The track with perhaps equal history to Daytona International or Indianapolis is hosting the race this week. The “Track Too Tough to Tame” or the “Lady in Black” are the nicknames for Darlington Raceway in South Carolina and the Southern 500 is known as one of the crown jewels of the schedule along with the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, Coca-Cola 600, and the Alabama 500. However just because it’s historic and part of that impressive group of races doesn’t mean it’s anything but a common stop on the schedule.
It is in fact anything but normal. First off it’s a distance all its own at 1.36 mile as a kind of half way between the three 1-mile tracks and the 1.5-mile tracks. Secondly the two sets of turns are banked at different degrees with the first two at 25 degrees and the second two at 23 degrees. Thirdly the turns are two different radii. They combined to form a egg-shaped track that is arguably the hardest track to get around consistently without painting a “Darlington Stripe” on the side of the car.
With that being said however, it does work similar to a short track in terms of laps led totals with a handful of drivers leading the majority of laps in the last four races with 723 being led by four drivers combined and 518 being led by another single driver. Passing can tricky here too as there is usually just one good groove on the track. Seven drivers in the field have a position differential mark of better +6 but about half of those have only been in one or two races in the last four.
Five of the last six winners of the race have come from the top-10 starting spots with the only exception being Carl Edwards who started 13th in 2015. Denny Hamlin is the only repeat winner in the last 11 trips to the track having won in 2017 and 2010, and before the 2007 race (11 races ago) Jimmie Johnson won both 2004 races and Greg Biffle won back-to-back in 2005 and 2006 after the track went to just one race a year.
Toyota has won the last three races and six of the last 10 while Chevy has won the other four with Ford not having won since 2006, although it is slightly misleading because Kevin Harvick won in 2014, the last time Chevy won, because SHR was still a Chevy shop and not yet a Ford shop.
Track Breakdown
Last Four Races at Darlington Raceway
Avg. | Avg. | Avg. | Top | Top | Top | Top | Laps | |||
Driver | Races | Start | Run Pos. | Finish | Wins | 5s | 10s | 15s | 20s | Led |
Kevin Harvick | 4 | 1.5 | 3 | 4.3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 518 |
Denny Hamlin | 4 | 8 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 197 |
Martin Truex Jr | 4 | 7.3 | 8.3 | 11.3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 104 |
Joey Logano | 4 | 4.8 | 8 | 15.5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 66 |
Kyle Larson | 4 | 13.3 | 10 | 8.8 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 172 |
Kyle Busch | 4 | 6.8 | 8.3 | 6.5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
Matt Kenseth | 4 | 15 | 12.8 | 9.3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 22 |
Brad Keselowski | 4 | 3.5 | 6 | 10.8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 250 |
Kurt Busch | 4 | 6.5 | 9.5 | 18.5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
Austin Dillon | 4 | 18.5 | 16.8 | 12.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Jimmie Johnson | 4 | 18 | 15.3 | 16.8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
Erik Jones | 1 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Ryan Newman | 4 | 15.3 | 14 | 9.5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 9 |
Jamie McMurray | 4 | 11 | 12.8 | 13.8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
Kasey Kahne | 4 | 19.5 | 17 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 25 |
Chase Elliott | 3 | 17.7 | 17 | 20.7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Aric Almirola | 4 | 13.8 | 20.3 | 21.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Clint Bowyer | 4 | 21.8 | 25.3 | 22.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Ty Dillon | 1 | 25 | 17 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
AJ Allmendinger | 4 | 25.5 | 27 | 23.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Ryan Blaney | 3 | 13.7 | 25.3 | 24.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Chris Buescher | 2 | 29 | 20 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Paul Menard | 4 | 17 | 21.5 | 24.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 4 | 18 | 24.8 | 26.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Landon Cassill | 4 | 31.5 | 27.8 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Michael McDowell | 2 | 30 | 25.5 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
David Ragan | 4 | 27.8 | 26.3 | 29.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Matt DiBenedetto | 3 | 29.3 | 28 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Alex Bowman | 2 | 34.5 | 32 | 26.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Corey LaJoie | 1 | 35 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Derrike Cope | 1 | 38 | 33 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
JJ Yeley | 1 | 36 | 36 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jeffrey Earnhardt | 2 | 37.5 | 35 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Daniel Suarez | 1 | 19 | 31 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BJ McLeod | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bubba Wallace | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Joey Gase | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ross Chastain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Timmy Hill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
William Byron | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fast | Top 15 | Laps | Avg. | High | Low | Pos | Laps Led | High to | Low to | |
Driver | Laps | Rate | Comp. | Rating | Rating | Rating | Diff | Pts./Race | Avg Rating | Avg Rating |
Kevin Harvick | 179 | 100% | 1474 | 130.7 | 148.9 | 109.3 | -2.80 | 32.38 | 18.2 | 21.4 |
Denny Hamlin | 90 | 98% | 1475 | 113.1 | 136.9 | 92.4 | 1.20 | 12.31 | 23.8 | 20.7 |
Martin Truex Jr | 93 | 88% | 1472 | 106.9 | 125.9 | 70.9 | -4.00 | 6.50 | 19 | 36 |
Joey Logano | 45 | 94% | 1459 | 98.1 | 118.1 | 82.4 | -10.70 | 4.13 | 20 | 15.7 |
Kyle Larson | 97 | 80% | 1474 | 100.3 | 111.1 | 81.7 | 4.50 | 10.75 | 10.8 | 18.6 |
Kyle Busch | 34 | 94% | 1475 | 102.6 | 116.5 | 92.3 | 0.30 | 0.63 | 13.9 | 10.3 |
Matt Kenseth | 35 | 74% | 1475 | 99.3 | 114.2 | 73.6 | 5.70 | 1.38 | 14.9 | 25.7 |
Brad Keselowski | 101 | 91% | 1474 | 113.4 | 137.4 | 97.1 | -7.30 | 15.63 | 24 | 16.3 |
Kurt Busch | 75 | 90% | 1428 | 92.1 | 116.4 | 69.8 | -12.00 | 0.88 | 24.3 | 22.3 |
Austin Dillon | 13 | 38% | 1475 | 79.1 | 96.2 | 62.8 | 6.20 | 0.00 | 17.1 | 16.3 |
Jimmie Johnson | 33 | 64% | 1435 | 85.7 | 101.2 | 76.9 | 1.20 | 0.50 | 15.5 | 8.8 |
Erik Jones | 8 | 95% | 367 | 103.1 | 103.1 | 103.1 | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
Ryan Newman | 10 | 64% | 1475 | 87.2 | 95.7 | 78.3 | 5.80 | 0.56 | 8.5 | 8.9 |
Jamie McMurray | 3 | 78% | 1474 | 83.6 | 86.4 | 81.3 | -2.80 | 0.00 | 2.8 | 2.3 |
Kasey Kahne | 23 | 47% | 1421 | 79.2 | 87.1 | 63.7 | -0.50 | 1.56 | 7.9 | 15.5 |
Chase Elliott | 21 | 54% | 960 | 75.4 | 97.9 | 45.4 | -3.00 | 0.00 | 22.5 | 30 |
Aric Almirola | 1 | 22% | 1450 | 66.9 | 85.2 | 53 | -8.00 | 0.00 | 18.3 | 13.9 |
Clint Bowyer | 21 | 17% | 1124 | 59.1 | 85.2 | 30 | -1.00 | 0.00 | 26.1 | 29.1 |
Ty Dillon | 0 | 35% | 366 | 75.7 | 75.7 | 75.7 | 12.00 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
AJ Allmendinger | 3 | 1% | 1446 | 53.3 | 72 | 30.6 | 1.70 | 0.00 | 18.7 | 22.7 |
Ryan Blaney | 25 | 9% | 1089 | 63.4 | 76.8 | 46.7 | -11.00 | 0.00 | 13.4 | 16.7 |
Chris Buescher | 4 | 8% | 733 | 65.3 | 65.9 | 64.7 | 12.00 | 0.00 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
Paul Menard | 7 | 19% | 1370 | 64.8 | 69.6 | 59.3 | -7.80 | 0.00 | 4.8 | 5.5 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 2 | 15% | 1412 | 58.3 | 72.2 | 49.9 | -8.30 | 0.00 | 13.9 | 8.4 |
Landon Cassill | 0 | 3% | 1465 | 51.1 | 60.7 | 40.2 | 7.50 | 0.31 | 9.6 | 10.9 |
Michael McDowell | 2 | 1% | 729 | 54.6 | 67 | 42.1 | 7.00 | 0.00 | 12.4 | 12.5 |
David Ragan | 21 | 14% | 1371 | 55.1 | 73.6 | 42.7 | -1.70 | 0.06 | 18.5 | 12.4 |
Matt DiBenedetto | 3 | 1% | 1093 | 47.9 | 50.1 | 45.2 | 3.30 | 0.00 | 2.2 | 2.7 |
Alex Bowman | 2 | 1% | 736 | 44.8 | 49.9 | 39.6 | 8.00 | 0.00 | 5.1 | 5.2 |
Corey LaJoie | 2 | 0% | 360 | 48.4 | 48.4 | 48.4 | 7.00 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
Derrike Cope | 0 | 1% | 351 | 33.7 | 33.7 | 33.7 | 6.00 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
JJ Yeley | 0 | 0% | 348 | 33.8 | 33.8 | 33.8 | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
Jeffrey Earnhardt | 5 | 0% | 603 | 32.3 | 39.9 | 24.7 | 3.50 | 0.00 | 7.6 | 7.6 |
Daniel Suarez | 0 | 7% | 125 | 49.7 | 49.7 | 49.7 | -19.00 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
BJ McLeod | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
Bubba Wallace | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
Joey Gase | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
Ross Chastain | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
Timmy Hill | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
William Byron | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
Top-15 Drivers at Last 10 Races at Darlington Raceway
Avg. | Avg. | Avg. | Top | Top | Top | Top | Laps | |||
Driver | Races | Start | Run Pos. | Finish | Wins | 5s | 10s | 15s | 20s | Led |
Denny Hamlin | 10 | 10.1 | 8.5 | 5.8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 372 |
Kevin Harvick | 10 | 12.2 | 8.9 | 11.1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 567 |
Jimmie Johnson | 10 | 16.2 | 13.5 | 13.8 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 144 |
Kyle Busch | 10 | 10.8 | 7.4 | 8.9 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 597 |
Matt Kenseth | 10 | 17 | 13.4 | 9.8 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 58 |
Martin Truex Jr | 10 | 14 | 9.8 | 11.1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 202 |
Ryan Newman | 10 | 12.9 | 14.5 | 12.6 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 85 |
Brad Keselowski | 9 | 11.7 | 12.2 | 12.4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 250 |
Joey Logano | 9 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 18.3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 85 |
Kurt Busch | 10 | 10.4 | 12 | 16.7 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 84 |
Jamie McMurray | 10 | 13.8 | 13.1 | 14.9 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 87 |
Kasey Kahne | 10 | 14.5 | 12.9 | 17.4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 228 |
Kyle Larson | 4 | 13.3 | 10 | 8.8 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 172 |
Austin Dillon | 4 | 18.5 | 16.8 | 12.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
David Ragan | 10 | 24.1 | 25.7 | 26.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
Fast | Top 15 | Laps | Avg. | High | Low | Pos. | Laps Led | Rating | |
Driver | Laps | Rate | Comp. | Rating | Rating | Rating | Diff. | Pts/Race | Range |
Denny Hamlin | 193 | 87% | 3681 | 108.5 | 136.9 | 73.4 | 4.30 | 9.30 | 63.5 |
Kevin Harvick | 230 | 87% | 3578 | 107.8 | 148.9 | 71.7 | 1.10 | 14.18 | 77.2 |
Jimmie Johnson | 137 | 65% | 603 | 94.4 | 141.1 | 55.8 | 2.40 | 3.60 | 85.3 |
Kyle Busch | 248 | 91% | 3617 | 110.9 | 138.6 | 85.4 | 1.90 | 14.93 | 53.2 |
Matt Kenseth | 102 | 69% | 3677 | 94 | 125.6 | 56.7 | 7.20 | 1.45 | 68.9 |
Martin Truex Jr | 210 | 80% | 3677 | 102.2 | 125.9 | 70.9 | 2.90 | 5.05 | 55 |
Ryan Newman | 35 | 62% | 3608 | 86.2 | 115.3 | 39 | 0.30 | 2.13 | 76.3 |
Brad Keselowski | 128 | 65% | 3304 | 95.7 | 137.4 | 69.6 | -0.70 | 6.94 | 67.8 |
Joey Logano | 56 | 68% | 3240 | 86.1 | 118.1 | 55 | -6.60 | 2.36 | 63.1 |
Kurt Busch | 128 | 76% | 3628 | 89 | 116.4 | 53 | -6.30 | 2.10 | 63.4 |
Jamie McMurray | 50 | 63% | 1275 | 85.4 | 121.1 | 63.7 | -1.10 | 2.18 | 57.4 |
Kasey Kahne | 185 | 60% | 3624 | 91.5 | 135.2 | 60.3 | -2.90 | 5.70 | 74.9 |
Kyle Larson | 97 | 80% | 1474 | 100.3 | 111.1 | 81.7 | 4.50 | 10.75 | 29.4 |
Austin Dillon | 13 | 38% | 1475 | 79.1 | 96.2 | 62.8 | 6.20 | 0.00 | 33.4 |
David Ragan | 48 | 17% | 3355 | 58.7 | 97.5 | 38.7 | -2.20 | 0.08 | 58.8 |
Momentum
Avg. | Avg. | Avg. | Top | Top | Top | Top | Pos | Avg. | |||
Driver | Races | Start | Run Pos. | Finish | Wins | 5s | 10s | 15s | 20s | Diff. | Rating |
Kevin Harvick | 5 | 13.4 | 8 | 5.2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8.2 | 118.3 |
Kyle Busch | 5 | 7.6 | 8.2 | 5.8 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1.8 | 117 |
Chase Elliott | 5 | 8.4 | 6.6 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3.4 | 119.7 |
Kurt Busch | 5 | 13 | 9.4 | 6.6 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6.4 | 104.4 |
Erik Jones | 5 | 7.4 | 10.2 | 8.8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | -1.4 | 95.5 |
Martin Truex Jr | 5 | 7.6 | 9.4 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | -5.4 | 100.8 |
Daniel Suarez | 5 | 18.4 | 14 | 11.4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 86.5 |
Ryan Blaney | 5 | 13.4 | 9 | 8.6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4.8 | 98.8 |
Joey Logano | 5 | 16.6 | 17.2 | 17.2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | -0.6 | 76.5 |
Alex Bowman | 5 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3.4 | 83.3 |
Kyle Larson | 5 | 15 | 12.4 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 88.1 |
Aric Almirola | 5 | 14.6 | 15.2 | 17.6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 86.2 |
Austin Dillon | 5 | 20.2 | 15.8 | 15.6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4.6 | 74.7 |
Brad Keselowski | 5 | 11.2 | 14 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -9.8 | 81.8 |
Denny Hamlin | 5 | 3 | 10.6 | 11.6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | -8.6 | 91.9 |
Points Changes at Darlington Raceway
DraftKings
17 Race | Season | DK Pts +/- | |
Driver | Total | Avg DK Pts. | Season AVG |
Denny Hamlin | 108.5 | 37.82 | 70.7 |
Kyle Larson | 77 | 41.34 | 35.7 |
Martin Truex Jr | 72 | 48.05 | 24.0 |
Kyle Busch | 56 | 62.96 | -7.0 |
Kurt Busch | 54.75 | 40.65 | 14.1 |
Austin Dillon | 51 | 28.24 | 22.8 |
Erik Jones | 48 | 32.63 | 15.4 |
Ryan Newman | 47.5 | 24.9 | 22.6 |
Matt Kenseth | 46.5 | 21.33 | 25.2 |
Ty Dillon | 46 | 22.89 | 23.1 |
Chase Elliott | 45 | 38.43 | 6.6 |
Kevin Harvick | 42.5 | 67.45 | -25.0 |
Chris Buescher | 39 | 26.11 | 12.9 |
Jimmie Johnson | 38.5 | 33.16 | 5.3 |
Michael McDowell | 36 | 22.81 | 13.2 |
Paul Menard | 35.5 | 24.02 | 11.5 |
Landon Cassill | 34.25 | 18.86 | 15.4 |
Jamie McMurray | 29.5 | 23.36 | 6.1 |
David Ragan | 28.5 | 22.79 | 5.7 |
Brad Keselowski | 26.75 | 33.14 | -6.4 |
Corey LaJoie | 24 | 13.66 | 10.3 |
Jeffrey Earnhardt | 23.5 | 18.7 | 4.8 |
Kasey Kahne | 22 | 26.89 | -4.9 |
Aric Almirola | 19 | 38.48 | -19.5 |
Joey Logano | 18.5 | 38.06 | -19.6 |
Matt DiBenedetto | 18.5 | 22.27 | -3.8 |
Derrike Cope | 18 | 10 | 8.0 |
AJ Allmendinger | 6 | 24.92 | -18.9 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 0.5 | 25.04 | -24.5 |
Ryan Blaney | -1 | 36.68 | -37.7 |
Daniel Suarez | -13 | 29.62 | -42.6 |
Clint Bowyer | -20 | 45.01 | -65.0 |
AVG +/- | 19.6 |
FanDuel
17 Race | 18 Season | FD Pts +/- | |
Driver | Total | Avg FD Pts. | Season AVG |
Denny Hamlin | 96.1 | 54.26 | 41.84 |
Austin Dillon | 78.2 | 48.27 | 29.93 |
Kyle Busch | 77.8 | 63.67 | 14.13 |
Kurt Busch | 77.4 | 54.50 | 22.90 |
Ryan Newman | 75.7 | 46.00 | 29.70 |
Erik Jones | 75.2 | 51.87 | 23.33 |
Martin Truex Jr | 74.3 | 57.47 | 16.83 |
Matt Kenseth | 74.2 | 37.99 | 36.21 |
Chase Elliott | 71.1 | 53.67 | 17.43 |
Kyle Larson | 71 | 54.10 | 16.90 |
Ty Dillon | 70.6 | 42.80 | 27.80 |
Jimmie Johnson | 68.6 | 50.26 | 18.34 |
Kevin Harvick | 66.8 | 63.56 | 3.24 |
Chris Buescher | 65.6 | 44.54 | 21.06 |
Jamie McMurray | 65.1 | 44.26 | 20.84 |
Paul Menard | 64.1 | 43.81 | 20.29 |
Michael McDowell | 64 | 38.21 | 25.79 |
Landon Cassill | 62 | 37.38 | 24.62 |
Brad Keselowski | 58.4 | 48.70 | 9.70 |
Aric Almirola | 55 | 53.58 | 1.42 |
Joey Logano | 54.6 | 55.77 | -1.17 |
Kasey Kahne | 52.9 | 44.53 | 8.37 |
David Ragan | 52.8 | 43.78 | 9.02 |
Corey LaJoie | 52.5 | 26.07 | 26.43 |
Matt DiBenedetto | 50.7 | 42.10 | 8.60 |
Jeffrey Earnhardt | 50.1 | 35.55 | 14.55 |
Derrike Cope | 47.1 | 21.05 | 26.05 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 40.3 | 45.60 | -5.30 |
AJ Allmendinger | 38.5 | 42.28 | -3.78 |
Ryan Blaney | 36.1 | 49.49 | -13.39 |
Daniel Suarez | 6 | 48.02 | -42.02 |
Clint Bowyer | -9.2 | 58.50 | -67.70 |
AVG. +/- | 20.27 |
Top 10 and Bottom 10 Value Drivers
DraftKings
Rank | Driver | Value | Rank | Driver | Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kevin Harvick | 5.92 | 40 | BJ McLeod | 2.18 |
2 | Kyle Busch | 5.08 | 39 | Derrike Cope | 2.22 |
3 | Clint Bowyer | 5.06 | 38 | Corey Lajoie | 2.73 |
4 | Kurt Busch | 4.78 | 37 | Timmy Hill | 2.82 |
5 | Aric Almirola | 4.75 | 36 | Matt Kenseth | 3.14 |
6 | Joey Gase | 4.65 | 35 | Jamie McMurray | 3.16 |
7 | Martin Truex Jr | 4.41 | 34 | William Byron | 3.18 |
8 | Chris Buescher | 4.28 | 33 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 3.25 |
9 | Austin Dillon | 4.28 | 32 | Kyle Larson | 3.42 |
10 | Kasey Kahne | 4.27 | 31 | JJ Yeley | 3.42 |
FanDuel
Rank | Driver | Value | Rank | Driver | Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ross Chastain | 9.86 | 40 | Kyle Busch | 4.55 |
2 | Joey Gase | 9.14 | 39 | Kyle Larson | 4.58 |
3 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 8.89 | 38 | Denny Hamlin | 4.68 |
4 | David Ragan | 8.26 | 37 | Matt Kenseth | 4.69 |
5 | Matt DiBenedetto | 8.10 | 36 | Martin Truex Jr. | 4.71 |
6 | Reed Sorenson | 7.62 | 35 | Kevin Harvick | 4.74 |
7 | Timmy Hill | 7.60 | 34 | Kurt Busch | 4.87 |
8 | Landon Cassill | 7.48 | 33 | Chase Elliott | 4.88 |
9 | Chris Buescher | 7.42 | 32 | Brad Keselowski | 4.92 |
10 | Bubba Wallace | 7.42 | 31 | Ryan Newman | 4.95 |
Drivers To Watch This Week:
Kevin Harvick - Harvick has a win, three top-fives, four top-10s, 518 laps led, 179 fastest laps, a 100% top-15 rate, and a 130.7 average rating in the last four races. I don’t usually list all of that stats in one big list, but I make an exception here because he is at the top of the list in all of those stats. He’s the only one with four top-10s, has more than double the next closest guy in laps led, and just under twice as much in fastest laps and we haven’t even gotten to the most surprising stat total. I went through and averaged the DraftKings points for the last four races here total in the off-week and Harvick AVERAGES 30 more points a race here than the next closest guy. Harvick averages 92.5 points in that span and the next guy in this section is the closest at 62.8 in the same span. And to boot he’s $1,000 cheaper on DK and $600 less on FD than the most-expensive guy.
Denny Hamlin - As mentioned above, Hamlin is the only driver to win twice in here in this decade and he is the defending race winner. Aside from the win he has three top-fives, three top-10s, 197 laps led (good for third on the list) and 90 fastest laps (fourth on the list) in the last four. Hamlin is still looking for a win this year to clinch his spot in the playoffs with only two races left until they start and this is his best chance to do that. His price tag is really good for a guy with that level of success at this track and is far cheaper than the top guys cost.
Kyle Larson - Larson, like Harvick, is locked into the playoffs by virtue of points but has yet to win this season. He could change that this week at Darlington given his record here of a top-five, three top-10s, 172 laps, 97 fastest laps, and a 100.3 driver rating in the last four races. Another things to boost his profile is the near +6 PD he’s posted in the last four races here which makes him one of the best in the field at moving up during the race. The price is better on FanDuel than DraftKings as he’s the second-most expensive on DK just a few hundred below Kyle Busch.
Brad Keselowski - Keselowski doesn’t have a win in the last four or last nine races here, but he does have nice finishes with two top-10s in the last four and four top-10s in the last nine. He also runs up front. A lot. He has 250 laps led and 101 fastest laps in recent history here which are both second only to Kevin Harvick. No win this season hasn’t stopped him from making the playoffs already with a high point total but he would sure like to straighten things out before the playoffs start in two weeks.
Landon Cassill, Ty Dillon, Michael McDowell - An unusual track means a slightly different turn on this section for this week. These three drivers are all between $5K-$6K on both sites this week and all possess a nice part of their stat line in their respective position differential marks at this track. Cassill has raced in the last four and moved up +7.5, Dillon has one race but a +12 mark, and McDowell has two races and a +7 mark. There are one top-15 and two top-20s between them so again nothing that jumps off the sheet but at a track that’s hard to pass on, these three have figured it out and make nice budget plays to counterbalance the higher than normal price tags for the top drivers this week.