1 week agoDon't overlook Christopher Bell at Darlington this weekend. Although the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has just one career top-five finish in nine career starts at "The Lady in Black," he did get the win at Homestead last season, which is another high-wear intermediate track and one of the comparable venues to Darlington. Additionally, Bell's No. 20 Toyota looked strong in practice this weekend, specifically on the long run. Although Bell ranked just 33rd-fastest in ten-lap average, he had some of the best falloff times during practice, which is going to be key to having a good run in the Goodyear 400. The broadcast analysts also noted how good they thought Bell's car looked in practice. In DraftKings, CBell will likely be an overlooked option on Sunday, making him a great tournament pivot at his $10,000 salary.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
1 week agoIt has been a rough stretch of races for Bubba Wallace lately, as the 23XI Racing driver is currently on a three-race streak of finishes outside of the top 15, and he has just two top-10 results over the last 10 races. Considering he started off the season with back-to-back top-five finishes at Daytona and Atlanta, that's quite the decline. However, things could definitely turn around this weekend at Darlington Raceway in the Goodyear 400. Bubba is currently on a three-race streak of top-10 finishes at "The Lady in Black," and he came home a career-best fifth in this race one year ago. Wallace qualified eighth for this weekend's race and has top-10 finishing potential as long as he doesn't run into trouble during the event, something he has had trouble avoiding this season.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
1 week agoOne driver to always consider when the Cup Series stops at Darlington is Erik Jones. Over 12 career starts at "The Lady in Black," Jones has two victories, eight top 10s, and an average finish of 11.8, which is fifth-best among active drivers. This weekend, Jones qualified back in 30th for the Goodyear 400, which would typically make him a great DFS option at this track--but there is some question marks on how he will perform since he is coming off of a fractured back injury. That is one of those situations where we will have to wait and see, but don't be surprised if Jones makes his way through the field on Sunday. At $7,500 on DraftKings, he has good Place Differential scoring upside and you should have some exposure.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: DriverAverages
1 week agoIf you're looking for a deep sleeper with top 15 finishing potential for the Goodyear 400 on Sunday afternoon, look no further than Todd Gilliland. In practice on Saturday, Gilliland had one of the fastest cars on the long runs, posting the best 20-, 25-, and 30-lap averages after being fourth-fastest in 10-lap average. Here at Darlington, Gilliland actually has a pair of top-15 finishes in the spring race, and he came home a career-best 11th last season. He qualified 15th for this weekend's race, so that makes him an extremely high-risk DFS play, but at only $5,500 on DraftKings, he could be a low-dollar driver to roll the dice on--just not too much.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
1 week agoBrad Keselowski will make his first top-10 start of the season on Sunday when he begins on the front row for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Keselowski, who currently sits 15th in the NASCAR playoff standings, has really struggled in qualifying this year, averaging 22.5 for his
read more...
1 week agoOn Saturday afternoon, Ross Chastain qualified ninth for Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. In nine Cup starts at the track "Too Tough to Tame", Chastain has struggled. While he did finish fifth in the race here last fall, in his three prior starts he finished 29th (spring
read more...
1 week agoAfter finishing just short in last week's race at Kansas, Chris Buescher will start third in Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. As the driver who now holds the record for the closest runner-up finish in Cup Series history, one who truly believed he won the race when
read more...
1 week agoAlex Bowman will start 18th in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. In his three Cup starts in the Next Gen car at this track, Bowman has struggled as he has crashed out in two of these starts. Because of these two DNFs, since 2022, the 31-year-old has averaged just 15.22 DraftKings points, the second lowest among full-time drivers in the series over this span. While fellow Hendrick Motorsports stablemates Kyle Larson and William Byron each have victories at "The Lady in Black" in recent years, for whatever reason, the No. 48 has yet to tap into that magic. While a DraftKings salary of $8,000 is not outrageous for a driver the caliber of Bowman, particularly when there is some opportunity for place differential, his lack of success at this track makes him a risky play and a driver you should limit your exposure to this weekend in DFS.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
1 week agoAfter announcing his departure from Front Row Motorsports to join Spire Motorsports in 2025 last week, Michael McDowell is now a lame-duck driver for both FRM and Ford. Since he is moving to a Chevrolet team and lame-duck drivers rarely receive as much in the way of factory support or setup notes (particularly if they are switching to a different manufacturer), McDowell will likely run worse for the remainder of the season than he has previously. Additionally, Darlington is not one of his better tracks. While he earned top tens in both Darlington races in 2022 with the NextGen chassis, those were his only career top 10s there and they largely resulted from strategy and attrition. Since Blake Harris (the crew chief who guided him to those good finishes) is no longer there and the non-RFK Racing Fords have minimal speed, it's unlikely McDowell will seriously contend today.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 week agoThis year's rookie wunderkind Carson Hocevar has clearly overtaken Corey LaJoie to become the Spire Motorsports team leader, and he is coming to a track where he already has much experience and a consistent finishing record. Hocevar got his first finish in the NASCAR Cup Series there last year when he finished 17th for Legacy Motor Club, which was better than any result his predecessor Noah Gragson, managed on a non-drafting track all season. Additionally, Hocevar earned three top fives in the Craftsman Truck Series (more than he has done at any other track) and one of his two top tens in the Xfinity Series there. Although he's never led much in any of those races, he should be poised for one of his best finishes of the season this weekend, especially when considering that LaJoie has run well here before. Hocevar qualified 21st this weekend, ahead of both of his teammates.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 week agoJustin Haley qualified 28th for this weekend's race at Darlington, giving him his best starting position on an unrestricted superspeedway since he moved to Rick Ware Racing. Haley is a plodding, methodical driver who predictably finishes better than he starts almost every week, and Darlington will likely prove no exception. He has a better average finish at Darlington than any other track where he has raced three or more times. This included third and eighth-place finishes in the last two spring Darlington races. However, in both of those races, he had average running positions worse than 20th and primarily benefited from good strategy and attrition, while Kaulig Racing typically still has faster cars than RWR. Haley is consistent and risk-averse enough that he will likely advance through the field and finish around 20th, but he'd need a lot of luck to threaten for a top ten.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 week agoAlthough Chase Elliott has never won at Darlington, he certainly had the speed to do so in both 2020 races when he led 142 laps despite crashing in both. However, those races both came with the Generation 6 chassis, and Elliott generally ran better with that chassis than the Next Gen chassis. Since the Next Gen was introduced in 2022, Elliott has been pretty consistent with two top fives and top tens in all three races he finished, but he had to recover from mediocre starting positions in all those races and led no laps. He will have to drive through the pack again in today's race after qualifying 31st. Elliott is running better than he did last year, but worse than the year before. He should get a top ten if he has no bad luck, but he probably won't significantly threaten for the win.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 week agoAlthough he's never led a lap at Darlington, it is one of Austin Dillon's most consistent tracks, as he has an average finish of 14.3 there, better than any other track the NASCAR Cup Series visits twice. His second-place finish in the 2020 Southern 500 was one of his best-ever drives. However, Dillon has struggled mightily with the Next Gen chassis. Since his best crew chief, Justin Alexander, left in 2023, he has run worse than ever before in his career. Dillon currently has the second-worst speed percentile in the Cup Series at 23.98. Although Alexander returned this season as a mid-season replacement for Keith Rodden, and Dillon promptly got a top-10 finish at Texas almost immediately, he has generally been running no better and qualified only 23rd for this weekend's Goodyear 400. Alexander has elevated Dillon before, so it's conceivable he may do so again, but recent performances suggest that is unlikely.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 week agoKyle Busch has had a wildly inconsistent 2024 season, as his runs on superspeedways and road courses have been consistently strong but he has been lackluster on tracks of one mile or less, much like his Richard Childress Racing predecessor Tyler Reddick. Busch only won at Darlington once in 2008 but he has consistently run well with 899 laps led. Although he had three straight DNFs in his last Darlington races for Joe Gibbs Racing, he bounced back with 7th and 11th place finishes last year despite leading neither race. His 11th-place qualifying run this weekend places him on Row 6 for the third straight Darlington race. Unlike Ford and Toyota, Chevrolet didn't introduce a new model this year, so it stands to reason that Busch will likely run similarly to last year and is likely poised for another finish in the back half of the top ten.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 week agoAlthough the Wood Brothers have won eight times at Darlington (more than any other track except for Daytona and Michigan), Harrison Burton looks quite unlikely to add to that record this weekend, as he qualified 35th for the Goodyear 400 and was the slowest qualifier in the first qualifying group. He did get one of his five top-10 finishes in last year's race when he ended up sixth, but he ran significantly worse when considering that both his average running position and his rank in driver rating in that race were 13th. All the Fords were generally slow in qualifying except the RFK Racing cars, but the Wood Brothers are currently a satellite for Team Penske, not RFK, so the odds of Burton having a good run here are quite remote.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
RADIO
