By Jerry Jordan, Editor
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Although there were no fans in the stands, dozens of fans from the area drove by Darlington Raceway to see for themselves as NASCAR returned to action on asphalt and a few rented nearby homes or contacted landowners across from the track asking permission to hold their own tailgating parties.
“We are all family, my two sons, my cousins and we tailgate all the time anyways,” said NASCAR fan Mike Mullis, Marshville, N.C., when asked about tailgating across the street from the racetrack despite lockdowns in other parts of the nations. “You know, we just wanted to hear the cars go around the track and if we could be in the stands, we would. But we are going to stream the race and watch it, cook a little food and just enjoy it all.”
The idea to tailgate on NASCAR’s return came on a whim, when Mullis was talking with his family and discussing whether local landowners might let them set-up for the day. One call and the deal was done. The location couldn’t have been better as Mullis and his family landed on a spot directly behind the press box. On the other side of Harry Byrd Highway. media members from national and local outlets gathered in a makeshift compound to file their reports from the racetrack.
“We’ve come here since we were teenagers and young adults and children have followed along with us around the Charlotte area, so this means a lot,” Mullis said. “You know, you don’t feel normal anymore. And normalcy is something I think everyone needs right now.
“The conversation that me and my son, Morgan, had was man, if we could just go to that race, we would go and blow it out. And I said, ‘how cool would it be if we could just tailgate there, watch it on TV and hear the cars?’ He looked at me as said, ‘let’s do it.’ So, the search was on and this gentleman here, Rick Johnson, who owns Tri-State Irrigation, was the first person I called to get some advice about reaching out to homeowners. He thought it was a really cool idea and said if we take care of his property, to come on down and take advantage of it.”
That was about the same way things rolled out for three race fans from Durham, N.C., as well. Katelyn and her husband Myles Kearns told their buddy Justin Balczo they found a house on Airbnb that was directly across from the track. They departed Raleigh and spent last night in a white wood-framed that is owned by the county coroner. He’s rented the house out for years and has who’s who list of drivers that have been there in the past. But this was a lucky break for the Kearns.
“We knew we couldn’t get in but, you know what, we were like, we are going to be as close as we can get,” Katelyn Kearns said.
The Kearns and Balczo were prepared. They had a TV in the back of their SUV, the BBQ was fired-up and their lawn chairs were positioned with a perfect view of the outside of Turn 2 – a view many race fans have experienced even when they were permitted inside the track.
“It’s like any other race, you just don’t get to go in but we get to experience, hear it and smell the rubber,” she said. “Once we found out that Darlington was happening, we were like, at least, we have to go hang out. We had to be here.
“We have been so excited for this weekend to come up. We’ve been at home, completely and remodeled the backyard and done whatever we could but to be able to go somewhere and be close to one of our favorite sporting events and be close to it, it is amazing.”
And the guy who owned the house, Todd Hardee, was sitting in the driveway with a big smile on his face as he watched the trio getting ready to enjoy the action.
“You know who the best people on Earth are? The best people on Earth are race fans,” Hardee said. “The cool part about 
Darlington is that is the first one. The granddaddy of them all. This is the first NASCAR track. You know, check this out, these folks right here drove all the way down here just to listen to the race. That’s Darlington. That’s our fans. And I am gonna tell you something, this is an old school track right here and we got old school fans and they aren’t here today but I can promise you this, when the Lady in Black opens back up we are going to treat them right.”
Hardee also owns a local restaurant that provided catering for some of the NASCAR employees and teams present on Sunday. He said had he been able to attend the race, it would have been his 29th in a row.
Darlington is playing host to three races over four days as the Xfinity Series competes Tuesday and the NASCAR Cup Series returns Wednesday to race under the lights. The events were the first steps taken by the sanctioning body to bring racing back and reschedule canceled races at Chicagoland Speedway and Sonoma and Richmond raceways.
Just shows that NASCAR does have a strong following of fans. I bet those guys really enjoyed themselves and had a ton of fun.