Dodge Challenger 500 Race Preview

Darlington Raceway -- 05/10/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Wednesday May 7 2008 2:14pm

What more can be said about last week's Richmond race that hasn't already been saidΔ Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch have both labeled their startling late race incident a "racin' deal" and have professed their desire to move forward.

The same probably cannot be said for their fans, particularly the Earnhardt Nation, which now considers Busch "Public Enemy Number One."

Meanwhile Denny Hamlin, already hurting from his heartbreaking loss in the Richmond race that he'd dominated for 381 laps, is even worse for the wear after injuring his hip in a pick-up basketball game on Sunday.

Regardless of the drama going on behind the scenes, the competitors will certainly have their game faces on in time for this weekend's Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington.

The historic track is a 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval - so described because it is narrower at one end and wider at the other. It's a high-banked track for its size, with 25 degrees of banking in turns 1 and 2 (the wide end of the egg), and 23 degrees in turns 3 and 4 (the narrow end).

Although it's one of NASCAR's oldest venues - the first race was held here in 1950 - a brand-new glass smooth track surface is presenting added challenges to drivers and teams. "It’s a jagged oval," said Mark Martin of the raceway nicknamed the 'Lady in Black' and 'The Track to Tough to Tame'. "It’s not a smooth radius turn. The wall goes in and out and in and out. Your line is as smooth as anywhere else, but the track’s all over the place. You go from touching the apron to touching the wall and you’ve never even changed directions. It’s really narrow and banked a lot. The cars go really fast and the track goes everywhere, so it’s always a challenge. Plus, they have repaved it this year and that always makes for a new challenge. It won't be the same old Darlington, but I'm sure it will have hints of it."

Under the circumstances, past performance may not be the best indicator of future results. That said, you can't discuss performance at Darlington without first mentioning Jeff Gordon. Gordon leads all drivers in wins here, 7 in 27 starts, and has three poles, 15 top 5s and 18 top-10 finishes. In his last four starts, Gordon finished 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, and 1st, winning this race last year from a 10th-place starting spot, though he was not the overall lap leader (Denny Hamlin was).

Gordon recently completed a Goodyear tire test at Darlington and was very enthusiastic about the repaved surface. "The track is unreal and I had a blast during the test," he said. "The bumps aren't there and you're going much faster, but you run the same line you always have and the track has the same characteristics. I've always enjoyed racing here and I've had some memorable moments."

Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson have combined to win half of the last eight races - Gordon in 2002 and 2007, and Johnson twice in 2004 - the last time Darlington had two dates in one year.

Greg Biffle is also a two-time winner in 2005 and 2006, as is Jeff Burton, though his victories date back to 1999. Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin have one win a piece.

Denny Hamlin (+750) will no doubt be carrying a ton of frustration into Darlington and there may not be a better track for him to finally break through with a victory. Though he's made just two Cup starts here, both resulted in top-10 finishes, including his 2nd last year when he led 179 of 367 laps, giving him the lowest average finish among active drivers at 6.0.

Hamlin has two straight Nationwide Series wins here and is coming off last week's NWS win at Richmond as well. "I quickly found out that you really have to be on your toes every lap at Darlington," Hamlin said, recalling the first time he raced here. "As soon as you lose focus it can be very easy to make a mistake. It's a fun track to me because it challenges the driver on every lap. The key to running well there on the old surface was having a lot of patience."

Following Hamlin in the average finish category is Jimmie Johnson at 6.8. Johnson's record is hard to beat, with just one finish outside the top 10 in nine starts. In has last six Darlington starts, Johnson has two wins, two 3rd-place finishes, a 4th and a 7th.

Ryan Newman also performs well here, with six top 10s in nine starts and an average finish of 10.7. Newman finished 2nd in 2002, 3rd in 2004, and carries three straight Darlington top 5s into this weekend.

One driver who doesn't rank this track among his favorites is Tony Stewart. In 15 starts, Stewart has just two top-5 finishes and has led a paltry eight laps. "I could probably run backward and run about the same as I do going forward," said Stewart. "That's how close I feel like I am to figuring out Darlington. We've run decent at Darlington - I mean, I've run in the top 5 there before. But every time I think I have something figured out, I normally whack the wall and go, 'Oh boy, I really did figure it out, didn't IΔ' I don't know that I'll ever feel like I've got Darlington totally figured out."

Over the past five Darlington races, the top-10 drivers list based on total points accumulated is as follows:

1. Jimmie Johnson (+600)
2. Jeff Gordon (+800)
3. Mark Martin (+2000)
4. Greg Biffle (+1300)
5. Ryan Newman (+3000)
6. Kasey Kahne (+3000)
7. Tony Stewart (+1000)
8. Bobby Labonte (+3000)
9. Jeff Burton (+2000)
10. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (+700)

Carl Edwards appears to be among the early nascar odds makers' favorites at +600. In four Darlington starts, he has three top-10 finishes and a DNF. He started 4th here last year, finished 5th, and led 33 laps.

Current points leader Kyle Busch (+750) made three starts here with Hendrick Motorsports, resulting in finishes of 23rd, 7th, and 37th.