Darlington spending millions on upgrades

COLUMBIA, S.C.

NASCAR’s “Lady in Black” is getting a multimillion dollar upgrade.

Darlington Raceway is spending nearly $7 million to upgrade and improve seating in three of its main grandstands, a project that will impact nearly 60 percent of the 58,000 seats at NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway.

“This solidifies our place as one of the sport’s crown jewels,” Darlington President Kerry Tharp told The Associated Press.

Tharp said the project, dubbed “A Better Darlington,” will begin Thursday and will be completed well before the Southern 500 is run Sept. 2.

The construction is the track’s biggest capital expenditure since spending $10 million to repave its surface and construct a new infield access tunnel in 2008.