57 mins agoKyle Busch will start 14th in Sunday's All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Entering All-Star weekend, Busch has three top-10 finishes over the last five races, which shows that there is some momentum trending his way. However, despite some recent success, don't look for that trend to continue this weekend, as the 39-year-old has struggled on short tracks since making the switch to Richard Childress Racing last season. In the nine races on tracks that are less than a mile in length (exhibition races excluded), KFB has just one top-10 finish, with an average overall finish of just 19.8. Even more alarming is how badly the former 2x Cup champion struggled in this race, on this track, last season. After starting 14th in the 2023 All-Star Race, Busch finished 22nd, which was third to last. Given his recent struggles on short tracks and the struggles he had on this track in particular, it is recommended that you limit your exposure to the No. 8 this weekend in DFS. Source: Racing-Reference.info
3 hours agoRicky Stenhouse Jr. will begin the Sunday night NASCAR All-Star Race from the 16th position. The JTG Daugherty Racing driver has had a disastrous time on short tracks this season (33rd at Bristol and Richmond, 29th at Martinsville). Worse, the No. 47 Chevy has two Top 10 results but both are on superspeedway style tracks. Lap averages were especially less than stellar as Stenhouse Jr. was only faster than Timmy Hill. That 19.202 second overall was slower than Kevin Harvick (now retired) who piloted the Kyle Larson car on Saturday. Simply, Stenhouse Jr. figures to enjoy the race with limited place differential. Source: NASCAR.com
3 hours agoMichael McDowell will begin ninth on Sunday night at the NASCAR All-Star Race. The Front Row Motorsports driver was 25th in the practice session and saw something subtle speed changes. The No. 34 Ford turned in an overall lap that was slower than his 30-lap interval (18.93 seconds). McDowell on short tracks has not been the best posting a 21st at Martinsville and 26th at Richmond. The chances this Ford begins to slide as the laps mount. Even with wheel changes, McDowell figures to lose track positioning to faster cars on Sunday night.Source: NASCAR.com
3 hours agoAJ Allmendinger will start tenth for the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro on Sunday night. That is the good news. The bad news for the Kaulig Racing driver is those practice laps. Allmendinger was part of the 19-second club. With the No. 16 Chevy turning in an overall 19.055 seconds, that is a major concern. His five-lap interval came in at 18.589 seconds which was good. However, it was the long-run speed that should trouble any DFS players or sports bettors. The 0.625-mile track is asymmetrical with 13-degree banked turns that favor short-track drivers. Allmendinger's Chevy may not be suited for this track. Source: NASCAR.com
6 days agoFor the first time since the 2021 season, Brad Keselowski can call himself a winner. A wild ending to the Goodyear 400 on Sunday helped Keselowski get to victory lane, as issues between race-winning contenders, Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick, opened the door for Brad to capitalize late and get the win. This victory locks Keselowski into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, and marks his second-ever win at Darlington (and first victory since becoming part owner of Roush-Fenway Keselowski Racing). This also ends Ford's winless streak in the Cup Series, and marks the first victory for the new Mustang Dark Horse car.Source: Speedway Digest
6 days agoHeading into the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway this past weekend, Bubba Wallace was in need of a good run. The previous three races of the season all ended with the No. 23 Toyota outside of the top 15, and the 23XI Racing driver had just two top-10 results in the previous ten races. A seventh-place run at Darlington is exactly what the doctor ordered for Bubba Wallace. He ranked 11th-fastest in Green Flag Speed during the race but was able to maintain track position all day, as Wallace was eighth-best in average running position. Still, Bubba now sits six points below the cutline for this year's Playoffs. When asked about that following the Darlington race, he replied, "This is where we lit the wick last year, at this point in the season, so it's time to do it again."Source: FOX Sports
6 days agoMost NASCAR Cup Series drivers would consider a fourth-place finish at Darlington Raceway a great run. Not Denny Hamlin. Despite notching his fifth top-five finish of the season, Hamlin remarked after the race, "Below average day for the Yahoo! Camry, but to finish fourth on a below average day--that's alright." Hamlin had the sixth-best average running position during the race and ranked eighth-fastest in Green Flag Speed. For him to call that a below average day, it shows just how fast that No. 11 Toyota has been this season. With his good run at Darlington, Denny now sits third in the points standings, just 39 points behind leader, Kyle Larson.Source: Speedway Digest
6 days agoJustin Haley walked away with a ninth-place finish after this weekend's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, his first top-10 result of the 2024 season. And while Haley was never a contender for the race win, this run is still extremely noteworthy, as it marks the first-ever non-superspeedway top-10 finish for Rick Ware Racing. Many people questioned Haley's decision to move over to Rick Ware Racing this season, but races like this show that it was probably the right move, as the Kaulig Chevrolets struggled once again at Darlington. Source: Frontstretch
6 days agoKyle Larson started sixth at Darlington before being taken out in a lap 252 crash, relegating him to a 34th-place finish. Larson had great speed, especially in Stage 1 when he beat Tyler Reddick out of the pits before passing Ty Gibbs to take the Stage win. However, after Reddick retook the lead in the pits, Larson could never retake the lead and spent most of the race running between third and fifth. Shortly after Byron passed him for third in Stage 3, Larson hit the wall and needed to pit stop for tires slightly early. He damaged his car and toe link in that wall contact, because shortly after he pitted, he popped a tire while running sixth, resulting in a crash. He still ranked fourth in average speed and significantly closed his deficit in speed percentile to the leader Martin Truex, Jr. Larson also retainen his points lead.Source: Racing Reference
6 days agoAlthough Todd Gilliland finished 15th in this weekend's race at Darlington while his teammate Michael McDowell finished 10th, that does not reflect how well he ran, as Gilliland consistently had more speed, particularly in Stage 1 when he drove from 15th to 6th, finishing the Stage as the second-highest Ford driver behind only eventual race winner, Brad Keselowski. Unfortunately, Gilliland lost many spots in the pits and could not work his way back to the top 10. Gilliland was generally the faster Front Row Motorsports driver in the race as he ranked 12th in speed while McDowell was 17th.Source: Racing Reference
6 days agoChris Buescher delivered an electrifying performance for the second straight week at Darlington before a cut tire dropped him to 30th. Although his owner-teammate and eventual winner, Brad Keselowski, outran him, Buescher short-pitted to join the leaders' battle. While Keselowski and Tyler Reddick ran side-by-side for several laps, Buescher caught them sleeping and made a daring three-wide pass for the lead one week after his five-wide pass for second at Kansas. However, Reddick made a failed slide job on Buescher several laps later, cutting both drivers' tires and handing Keselowski the win. Buescher confronted Reddick after the race, incensed that Reddick took him out when he was locked into the Playoffs while Buescher was not. However, Buescher's increased aggression is paying dividends as he arguably drove too conservatively before. It's hard to imagine him not winning before the Playoffs, particularly since he is the fastest Ford driver for the second consecutive year.Source: Racing Reference
6 days agoRyan Blaney is not particularly known as a great Darlington driver, as he's never finished better than eighth and has only led laps in two races. However, this past weekend in the Goodyear 400, he was on pace for one of his best-ever runs there before being eliminated in a lap 129 crash. Blaney started 17th but pitted long on the green-flag pit cycle during Stage 1, which enabled him to make a series of passes and finish eighth in the Stage. He was in a three-wide battle for fourth with William Byron and Martin Truex, Jr. when Byron touched Truex, which sent Truex into Blaney and Blaney into the wall. Although he had minimal cosmetic damage, a broken toe link took him out due to the damaged vehicle policy and he finished last, but his good run prior to that indicates that Blaney will likely have better runs at Darlington in the future.Source: Racing Reference
6 days agoOn Sunday afternoon Michael McDowell finished with his second top-10 finish in as many weeks as he placed 10th in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. While earning his fourth top-10 finish of the season is noteworthy, the biggest news story of the week related to the No.read more...
6 days agoChase Briscoe finished fifth in Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, marking his fifth top-10 finish of the season. Heading into the weekend, there was little buzz for the Stewart-Haas star, likely due to the fact that he was averaging 18.16 for his finishing position in his previous six Cup starts at the famed South Carolina track. Despite the limited interest in the 29-year-old for this race, he delivered a tremendous return on value for the 10.24% that rostered him on DraftKings, scoring 48.35 points on a $6,800 salary. While he did not lead any laps in Sunday's contest, he was incredibly consistent, running 76.5% of the race in the top 15 and even recording three fastest laps. Although he does not have a win this season, the No. 14 enters all-star weekend ranked 14th in the playoff standings, a favorable position to be in as we enter the second half of the regular season.Source: Jayski.com
6 days agoTyler Reddick ended the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway in the 32nd position, two laps down after he dominated much of the race. Starting from the pole, Reddick commanded the race for 37 laps before losing ground during green flag pit stops and finishing the first stage inread more...