Talladega Superspeedway has more than twice as many seats as Darlington Raceway and twice as many race dates as NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway.

It also has twice as many cars involved in big wrecks judging by the 25-car pileup during last Sunday’s 500-miler won by Jeff Gordon.

But Darlington has one thing that Talladega president Grant Lynch hopes to have one day.

Lights.

Darlington will host its first Nextel Cup event under the lights at 7:10 p.m. Saturday. It will do so with a sellout crowd, the second since the track expanded to 60,000 seats in 1997 and the first before race day.

Track president Chris Browning announced Monday that every ticket for the Dodger Charger 500 is sold and that he is starting a waiting list for next year. He said racing under the lights has a lot to do with the renewed interest.

Lynch, who sees the day when his 2.66-mile track is illuminated, agreed.

“Lights seem to change the way people view race tracks,” he said. “The cars look special at night. They kind of twinkle out there going around the track.

“The color and pageantry of nighttime racing, it’s pretty neat.”

Jimmie Johnson celebrates his 2004 victory at Darlington in the Mountain Dew Southern 500, which finished under the lights.

Many in NASCAR say lights could boost attendance and spark expansion at Darlington as they have done for other tracks such as Richmond and Bristol.

In 1990, 50,000 attended the spring race at the 64,000-seat Richmond track. Lights were added in September of 1991 and the following year, the track sold out.

It has sold out every race twice a year since, and capacity has expanded to 107,000 seats to make it one of the hottest tickets in NASCAR.

Since lights were installed at Bristol Speedway in 1978, the night race has become one of the most popular on the circuit. After Bruton Smith purchased the track in 1996, the facility has grown from 71,000 seats to 160,000, with every Cup race during that span a sellout.

“Bristol was just kind of mediocre until they added lights,” said Buddy Baker, who won two Darlington races before retiring. “When they put them in they had to start adding more seats because everybody wanted to go to that race.

“It could do the same thing for Darlington. I can’t wait.”

Former Darlington president Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s vice president for corporate communications, said night racing will bring the same atmosphere to Darlington that collegiate football games enjoy under the lights.

He said lights could help the track, which lost one race date this season, keep its remaining date.

“They take everything up a whole other level,” he said. “That’s how NASCAR started. We used to run on Saturday nights or Friday nights or Thursday night at places like Columbia Speedway and Greenville-Pickens (both in South Carolina).

“It’s going to be big for the track.”

Competitors like night races because the temperature is cooler and the track typically has more grip. They especially like Saturday night races because it gives them Sunday off to be with family and friends.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he never had more fun than at Phoenix two weeks ago, when the Subway Fresh 500 finished under the lights. Sterling Marlin wishes all races were on Saturday night. His only concern at Darlington is the sun, recalling how tough Turn 3 was near sunset in November when the Southern 500 finished under the lights.

“You couldn’t see nothing,” he said. “We had a real good car, drove to the top five and hit the wall twice. It was like driving into a tunnel on the interstate. You went in blind.”

Kasey Kahne, who won the truck race under the lights at Darlington in November, pointed out that the walls at the 1.366-mile track are going to be a factor day or night.

“They come up quick all the time,” he said. “The lights just help the excitement.”

Lowe’s Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler foresees a day in the next 10 years when most Cup races will be at night.

“There’s going to be pressure on Daytona for the 500 to be at night,” he said. “That’s all driven by TV because the numbers are so much greater.”