Where: Darlington Raceway, Darlington, SC
When: Saturday, May 8th, 7:45 p.m.
TV: FOX
How Long: 501 miles, 367 laps
Last Week on the Circuit Studs and Duds
Three Studs
1. Kyle Busch- Can you say domination? I thought I was back in the 1970's early when only eight cars were on the lead lap. Wild Thing was THAT good, like him or not
2. Jeff Gordon- Poor Jeff just can't seem to win a race this year. In all fairness, Busch DID have a better car, but major props to Gordon for turning a one-sided race into a contest.
3. Carl Edwards- We actually saw a little bit of Carl running in the top 10 for once this season. Edwards needs to take baby steps before he gets back into contention.
Three Duds
1.Dale Earnhardt Jr.- There is a such thing as bad days in NASCAR, but good lord, Junior was absolutely awful. When does a Hendrick car EVER finish 3 laps down?
2. Tony Stewart- Speaking of not being very good, Tony has been nothing but disappointing this season. Another lap down finish last week, Gordon is in a bit of a hole.
3. Mark Martin- Wasn't awful like Junior, but was far from contending on Saturday. Just an all-around bad day for Hendrick outside of Gordon and little bit of Jimmie.
It's Happy Time!!!
Happy 46th Birthday Bobby Labonte- The 2000 Winston Cup Champion turns 46 tomorrow as he runs in the Southern 500. Labonte currently drives the #71 car owned by TRG Motorsports. LAbonte hasn't won since 2003, but has driven in eveyr race since 1993 and is a seasoned and likeable veteran.
Happy 15th Anniversary Dale Earnhardt- I feel like I do Earnhardt on this segment every year. But in any case, on this day in 1995, Earnhrdt earned hsi first road course victory, winning at Sonoma (or Infinion) whatever you want to call it. It would be the only road course win the Intimidator would ever earn.
Happy Trails Prism Motorsports- The stupidstart and park cars #55 and #66 driven nroamlyl by Michael McDoweel and Dave Blaney failed to qualify last week at Richmond. Here's to hoping the same is true this week at Darlington.
My Predicted Finish This Week
At Richmond....
Number of Top Ten Cars Correct: 6 of 10
Number of Top Five Cars Correct: 2 of 5
Correct winner: Yes
Number of Exact Position Correct: 1 of 10 (Kyle Busch 1st place)
This Season....
Number of Top Ten Cars Correct: 42 of 90 (46.6%)
Number of Top Five Cars Correct: 18 of 45 (40%)
Correct Winner: 2 of 9 (22.2%)
Number of Exact Position Correct: 6 of 90 (6.6%)
Darlington is a place that is more for the experienced than anything, typically younger drivers stuggle at this wild track. Keeping this in mind, everyone and their mom is picking Jeff Gordon to win this week. I'm going to dissent from this and go with Denny Hamlin. He won the Nationwide Series last night and seems poised to sweep the weekend. Jeff Gordon will take second, followed by Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson, and Ryan Newman. Sixth place goes Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth to seventh. Martin Truex Jr. goes to eighth, youngstr Joey Logano finishes ninth, and my boy Jamie McMurray is in tenth.
My Top Ten Picks
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Jeff Burton
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Ryan Newman
6. Tony Stewart
7. Matt Kenseth
8. Martin Truex Jr.
9. Joey Logano
10. Jamie McMurray
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