This weekend Nascar head to one of the more historic tracks on the circuit, Darlington. This weekend is always a fun race to watch especially with all the throwback paint schemes that run here for this race. There are 367 laps and tire wear is always a factor at Darlington. In cash gamese we will be looking for between 1-3 dominators. The race starts in the daytime and ends at night. Practice was conducted during the day so you can only take so much information out of that. Next weekend is a really crazy race schedule for the Brickyard. I am not sure if I can get an article out in time as Qualifying is the same day as the race and will only have about 2.5 hours to get something out before lock.
Kyle Busch (DK $11,900 FD $15,000)
Kyle Busch had a problem in qualifying and is going to end up being massive chalk again this weekend starting 33rd. Kyle is one of the better drivers here at Darlington in his career, posting an average finish just better then 12th. He hasn’t finished worse then 11th here since 2010. I know I talked about practice speeds not meaning anything but when he qualified so bad its important to note that Kyle had consecutive lap speed that was near the top of the charts.
Martin Truex Jr (DK $10,200 FD $12,500)
Martin Truex is another driver who qualified poorly and has good history here. In the last 5 races here, Truex has one win and only one finish outside of 11th. Truex starts 22nd and gives you great place differential upside. JGR hasn’t qualified well all season and tend to be more set up for the race. One thing we know is that Truex does really well in races that start in the daytime and end at night, Richmond earlier this year is just one example.
Kyle Larson (DK $10,600 FD $11,500)
When we think of Darlington over the past couple seasons you have to think of Kyle Larson. In the last three races here, Larson has led 284, 124 and 45 laps. Larson loves to run a high line and at Darlington you are running as close to the wall as you can without getting a Darlington stripe so it sets up well for him. With a couple of high tier drivers qualifying so bad Larson is a dominator option to lead laps come Sunday night.
Erik Jones (DK $8,700 FD $10,200)
Erik qualified 15th and in his interview afterwards talked about where he thinks he lost speed on his lap. He also mentioned that he really liked his car for the race more then he did for qualifying. In two career starts here at Darlington, Erik has finishes of 8th and 5th. He provides some place differential upside starting mid pack and could be a contender for the win.
Ryan Newman (DK $8,300 FD $8,400)
Ryan qualified 24th for the race on Sunday. For a track too tough to tame, Ryan has posted an average finish of 12.05 with only 4 finishes worse then 20th. As he showed last week, Ryan is one of the toughest drivers to pass no matter who you are, just ask MDB. Competing for a playoff spot, Ryan will be smart and do his best to match that average finish this weekend.
William Byron (DK $7,100 FD $8,200)
Byron starts on the pole this weekend. This track is all about track position and when you start from the pole at his price, Byron becomes a very intriguing low cost dominator. You can’t look at his results from last year here because he had an engine issue but he posted a top 10 finish here in his xfinity start here and has done well at tracks similar to Darlington this season as he has turned the corner to be a better driver.
