Denny Hamlin Picking Up Where He Left Off At Darlington

Back in April of this year, it was Denny Hamlin standing in victory lane here at Darlington Raceway. And when the Cook Out Southern 500 goes green on Sunday night, Hamlin will pick up right where he left off, as the No. 11 Toyota was the fastest car in qualifying on Saturday with a time […]

The Sky Is The Limit for Kyle Larson at Darlington

Whenever Kyle Larson is racing at Darlington Raceway, you know he's going to be a factor. No active driver has led more laps than Larson at this race track, as "Yung Money" has been in the lead for 1,048 circuits at "The Lady in Black." Next best is Denny Hamlin, who has led for 1,010 […]

Ryan Blaney a Strong DFS Play at Darlington This Weekend

Make sure you have plenty of Ryan Blaney in your DFS lineups for the Southern 500 at Darlington this weekend. The No. 12 Ford has been one of the fastest cars on the long run all season long, and that type of speed is exactly what a driver needs to be successful at a track […]

Tyler Reddick Shouldn't Be Overlooked at Darlington This Weekend

Be sure not to overlook Tyler Reddick at Darlington Raceway this weekend. In the seven races in the Next Gen era, Reddick has the second-best average driver rating (107.8) and the most top-five finishes (four) among active Cup Series drivers. He walked away with a fourth-place result in the first race here this season (after […]

Alex Bowman An Easy Place Differential Play in DFS This Weekend

Alex Bowman is going to be one of the most popular picks on the DFS slate this weekend at Darlington Raceway. That is because Bowman qualified back in 29th-place for Sunday evening's Cook Out Southern 500, and with his very affordable DraftKings salary of $7,800, that makes Bowman a prime Place Differential pick on this […]

Ty Gibbs Could Be Strong at Darlington This Weekend

Don't overlook Ty Gibbs this weekend at Darlington Raceway. The young Joe Gibbs Racing driver has taken a knack to "The Lady in Black," as Gibbs has finished seventh or better in five of the last six Stages at this track. As far as race results go, Ty ended up ninth here in the spring […]

Erik Jones Has Best Darlington Qualifying Effort Since Last Win

Every time the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway, fantasy players need to keep an eye on Erik Jones. In 15 career starts at the track, Jones has collected two victories and eight top-10 finishes, all while posting an average result of 13.5. Of course, many of those good results came when he was […]

Zane Smith Hopeful For Another Solid Run At Darlington

Don't sleep on Zane Smith this weekend in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The Front Row Motorsports driver was able to walk away with a 12th-place finish here in the spring race, and the No. 38 Ford had some good long-run speed during practice on Saturday, with Zane ranking sixth-fastest when it […]

AJ Allmendinger Still Seeking First Top 10 at Darlington

Keep an eye on AJ Allmendinger this weekend at Darlington Raceway. The Kaulig Racing driver has had some solid results on the steep, intermediate ovals this season, including a seventh-place finish at Homestead and a ninth-place result at Bristol. When it comes to Darlington, though, The Dinger is still searching for his first top-10 result […]

Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em - Week 1 Matchups Analysis (2025)

Welcome, RotoBallers, to another year of our weekly start 'em and sit 'em article! It's finally time to welcome you back -- it's the inaugural 2025 article for our Week 1 matchups analysis and fantasy football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em picks, which will hopefully help you make winning lineup decisions in Week 1 of the […]

Chase Elliott Likely Won't Factor for Win, but Should Gain Many Positions

Although Chase Elliott came close to winning the last two 2020 races at Darlington before two separate crashes with Joe Gibbs Racing drivers took him out of contention, he hasn't really factored for the lead at Darlington since but he's still been pretty consistent with top twelves in all but two of the last nine […]

Joey Logano Might Focus More on Playoff Races Since He Scored Few Playoff Points

Joey Logano has almost been the polar opposite of Chris Buescher as he no longer seems to care about where he finishes in a race as long as he wins at the right moments and accumulates a lot of stage points. While purists prefer Buescher's consistent approach, there's no denying that Logano's approach is better-suited […]

Missing Playoffs Allows Chris Buescher to Potentially Go All Out at Darlington

Although some people see Chris Buescher as a major playoff snub, he was far less deserving this year than in 2024 when he was a genuine snub because this year, he hardly ever had anything resembling winning speed. He is typically too risk-averse to avoid mistakes, which gives him a higher floor than most other […]

Shane van Gisbergen Qualified Too Well for DFS Consideration

Since there is no road course in this round of the NASCAR playoffs, Shane van Gisbergen's playoff run will likely end right here. His 20th-place qualifying run made him one of the only three playoff drivers who failed to qualify in the top 14, so he'll likely lose points to all of them unless another […]

Austin Dillon Earned Best Qualifying Result at Darlington

Despite never leading a lap at Darlington, Austin Dillon wasn't actually bad here in his earlier years, as he posted five top tens in his first 12 starts including a second in the 2020 Southern 500, but almost all of that came with the Gen 6 car, while he has been significantly slower everywhere with […]

Kyle Busch's Downturn in Speed This Year Makes Him a Worse DFS Option Than He Looks

Kyle Busch won only a single race at Darlington in 2008, but he has had some speed in the Next Gen era, leading 155 laps in the 2022 Southern 500 before an engine failure, then finishing 11th or better in four of the last five races including a second in last year's Southern 500, but […]

Carson Hocevar Should Run Better at Darlington Than the Numbers Predict

Although Carson Hocevar hasn't posted a good finish at Darlington yet, tomorrow's Southern 500 could provide him such an opportunity. Hocevar had speed when he qualified second for last year's Southern 500 although he quickly faded and earned no stage points before crashing out. Despite his general increase in speed, he had his worst qualifying […]

Ryan Preece a Low-key Strong DFS Option at Darlington After His Speed in the Spring

Ryan Preece starts 27th for tomorrow's Southern 500. Preece has neither led a lap nor earned a top ten finish at Darlington, but he did start on the front row twice. One of those came when he started on the pole in the second race in 2020 after a field inversion, but he qualified second […]

Although Michael McDowell Improved at Darlington in the Next Gen Era, Don't Expect Much Tomorrow

Michael McDowell's Darlington record has been pretty paltry to date as he has only posted three top tens in his career here. While all three of those races came with the Next Gen car, which indicates that he's obviously improved of late, he has still run worse than his record implies because he has never […]

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Struggled at Darlington Even in His Better Seasons

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. has never been particularly strong at Darlington. Not only has he never led here, he's also only posted a single top ten finish at the track, an eighth place finish in the 2022 spring race, and even that was more a result of attrition than speed as he had an average running […]

Despite 23XI Racing's Darlington Speed, Riley Herbst Will Likely Run Terribly

Although 23XI Racing has consistently had speed at Darlington with Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace each earning several top ten finishes and battling for the lead in races at least once, the same has not held true for their rookie teammate Riley Herbst who starts 33rd tomorrow in a race where Reddick starts fourth and […]

Attrition Too Unlikely for Cody Ware to Score Place Differential Points at Darlington

Cody Ware starts 36th for tomorrow evening's Southern 500. He actually had one of his career-best finishes on an unrestricted superspeedway in the spring Darlington race three years ago in 2022 when he finished 19th, but that was an atypical result for him on any track type. In his other Darlington starts, he crashed three […]

Trevor Rogers Continues Dominant Run in Win

Baltimore Orioles left-hander Trevor Rogers (8-2) continued an incredible run and notched his eighth win of the season in an 11-1 drubbing of the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. Rogers recorded his fourth straight start of seven-inning, one-run ball and allowed five hits with no walks and five strikeouts. That's now nine quality starts in […]

Bryan Abreu Melts Down in Loss

Houston Astros reliever Bryan Abreu turned in a rare poor performance in a 4-1 defeat against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday. Abreu fell to 3-4 on the season after surrendering three earned runs on four hits and two walks (two strikeouts) in two-thirds of an inning. The Astros called on Abreu to pitch the […]

Jeff Hoffman Hammered in Loss

Toronto Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman (8-6) took his sixth loss of the year in a 4-1 game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. Hoffman entered a 1-1 contest in the top of the ninth inning and proceeded to allow back-to-back home runs to Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich. Hoffman went on to give up […]

Darlington Has Been A Good Track for Todd Gilliland

One lower-tier driver to keep an eye on in Sunday night's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway is Todd Gilliland. The Front Row Motorsports driver has been pretty consistent throughout his career at "The Lady in Black," and better than average. In seven career Darlington starts, Todd Gilliland has finished 17th or better five […]

Jackson Chourio Slugs Clutch Homer in Return From Injured List

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio returned from the injured list on Saturday and hit a key home run in a 4-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. With the game tied 1-1, Chourio led off the top of the ninth inning and took Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman deep to give the Brewers a lead […]

NASCAR DFS Picks: DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Lineups for the Cook Out Southern 500 (2025)

It is finally time for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs to begin with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Darlington is a 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval track known for its unique track layout, where each pair of turns is completely different from each other in terms of length and banking. Typically, drivers and […]

Jets GM: Justin Fields "Can be One of Those Guys"

New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields agreed to a two-year, $40 million contract during the offseason. The signal-caller has had his share of ups and downs throughout his career thus far. However, Jets general manager Darren Mougey appears to have confidence in the 2021 No. 11 overall pick. "I do believe Justin can be one […]

Chris Sale Stellar in Return From Injury

Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale didn't miss a beat in his first start in over two months on Saturday. Although the Braves lost 3-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies, Sale didn't factor into the decision in his return from a fractured rib cage. The 36-year-old southpaw limited the Phillies to one run on three hits while […]