The Bojangles' Southern 500 is the annual spring NASCAR Sprint Cup race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, USA, and is the second such event at Darlington to bear the name. It began in 1957 as a 300 miles (480 km) race in the Convertible Division, known as the Rebel 300. In 1966, the race was expanded to 400 miles (640 km), and in 1973 to 500 miles (800 km). In 1994, the race was returned to 400 miles. In 2005, as part of the settlement of the Ferko lawsuit and as part of a schedule realignment, the "Rebel" returned to its classic Confederate Memorial Day weekend date, and raised back to 500 miles.

Without a title sponsor for 2009, the race tentatively adopted the moniker of Southern 500, the traditional name of the fall race run from 1950-2004 on Labor Day weekend. A one-year deal with Go Daddy was signed. Some fans referred to the race exclusively as the GoDaddy.com 500 out of respect to what fans called the "real" Southern 500, a fall-race showdown. In 2010, Showtime signed a multi-year deal to sponsor the race, giving it the name Showtime Southern 500. In 2012, Bojangles', a Charlotte-based quick-service reaturant, took over sponsorship of the "Rebel".

Matthew Roy "Matt" Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the No. 17 Ford Fusion in the Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing.

Kenseth started racing on several short tracks in Wisconsin and he won track championships at Madison International Speedway, Slinger Super Speedway and Wisconsin International Raceway. He moved to the ARTGO, American Speed Association, and Hooters Late Model touring series before getting a full-time ride in the NASCAR Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) for his former Wisconsin short track rival Robbie Reiser. After finishing second and third in the Busch Series (now Nationwide Series), he moved up in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (later NEXTEL Cup Series and now Sprint Cup Series). He won the series' Rookie of the Year title in 2000 and the championship in 2003. The International Race of Champions invited Kenseth to race in their 2004 season as the reigning champion and he won the season championship. In 2009, he won a rain-shortened Daytona 500. He repeated as Daytona 500 winner in 2012.