By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
In this week’s edition of Throwback Thursday, Kickin’ The Tires relives when NASCAR driver Regan Smith won the 2011 Showtime Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway for his first win in the Cup Series.
It was the right decision that would propel Regan Smith to his first win in the then NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Darlington Raceway in May of 2011.
Smith stayed out on the track known as The Lady in Black with old tires on his No.78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet, but ultimately, he was able to hold off fellow competitor Carl Edwards in a thrilling green-white-checkered-finish.
Smith crossed the finish line a mere .196 seconds ahead of second-place Carl Edwards.
(Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR)
This is the Southern 500, we’re not supposed to win this thing,” said Smith on the radio after the race.
It was a much-deserved victory after what should have been a win at Talladega in 2008 for Smith turned out to not be after he was penalized for passing Tony Stewart below the yellow line.
“This race is so special and so meaningful. We were standing there looking at the names and the faces on the trophy, and you just look at it, and you think, ‘My face is going to be there right next to these guys, and it’ll be there forever”, said Smith post-race.
Career Update:
Regan Smith currently is a pit reporter for Fox NASCAR. In addition, he drives the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro part-time for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Smith last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018 when he ran 11 races in the No.95 Chevrolet for Leavine Family Racing.
Smith’s best finish in those eleven events was a 10th place finish at Talladega in the fall.
Overall, Smith has 224 starts in NASCAR’s premiere series over 12 years and has earned one win, four Top-5s and 14 Top-10 finishes.