This weekend, the famous Southern 500 tag returns to South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway. The track has nicknames such as “The Lady in Black” and “The Track Too Hard to Tame”. When the 500 was held annually over Labor Day weekend, the race earned the nickname “The Granddaddy of All”. Throughout the evolution of the name changes and date change, one constant that always remained with the race teams at this track was tire concern.

The egg-shaped racetrack surface has a reputation for eating tires. Prior to 2008, the asphalt surface had a mixture of stone and sand in the compound that really eroded the contact patch of the tire. This was a result of the geographical region of the race track.

Along with the natural red clay of the south, the area’s sand and climate formed the Darlington surface that became so legendary. Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina and Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida are among the tracks that have similar properties. Their locations simply form a naturally abrasive surface.

In my opinion, this makes for quality racing. Drivers should pay attention to tire conservation by running as fast as they can without burning the tires too soon. The chassis needs to be closer to a neutral balance to prevent any additional tire wear that may occur. Pit crews will change four tires frequently. These additional factors add dimensions to what could already be a dramatic run.

Of course, car owners who pay the bills aren’t too thrilled about the effect all the tire changes have on the team’s budget.

Last year’s Mother’s Day weekend contest was held under different circumstances than those described above. The 1,366-mile course was resurfaced before the NASCAR machines moved in and brought a new team point of view.

The new pavement did not have “cheese grade” tires, as one crew member told me. The tires were actually durable and showed wear consistent with other race tracks.

A year ago I was employed by a Nationwide Series team and worked the 200-mile race on Friday night. Fortunately for our history, my duties were that of a tire specialist.

A general rule of thumb for tires and paved track surfaces is as follows: old pavement and new tires go together; New pavement and old tires go together. A worn asphalt track wears tires down so much that one needs new tires at every opportunity. The new tarmac provides better grip for a tire that is slightly harder.

New tires harden from heat cycles. Race teams refer to this process as scraping. One car will go out for a few stints in practice, return to the garage and have four tires changed. The car turns again a few lapses and the work is repeated.

Warming up the tires by running them around and then removing them and setting the kit aside to cool will make a more desirable compound for new asphalt. Back in 2009, we were doing something pretty weird, wearing out tires at Darlington Raceway.

Another crew member friend joked to me, “We used to scuff the tires by rolling the car across the tech line.”

During the 147-lap Nationwide event, the unusually durable tires allowed us to incorporate some track position and fuel strategy into our race plan. This differed from the common “put four at every opportunity” routine.

Nationwide teams have to manage tires differently than their Sprint Cup cousins. Six games are allowed during a race weekend. That includes practice and qualifying. It helps save money for second tier teams and a crew chief should keep this in mind when making chassis changes and pit stop calls. This brings another additional element that adds to the intrigue of the race.

Now the 2009 event is drawing near. A year of weather has passed over the legendary race track. It remains to be seen what kind of runs we’ll get off the surface of a year. Will the tremendous tire wear return? Or will some pit road calls last and be put on the line?

Tire testing has been done, so we expect excellent tire compounds and construction that balance safety and competition.

There are a lot of tire-only aspects that come up at Darlington and we haven’t even discussed the nuts and bolts of the race cars. This could be a very interesting Southern 500.