Darnell began racing Modifieds on the dirt tracks in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, especially Waukegan Speedway.
[3] He became the second driver to land in Lake Lloyd at the Daytona International Speedway during a rare appearance in an ARCA stock car.
[6] Darnell's second USAC victory happened on the clay at the 100-mile race at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack on August 28, 1976.
[3] His third USAC stock car win happened on June 5 in the following year at Texas World Speedway.
[8] The following week he was ruled to have jumped the final restart prematurely at DuQuoin and he was awarded a second-place finish instead of the win.
[8] In an interview with the Milwaukee Sentinel, Darnell talked about how he felt that he could win the championship that year.
He earned his final USAC victory on August 15 of that year on the dirt at the Springfield Mile.
[1] In 1954 he started 17th at the only NASCAR race Santa Fe Speedway in Willow Springs, Illinois.
In a race of high attrition, he completed 205 of 334 laps before ending with push rod failure to finish 13th in the 39-car field.