The NASCAR Cup Series opens the Playoffs this weekend at the historic Darlington Raceway for one of the sport’s Crown Jewel events, the Southern 500. The Southern 500 is one of the most important races in NASCAR as it was the sports original “Crown Jewel”, the first race held on a superspeedway (track more than 1.0 miles in length), and the sport’s first 500 mile race.

Now that it’s the first race of the Playoffs, one may ask the question, does the Playoffs diminish the Southern 500? However, the flip side can also be considered, does the Playoffs elevate the Southern 500?