When you look at Darlington Raceway from afar, it may appear to be like other ovals on the NASCAR circuit that are longer than a mile. That impression couldn’t be further from the truth. What other track has a nickname as slick as “The Lady in Black” or has history written on its walls whenever a car brushes off it, leaving the classic ‘Darlington stripe’ to add a bit of flair to even the most iconic paint schemes?

Darlington opens the Cup Series Playoffs for the third consecutive year Sunday (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and it’s one of the greatest — if not the greatest — challenge for drivers to see if they have the mettle to be a champion in NASCAR’s premier series.

RELATED: Playoff standings | Top Darlington moments

Due to its unique egg-like shape, the 1.366-mile track plays out differently in almost every corner and every lap. Turns 1 and 2 are deceptively steep at 25 degrees of banking and force the drivers to make a tough decision to either run a low second lane, where they could be slower coming off Turn 2, or run the preferred line right next to the wall where the slightest of mistakes could send your car into the wall. Turns 3 and 4 become a fight for space in the narrow corners, and if drivers don’t set up their exits perfectly, well, expect the wall to leave a gift on the side of their cars.

Driving to the limit at Darlington is the key to winning at this historic track. And sometimes, it ends up playing out like a short track in crunch time as we’ve seen over the years.

Whether it be two title contenders putting each other in the wall late in the 2020 edition of the Southern 500 or one of NASCAR’s greatest finishes of all tine in 2003, where Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven slammed door-to-door all the way down the frontstretch in a duel for the ages, Darlington has a flair for the dramatic and fans should expect nothing less for Sunday’s Labor Day weekend tradition.

The track “Too Tough to Tame” certainly lived up to the moniker in the spring as one-third of the field ended up behind the wall with severe damage or a mechanical problem before Joey Logano took the checkered flag. If you go back to last year’s running of the Southern 500, the playoffs were flipped upside down in its first chapter of 2021 as nine of the 16 playoff drivers finished outside the top 15.

While many have yet to conquer Darlington, there are a few drivers who have becomes favorites of “The Lady in Black.”

Defending Southern 500 winner Denny Hamlin tops that list as he’s won three of the last 10 races on the 1.366-mile oval. Two-time 2022 winner Kevin Harvick is riding a wave of momentum entering the postseason and has seemingly developed a mutual bond with Darlington as he has a ludicrous average finish of 3.9 in the last 10 races at the track. Matter of fact, you have to go back to over a decade ago the last time the 2014 Cup champion finished outside the top 10 on the oval.

Logano is the most recent winner on the egg-shaped oval and tamed the track by ruffling some feathers as he gave the classic bump-and-run to William Byron entering Turn 3 with two laps to go.

Intense drama, pinpoint precision and patience pushed to the limit are always factors when trying to complete 500 miles around Darlington but even if drivers try to do everything right, only “The Lady In Black” gets to choose who she wants to court to Victory Lane on Sunday.

Best Average Finish at Darlington All-time (more than two starts):

Elliott vs. Hamlin: Who wins Darlington match? - Powered By PickUp

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