Ready for some more Saturday night racing, this time at Darlington Raceway for the Dodge Challenger 500. Which means it’s another early deadline for selecting or editing drivers in the Yahoo! fantasy game, (May 9 2:00am PDT).
Qualifying is 5 p.m. ET Friday and the race is 7 p.m. ET on Saturday. 45 drivers on the entry list, so only two will be sent home this weekend.
The tables this week show the last 10 races at Darlington for each drivers group. Also included are the Yahoo average points scored for the season. You can click on the headings to sort the tables.
My first look goes to Jeff Gordon in group A. At some point you have to think Gordon will get out of the funk he’s in. His 9th place finish at Richmond was a step in the right direction and Darlington should continue that trend. Seven career wins and finishes of 1st, 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd in the last four Darlington races make him a good choice this week. Teammate Jimmie Johnson is another driver that has excelled at the track. In the last six Darlington races, Johnson has two wins and finished no worse than 7th (2005 race). As a matter of fact Johnson has only one finish outside of the top 10 in nine races at Darlington, a 27th place finish in the 2003 March race. If you need to spread your driver usage around here’s two that run well at Darlington and should finish strong this weekend, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards.
Yahoo A list drivers.
| Grp |
Driver |
Races |
Win |
T5 |
T10 |
AvSt |
AvFn |
Yahoo Avg |
| A |
Carl Edwards |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
11.2 |
15 |
71.4 |
| A |
Clint Bowyer |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
16 |
73.6 |
| A |
Denny Hamlin |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
6 |
74.7 |
| A |
Jeff Burton |
10 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
25.7 |
14.4 |
82.2 |
| A |
Jeff Gordon |
10 |
2 |
6 |
7 |
7.3 |
12.6 |
64.3 |
| A |
Jimmie Johnson |
9 |
2 |
5 |
8 |
9.7 |
6.8 |
73.2 |
| A |
Kevin Harvick |
10 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
17.3 |
19.7 |
73.2 |
| A |
Kurt Busch |
10 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
10.6 |
16.9 |
45.8 |
| A |
Matt Kenseth |
10 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
20.6 |
17.7 |
49 |
| A |
Tony Stewart |
10 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
18.9 |
13.2 |
71.1 |
Sure picks in group B? I’m picking Dale Earnhardt Jr. this week in group B. Top 10 finishes in the last three Darlington races and he’s just running strong this year. Last week I think he was looking at either a win or at worse a second place finish without the wreck. Ryan Newman is another pick that looks good with six top 10 finishes in nine races at Darlington. Chance for qualifying points, Kasey Kahne with 3 poles in his five Darlington races. Mark Martin had a string of four top 10 finishes before last seasons 14th place finish.
Risky pick? Even though Greg Biffle won the 2005 and 2006 races at Darlington, he’s seems to be slipping some with only one top 10 finish in the last five races.
Yahoo B list drivers.
| Grp |
Driver |
Races |
Win |
T5 |
T10 |
AvSt |
AvFn |
Yahoo Avg |
| B |
Bobby Labonte |
10 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
15.2 |
15.2 |
52.6 |
| B |
Casey Mears |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
19.1 |
28.7 |
45.6 |
| B |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
10 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
17.1 |
11 |
80.7 |
| B |
Dave Blaney |
8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
22.1 |
24.9 |
33.33 |
| B |
David Gilliland |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
38 |
30 |
49.2 |
| B |
David Ragan |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
24 |
27 |
56.3 |
| B |
Elliott Sadler |
10 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
10.1 |
16.4 |
46.5 |
| B |
Greg Biffle |
7 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
8.9 |
10.7 |
67.8 |
| B |
J.J. Yeley |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
24 |
22 |
28.66 |
| B |
Jamie McMurray |
7 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
14.1 |
16.4 |
43.6 |
| B |
Juan Pablo Montoya |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
41 |
23 |
56.2 |
| B |
Kasey Kahne |
5 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
4.2 |
12.4 |
62.4 |
| B |
Kyle Busch |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
23.7 |
22.3 |
84.1 |
| B |
Mark Martin |
10 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
17.9 |
13.2 |
69 |
| B |
Martin Truex Jr. |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
32 |
12.5 |
57.2 |
| B |
Reed Sorenson |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
25.5 |
37.2 |
| B |
Robby Gordon |
8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
26.8 |
22.1 |
42.6 |
| B |
Ryan Newman |
9 |
0 |
5 |
6 |
7.1 |
10.7 |
66.7 |
Now it’s time for the weekly group C dart throws! Group C points leader Brian Vickers has five starts at Darlington, with the last two having finishes of 43rd and 41st. Travis Kvapil in two starts has an average finish of 32.5. Those are the only group c drivers that have a top 10 or top 5 finish this season. So here’s three drivers with an outside shot of giving you some good points this weekend, Joe Nemechek, Regan Smith and Paul Menard.
Yahoo C list drivers.
| Grp |
Driver |
Races |
Win |
T5 |
T10 |
AvSt |
AvFn |
Yahoo Avg |
| C |
Brian Vickers |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
16.6 |
28.8 |
55.6 |
| C |
Travis Kvapil |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
17.5 |
32.5 |
50 |
| C |
Paul Menard |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
31 |
48.8 |
| C |
Sterling Marlin |
10 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
14.4 |
19.9 |
45 |
| C |
Scott Riggs |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
23.8 |
30.5 |
43.6 |
| C |
David Reutimann |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
33 |
41.4 |
| C |
Michael Waltrip |
9 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
23.8 |
28.2 |
36 |
| C |
Regan Smith |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
34.6 |
| C |
Sam Hornish Jr. |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
33.8 |
| C |
AJ Allmendinger |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
36 |
33.5 |
| C |
Bill Elliott |
5 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
14.8 |
6.4 |
29.5 |
| C |
Michael McDowell |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
28.4 |
| C |
Kyle Petty |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
36.1 |
24.6 |
25.71 |
| C |
Ken Schrader |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
20.9 |
25.2 |
24.75 |
| C |
Joe Nemechek |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
30.2 |
18.8 |
24 |
| C |
Patrick Carpentier |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
23.85 |
| C |
John Andretti |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
24.2 |
30.8 |
18.66 |
Big Props to racing-reference.info!
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