Another rain delay, more tire issues, and our seventh winner in seven races. This has been a dismal season as far as the weather goes so far, but the racing has more than made up for it. It looks like the teams are going to have to take some of the camber out of their setups so as not to wear out their tires too quickly this year. The most amazing thing to me however is that we have seven winners in seven races and none of them are named Jimmie Johnson or Matt Kenseth. They were the top two drivers all of last year and neither of them has a victory yet, but I think that will change soon.
BONJANGLES’ SOUTHERN 500
This week the series heads to Darlington Raceway in Darlington, SC for the running of the Bonjangles’ Southern 500. This is a Saturday night race so make sure that you get your picks in before any deadlines you might encounter. Darlington is an egg shaped track with quite a bit of banking in the turns. Known as “The Lady in Black” and “The Track Too Tough To Tame”, Darlington Raceway has a reputation of jumping out and biting unsuspecting drivers. It lulls a driver into being a little lackadaisical and before they know it they have what is known as “The Darlington Stripe” on the side of their cars. This could get real interesting if drivers continue to have tire issues again this weekend.
Jeff Gordon: Jeff is my pick to win the race this weekend and Darlington. Jeff has seven career victories at this track and has finished in the top five in eight of his last ten starts at this track. The way this team has been running the past few weeks, they are due for a win and this could very well be the week they get that win to propel them into the Chase.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has three wins at this track himself with the last win coming two years ago. He has also finished in the top ten in eleven of his fifteen career starts and wants to get his first win of the season sooner rather than later. I think that once this team breaks into the win column they will probably string together multiple wins during the next six to eight weeks.
Matt Kenseth: Matt is another driver that is still looking for his first win of the season and this is the track that he could do it at also. He won this race last year and has finished in the top ten in nine of his twenty starts here. All this team needs is for the pieces to fall in the right place as the race progresses and they will be in contention to win it at the end.
Denny Hamlin: Denny has only started eight races here during his career and has one win to show. However, he also has finished runner-up three other times. Those are impressive stats, finishing in the top two in half of your starts at any one track. Denny looked very good at the beginning of the season only to hit a small lull. This team looked good last week at Texas and might have figured something out that they can build on going forward.
Ryan Newman: Ryan has never won a race at this track, but he has finished in the top ten an astounding ten times in fifteen starts. Those are also very impressive stats that tell me that Ryan has a good understanding of how to get around here in a hurry. This team has surprised me with how good they are early in the season and should only continue to improve as the year carries on.
Tony Stewart: Tony seems to be getting better each and every week in his own right. I think his leg is giving him more trouble than he is letting on, but regardless he is getting the job done. This is one of the few tracks that Tony has yet to win at. His best finish at this track is third place, which he has accomplished twice. The amazing stat for me is that Tony has only lead twenty laps in twenty-one starts here.
Carl Edwards: Carl has only run ten races at this track in his career with his best finish being second which he has done twice. Carl has finished in the top ten in seven of his ten starts and should get a win here sooner rather than later. Carl already has one win this year and should make the Chase based on that win. It seems that some of these teams are just trying to go all out for wins once they get one because they don’t have much to lose.
Kyle Busch: Kyle has one career win and five top ten finishes in only nine starts at Darlington. He also has a win this season to his credit and has been running very well lately. He has also lead a lot of laps in five of his last six starts here and you can’t win a race without leading a lap.
Greg Biffle: Greg always seems to run very well at Darlington and won back to back races here in 2005 and 2006. It seems that if his car is good enough to lead a lap he is going to lead over one-hundred laps. If this team comes with car that is close on its setup coming off the trailer they are going to be contenders at the end of the race.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin has really struggled with mechanical issues for the past month. This team seems to have a car capable of winning a race every week and then something mechanical happens to them. Once they get all of these issues figured out they are going to be contenders each and every week. When that time will come I don’t know, but I think it will be in the not to distant future.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR INSERT DARLINGTON RACEWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Jeff Gordon
- Jimmie Johnson
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Denny Hamlin
- Greg Biffle
- Carl Edwards
- Ryan Newman
Yahoo Driver Group C
- Kyle Larson
- Austin Dillon
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY
- Jeff Gordon
- Jimmie Johnson
- Denny Hamlin
- Kyle Busch
- Greg Biffle
Dark Horse: Martin Truex Jr.
Stay Away From: Brian Vickers