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Darlington Raceway plans to fully open stands for Southern 500 NASCAR race

As Darlington Raceway prepares for its first of two NASCAR visits this season, track officials announced Friday that they plan to fully open the grandstands for the Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend.

The raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, will hold the Goodyear 400 on Sunday to limited spectators. Darlington president Kerry Tharp said that will change this summer when the series returns Sept. 5 with no limits on fans. Darlington Raceway has a seating capacity of about 47,000.

Tharp thanked South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster in helping the facility reopen fully for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit in the spring of 2020. This is the first time since 2004 the track has had two scheduled races for the NASCAR Cup Series.