We won’t get the benefit of seeing any practice before locking down this week. That would have been huge, because we only go to The Lady in Black once a year. That means half the data to go off of.
Darlington was repaved in 2008, so we’ll go off of the last four races for ranking purposes. As usual I’ll factor in current momentum as well. No track compares to Darlington, it’s the only 1.37-mile track on the Sprint Cup Circuit. This track is banked steeply and is very narrow, which results in lots of Darlington Stripes(scraping the wall). Starting up front here is huge!
A List Ranks
1. Kyle Busch- I have a feeling Rowdy is about to get on one of his hot streaks. He’s got a win and a second-place finish in his last two races. He doesn’t always finish well at Darlington, but he’s always fast. This is one of those tracks where you want a wheel man behind the wheel and Kyle fits the bill there. Busch owns a 13.3 average in the last four races at Darlington, with two top 10s and 278 laps led. He also owns the second-highest Driver Rating over that span at 110 and owns a win at the Lady in Black. The 18 is a contender for the win on Saturday.
2. Denny Hamlin- Denny is the king of managing his tires. However, Darlington isn’t nearly as rough on tires since the repave. Hamlin owns a 6.8 average finish over the last four races here, with three top 10s and 119 laps led. He also has an impressive 102.9 Driver Rating over that span and has a win. Denny should be near the front of the field when the checkered flag flies on Saturday Night.