COLUMBIA, S.C. - "The Lady In Black" has apparently made it to another year.
Darlington Raceway president Chris Browning said Wednesday that the track got the go-ahead from its owners, International Speedway Corp., to send out ticket renewal letters for another Mother's Day weekend Nextel Cup race. The date of the Carolina Dodge Dealers 500 is May 13, 2006, the night before the holiday.
"I think if there were any other plans (for Darlington), ISC wouldn't let us do this," Browning said.
Browning said there will be a support Friday night race May 12, but he wouldn't say whether it would be the traditional Busch series or the Craftsman Truck Series, which has run at Darlington in the past.
Renewal letters went out this week, Darlington spokeswoman Cathy Elliott said. Once everyone who purchased tickets this year gets a chance to buy again, then Darlington will go to its waiting list of about 1,300, she said.
NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter says next year's schedule will be released later this summer. The track hasn't signed a sanctioning agreement yet, but expects to in the coming week, Elliott said.
Darlington's future in the sport has been tenuous the last few years, with speculation that each race might be its last. But a sold-out showing this past May gave the old country track momentum that Browning thinks could last past 2006.
"I get the feeling that we're in good shape," Browning said. BACK IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT: ARCA driver Billy Venturini, who broke his neck in February during a race at Daytona International Speedway, plans to race this weekend for the first time since his accident.
Venturini was injured in a 13-car wreck two laps from the finish of the Advance Discount Auto Parts 200 on Feb. 12. He had surgery to fix a fractured vertebrae and damaged ligaments.
Earlier this month, a medical team in North Carolina cleared Venturini to race again. Venturini tested his car last weekend at Toledo and Kentucky speedways, and will race Friday in Kentucky.
Jason Jarrett, son of Nextel Cup star Dale Jarrett, has substituted for Venturini and is expected to remain in the No. 25 car for the rest of the 2005 season. Venturini will drive a limited schedule in a second car.
