Fast Forward ~ The Bojangles Southern 500 At Darlington Fantasy Race Picks And Preview
5/9/2013
Jim Fitzgerald And Staff
“The future is like a
corridor into which we can see only by the light coming from behind.”
–Edward Weyer, Jr.
Finally….racing HAS COME BACK….to Daaarlington! And real racing, too. No disrespect to anyone who strapped themselves
into a car and drove those speeds for that distance, but if someone had given
me a car to drive, I would have had as much of a chance to win as anyone
else. But no more! Now it is time to get back into the groove of
some good old fashioned down home cookin’, and
there’s no better plate to pick up the spoon and start stirring than
Darlington! It’s the Lady in Black. It’s Too Tough To
Tame. It should be filled with water and
turned into a fishing hole. The first two are official names, but the last
one came from Kyle Petty. Let’s learn
some other tidbits about Darlington.
The Track:
Location: Darlington, SC
Length: 1.366 Egg Shaped Oval
Banking: 25 degrees in turns 1-2;
23 degrees in
turns 3-4;
2 degrees on
the backstretch,
3 degrees on the front stretch
Pit Road Speed/Length:45 MPH/2025
Ft
The Race:
367 Laps/ 501.322 Miles
Defending Champion: Jimmie Johnson, 133.802 MPH
Most recent winner: Jimmie Johnson, 133.802 MPH
Track Record: Kyle Busch, 140.350 MPH- May 2008
Race Record: Kyle Busch, 140.350 MPH- May 2008
Qualifying record: Kasey Kahne, 181.254 MPH, May 2011
2012 Purse: $5,663,476
TV:FOX, 7:00PM EST 5/11/2013
The History:
1950 - Construction completed, Darlington was first
measured at 1.25 miles
September 4, 1950-Johnny Mantz
won the first 500 mile race and the first asphalt in NASCAR history, at
Darlington
1953 – Track was re-measured to be 1.375 miles
1970 – Track was reconfigured to the current length of
1.366 miles.
April 13, 1980 – David Parson wins his tenth Darlington
race, a current record.
September 1, 1991 – Harry Gant becomes the oldest race
winner at the track at 51 years, 7 months, 22 days.
May 10, 2008 – Kyle Busch becomes the youngest race
winner at 23 years, 29 days.
There you have the facts of the track, but who will have
the machine and the nerves to get the job done on Sunday?
The
Contenders:
Who do I think will have a shot to win at Darlington?
Kyle Busch: Not gaudy
numbers, but respectable. One win in
eight starts, combined with two top 5 and four top 10 finishes.
Mark Martin: If he can
stay out of everyone else’s trouble, Martin has the experience here to be up
front at the end.
Jimmie
Johnson: Three wins in fourteen starts is fairly impressive. Not
to mention a top 5/top 10 record of seven and ten. Solid stats for the point leader, a solid
chance for the win, and a solid pick for you for your fantasy teams.
Brad
Keselowski: Kes has only four starts here,
but there are two top tens to show for it, a seventh
and a third. He’s never finished worse
than 15th on a track called “Too Tough To
Tame.” He has completed every lap in
every race he has ever run here, but the problem is that he hasn’t led a single
one of them.
Jeff Gordon: Thirty-two
starts and seven wins should say enough about Gordon’s chances at this
race. How about 18 top fives and 21 top tens as
well? He also has three poles and has
led TWICE as many laps as any other active driver here. Last year, he finished 29 laps in
arrears. Time to
bounce back?
DARK HORSE
PICK-Danica Patrick: Why not?
Those are my contenders for this week. Solid picks, I would say. Let’s see how I fared with my picks from last
week’s wheel of misfortune…
Clint Bowyer: Did not lead
and finished 18th.
Dale
Earnhardt, Jr: Did not lead and finished 17th.
Matt Kenseth: Led 75% of
the race and finished 8th.
Brad
Keselowski: Led one lap, finished 15th.
Jeff Gordon: My top
finishing pick, in 11th.
DARK HORSE
PICK-Danica Patrick: Got caught up in a crash and threw a little hissy fit. Finished 33rd.
Talladega: Might
be fun to watch, but impossible to make picks for.
Race Pro Picks!
Before we get to the Darlington picks, let’s see how
everyone did at Talladega.
Player |
Selection |
Race Pts |
Previous Pts |
Total Pts |
Wins |
DNFs |
Mr. Seven |
56 |
38 |
299 |
337 |
0 |
0 |
Alabama |
16 |
8 |
327 |
335 |
0 |
0 |
PattyKay |
20 |
38 |
286 |
324 |
0 |
0 |
Jim |
24 |
34 |
280 |
314 |
1 |
1 |
Brian |
88 |
27 |
268 |
295 |
1 |
1 |
Kevin |
78 |
15 |
251 |
266 |
0 |
2 |
PattyKay Lilley topped the charts with her selection of Matt
Kenseth, but Mr. Seven took the lead. It
is going to be very difficult to stop the mystery man, but we’re going to keep
trying!
Here are our picks for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at
Darlington, at 7:00 PM on FOX:
PattyKay (@MamaPKL): Well, here we are at the
Mother of all Speedways, The Lady in Black... a name near and dear to my heart.
Once upon a time, picking here wasn't too difficult. One either looked for the
name Pearson or later the name Earnhardt. Such is not the case today. All the
numbers indicate that the smart money goes to either Jimmie Johnson or Denny
Hamlin. Well, one of those is nursing a fractured spine, so I think I'll take a
wait and see attitude with him until I'm assured he can finish 500 miles in one
piece. The other... well, he's a nice guy and everything, but like the rest of
the racing world, I'm a bit tired of seeing him in Victory Lane. Therefore,
I'll take the guy that drives the most like the Earnhardt from my generation,
and just happens to have led more laps at Darlington over the past 5 years than
anyone else. It's time for him to win one and I'm riding this week with Rowdy
Kyle Busch. Mr. Seven... move over!
Brian: Darlington, the patient driver's track. Gloria Estefan
said the "Rhythm is Gonna Get You" and if
you don't have the experience and mental conditioning, Darlington is Gonna Get You too. I can think of 12 drivers who all would
have a reasonable shot at winning this race, and the one who stands out the
most, Denny Hamlin, will likely not run the entire race. His Average Finish of
5.9 makes him an obvious pick. Scratching him off the list, I'm left with
Stewart, Martin, Newman, Burton, Truex Jr, Kahne, Gordon, Johnson, Edwards, Keslowski, and Shrub. I can't deny that Kyle has evolved
into a driver of significant accomplishment, but my heart tells me he is still
too aggressive to pick him this week. He is currently 9th in points, but only 9
points under 12th, and 16 points better than Truex Jr, who sits in the bubble
13th. Kyle wrecks, DNF this week, my 2 cents. Jeff Gordon is sitting at 14th,
and is God-like when it comes to patience and skill on tracks like
Darlington.....ok, there is no other track like Darlington, but you get the
idea. The Rainbow Warrior is an easy call for a Top 5 finish, and only 7 points
out of the Chase. I like Ryan Newman at Darlington, and I'm gonna
watch him all day, but my money goes with Jeff Gordon this week.:)
Kevin (@KEVDOGG329):
Since I need wins badly, I have to be bold
and pick someone who will not only contend, but win. For this reason, I am
taking Denny Hamlin to win at this historic track this week. Denny has never
finished outside the top 15 at this track, and with an Average finish of 5.9,
this is what I need to start to claw my way out of the basement.
Mr. Seven:
I think I’m just going to take whoever finished in
seventh place. Deal with it.
(Editor’s
Note: Mr. Seven will be given credit for the points of the seventh place
finishing driver each week.)
Alabama: Keselowski,
Kahne, Edwards, Kenseth, Burton (what the?), Johnson, Gordon, and Stewart. Burton first: His record here is pretty good,
but most of it was back in the Roush day.
However, he has three top 10s in the last six races in Darlington. Back
in his day, and he may still be in it, (although it could be the tail end of
it), Jeff strung together eight consecutive top 5's, including a sweep in
'99. I think he's a points
collector here. I looked at all those
drivers above before I saw your info on them plus several more. The new young bloods
are really strong and anxious to prove themselves and are willing to force
things a little. Any time Kahne and Keselowski are not picked, you run a chance
of losing. The story is the same with
Kyle. The Old Guard has the experience
to have the patience needed here. I look
at this track as a slower 'Dega...you MUST hit your
marks here. If you don't, she's going to
bite you. I think Burton, Gordon,
Johnson, and Stewart have the edge here.
Having praised Burton, I'm dropping him. Gordon put together seven consecutive
top 5's here which includes 5 wins in 7 races and has the most wins, 7. Gordon's top 10 percentage
is an incredible 66%!! His driver rating is the best. Now, Johnson could win here...he already has
3 wins in only 14 races at Darlington. He is doing very well this year and
appears cool, calm and collected. If he isn't in the top 10, it won't be his
fault. It is true he only has 14 races here,
but his top 10 % tops even Gordon's:
JJ's is 71%, and he won this one last year. Repeat?
A better than average chance. You
may raise an eyebrow at Stewart also. He
sure hasn't done that well in Darlington; his top 10 % is only 55%. In 20 races at Darlington, he has NEVER won
at here. He never did that well here under
the reins of JGR. Curious,
eh? Overall, they had a
successful relationship, it just wasn't at Darlington! Since leaving JGR, in 4 races here, Tony has
garnered 2 Top 5's and 1 Top 10! Facts
that make you say "H-m-m-m-m".
Has Tony learned something? Could be, but he is only third on my list. My format calls for Gordon, Johnson and Stewart. So I'm going with: SMOKE!
Jim (@Forewasabi): Looking
at the numbers, there is one that stands out to me more than a lot of others. That number is 111.80. That is the driver rating of my selection for
this week at Darlington. He has history
on his side, as he leads all active drivers in wins at this track with seven,
and has 18 top five finishes. I’m taking
my own advice and picking Jeff Gordon to return to Darlington victory lane this
week!
So, there are my challengers and our pro picks for the Bojangles’
Southern 500 at Darlington. Good to be
getting back to some real racing!
Happy Mother’s Day to all out there who qualify! And to everyone else, be nice to your mom
every day! She brought you into this
world, and she can take you out! Or
she’ll tell you to eat your vegetable, or wait until your father gets home!
“Mom. Momma. Mommy. Ma. Momma. Momma. Mom. Mom. Mommy. Mom. Momma. Mom. Mom. Momma. Mom. Mom. Mom.”
“WHAT?!”
“Hi.” -Stewie and Lois: Family
Guy
Jim Fitzgerald @Forewasabi
PattyKay Lilley @MamaPKL
Kevin Abraham @KevDogg329
Marshall Gabell @Gabell_Racing
Who is YOUR pick to win this week?