NASCAR
SHOWTIME SOUTHERN 500
Darlington, SC – May 8
When you get to Darlington, you know that you are in one of the major stock car races, because aside from Daytona, this may be the most storied NASCAR track. [private] We have witnessed a shakeup where Jimmie Johnson has lost the Sprint Cup points lead to Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Gordon continues his frustration of not winning. The man he lost last week’s Richmond race to – Kyle Busch – obviously is a prime contender here, and in fact owns the race record on this track, which he set a couple of years ago. Jamie McMurray got the pole, but since this is not a restrictor plate track, his opportunity here would appear to be limited. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is hopeful, but neither he nor his crew chief, Lance McGrew, have ever won a Cup race at this track, and in that regard Junior does not take after his dad, who won at Darlington nine times. When it comes down to it, we have a driver who has come oh so close to winning over the last month, AND has seven wins at Darlington (Jeff Gordon), plus Greg Biffle, who fetches a decent price and has the best driver rating at Darlington in this field, the product of winning twice and having four top ten finishes on the track. Jimmie Johnson actually has the best average finish at Darlington (6.9), but since the spoiler came back, he has not been a dominant force. If there’s a longshot, let’s look at Joey Logano, who ran ninth last year in his only outing at this track, and finds himself defying expectations by keeping himself in the running for a spot in the Chase. Logano, who was anointed as a future all-time great by veteran Mark Martin while still an adolescent, is mature enough to take this one to the wire.
OUR TOP THREE: JEFF GORDON, GREG BIFFLE, JOEY LOGANO
(All information is for news matter only)
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