donnie Allison in the Rebel 500 on April 8, 1979. It was one of Waltrips seven victories that season and one of his five career triumphs at The Lady In Black.

The $1 million bonus was reserved for any driver who could win three of the crown jewel events of the NASCAR Cup Series season, and Bill Elliott became the first to capitalize on Sept. 1, 1985. The immensely popular Elliott, who already had claimed victories at Daytona and Talladega that season, won the pole at 156.641 mph, setting the stage for a memorable late-race duel with Cale Yarborough, which Elliott won by .6 seconds.

On March 29, 1987, Dale Earnhardt passed Bill Elliott on the final lap to win the TransSouth 500 when Elliott ran out of gas on the final lap. It was one of 11 victories posted that season by Earnhardt, who sped to nine career victories at Darlington, including three consecutive wins over the 1989 and 1990 seasons.

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10 memorable NASCAR moments in the history of Darlington Raceway - USA TODAY