When NASCAR announced last week the remainder of the 2020 schedule, one driver was particularly excited to see the Darlington Raceway on the schedule for the Gander RV & Outdoors truck series.
Forest Acres product Jordan Anderson would rather have seen a normal 2020 schedule, but COVID-19 changed that in a dramatic way. But when NASCAR overhauled the schedule to make up for the lost races, Darlington Raceway played a major role as the facility hosted the first two Cup races in NASCAR's return from competition after the suspension of the season. While the Southern 500 is still set for Labor Day weekend, the truck series will run four hours before the Cup race on Sunday, September 6. This will mark the first truck series race in Darlington since 2011 but Anderson's first at the historic facility.
"For a kid growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, Darlington Raceway was the track that made me fall in love with the sport of NASCAR at a young age," Anderson said in a statement ot News19.
"I watched my first ever NASCAR race, the Southern 500 in 1997, from the grandstands in turn 4 with my dad and I knew that I wanted to be out there on that track one day."
Anderson is in his sixth season as a driver in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors truck series, his third as an owner-driver. While turning laps at the Darlington Raceway has always been a goal for Anderson, the reason behind his Darlington Debut does give him pause.
"As crazy as the circumstances are and why our schedule changed this year, I think it's great how NASCAR has handled everything and adapted accordingly," Anderson said.
"When the green flag drops on our race, it's going to be like a true homecoming and I hope to make all my South Carolinians proud out there."