Darlington Raceway president Kerry Tharp to retire after 2023 season
NASCAR and Darlington Raceway announced Thursday that track president Kerry Tharp will retire at the end of the 2023 season, ending a decades-long career as an instrumental leader in NASCAR.
Tharp has overseen “The Lady in Black” since 2016, a transition that followed an 11-year tenure as NASCAR‘s senior director of communications for its competition department. Affectionately known by many as “The Commander,” the Kentucky native believes the time is right to hand the keys to one of the sport‘s most iconic tracks to someone else.
“I’ve been blessed to be able to have worked in the sport and entertainment field for 44 years,” Tharp told NASCAR.com via teleconference. “You know, I worked about 25 years in college athletics and then now the past 19 years at NASCAR and about eight of those have been at Darlington. And I have loved every minute of it, absolutely. And we just came off of just an outstanding event last month with a Throwback Weekend that coincided with the 75th anniversary (of NASCAR), and that was as much fun as I’ve ever had in my career.
“And I know we’ve got the 74th running of the Cook Out Southern 500 coming up. And I said, ‘You know what? I think it’s time to go out.‘ And if you’re gonna go out, go out on top. And I think I’m doing that.”
MORE: Cup Series schedule | At-track photos: 2023 Throwback Weekend
Tharp‘s journey to motor racing was an unexpected deviation from his passion for collegiate athletics. By 2005, Tharp had already established a 26-year career in intercollegiate sports, including two decades spent as the Associate Athletics Director for Media Relations at the University of South Carolina.
That year, he received a call regarding a public relations job in NASCAR‘s licensing division and made the trip to Daytona International Speedway for an Xfinity Series race.
“I went down there and met with a lot of people, visited the facility and everything was going on,” Tharp said. “And I was working at the University of South Carolina at the time, and I went back to Columbia. And my wife Debbie said, ‘What did you think?‘ And I said, ‘I don’t know what I saw but it was cool.‘”
Tharp took the job shortly thereafter, a position that he‘d hold for just half a year before longtime NASCAR executive Jim Hunter — a former football player at the University of South Carolina — recruited him to the competition realm.
“I said, ‘Hunter, I don’t know anything about any of that,‘” Tharp recalled. “He said, ‘Ah, you can pick it up. Spend some time with the guys at the R&D Center and you could pick it up.’ That was an opportunity that I’m so glad was afforded to me. I (spent) 11 years working as the director of communications for competition and got to go to every race track at the time that was on the schedule and work with so many great people and so many of the drivers and owners and really the media, because I worked in the media center and just really developed strong relationships with them and just had a ball.”
At Darlington, Tharp played an integral role in aiding NASCAR back to the green flag during the 2020 COVID pandemic. With the sport — and the world at large — halted due to the virus, NASCAR officials worked to determine a plan of resumption.
NASCAR president Steve Phelps rang Tharp‘s cell phone mid-April with hopes to resume racing in May and inquired if Darlington would be up for hosting the sport‘s return. Tharp didn‘t hesitate to say yes, then helped officials coordinate conversations with South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster to work the logistics of putting on the event in such unique circumstances.
“NASCAR, in its wisdom, put in place a very disciplined set of protocols,” Tharp said. “And there’s no doubt in my mind that we did it better than any other sport. Hands down. And in fact, I think the other sports learned from us. So being able to coordinate all that with the state and with the Department of Health … to get that done, it took a yeoman’s effort from the entire team. And NASCAR just pulled together and had such a great plan, I thought, on how they got this done. And I was proud to be a part of that. I’ll never forget it. That is one of the highlights of my professional career to be able to do that.”
Under Tharp‘s leadership, Darlington Raceway‘s Throwback Weekend has not only succeeded but thrived as the facility earned a second Cup Series race date back on the schedule. Additionally, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returned to the weathered, asymmetrical and historic 1.366-mile oval.
“One of the things when I first got here, people kept asking me, ‘When are we getting our second race day back? And when are the trucks coming back to Darlington?‘ Well, OK, they’re both here now,” Tharp said. “But that took the work of a lot of different people and the support of the state of South Carolina to be able to go back to racing in 2020. But getting that second race day back is huge. And we‘ve got to keep on keeping on to keep that second race date back.”
As for what‘s next? Tharp hasn‘t considered the specifics yet, but being a grandfather tops the priority list.
“I have a wonderful family, and both of my sons and their families and loved ones live in the Charlotte area” he said. “So that’s less than a two-hour drive to be able to see them. We’ve got got three grandsons, so I’m sure I’d like to spend some more time with them.
“And my wife and I are very, very active. Who‘s to say we may not travel some? But I’m sure that we’ll find something interesting to do, something rewarding to do. I don’t think I’m the type just to sit back on a rocking chair and watch the sun go up and down.”
