DARLINGTON — Michael McDowell is a rookie on the NASCAR circuit who careened into racing lore following a spectacular qualifying crash April 4 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Brad Keselowski is driving in his first full season for JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series. On Thursday, Keselowski sat down with Morning News writer Shawn Singleton to talk about racing and other aspects of his life.

DARLINGTON — All week, the talk heading into Darlington has been how the Lady in Black’s new $10 million surface is going to produce higher speeds and more cautions. Thursday’s practice did nothing to quell such talk.

DARLINGTON — James “Shifty” Shifton is ready for the storm. No, Shifton isn’t one of those storm chasers that goes from city to city chasing down tornadoes. He’s the producer in charge of a 200-plus member crew which broadcasts all 36 Nationwide and 17 Cup races on the ESPN family of networks.

DARLINGTON — Michael McDowell is a rookie on the NASCAR circuit who careened into racing lore following a spectacular qualifying crash April 4 at Texas Motor Speedway.

What a week. It’s amazing what winning a race does for you. I’m sure a lot of people already know that I won last Saturday night’s race at Richmond. It was my first win of the year and second of my Sprint Cup career.