For Some, Darlington A Sight For Sore Eyes

For Some, Darlington A Sight For Sore Eyes


Called “The Track Too Tough To Tame,” Darlington Raceway offers little comfort for even the most prolific NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitors.

But some shrug off the intensity. Or at least – somehow – deal with it.

Those specific few need to fight the good fight with Darlington this Saturday night, lest their season continue its standings descent. Those few – namely Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin – own solid statistics, and finishes, at Darlington but are teetering on the brink of a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup miss. Could this be the week where their season gets righted?

Let’s take a look…

Mark Martin, 13th in points, 19 points outside the top 10: Martin only has one top-10 finish in the last four Darlington races, but it was a big one – a win in 2009.

Greg Biffle, 14th in points, 25 points outside the top 10: Biffle won consecutive races in 2005 and 2006, the last driver with a repeat Darlington victory. (There have been five different winners in the last five Darlington races.) His Darlington pre-race Driver Rating of 113.8 ranks second in the series. Biffle’s average finish of 14.8 should be even better – he finished last in 2008 because of a blown engine, but led 95 laps that event.

Jeff Gordon, 16th in points, 35 points outside the top 10: A seven-time winner, Gordon ranks third all-time in Darlington wins behind NASCAR Hall of Famers David Pearson (10) and Dale Earnhardt (nine). Enjoying an incredible hot streak at the track, Gordon has finished in the top five in seven consecutive races, leading in each of them. He leads the series in Darlington Driver Rating at 117.6, and has scored a Driver Rating of at least 111.3 in each Darlington race since the inception of Loop Data in 2005. For all race-by-race driver logs, click here. One other historical nugget: With a top-five finish, Gordon will break a tie for fifth on the all-time Darlington list, and move into a fourth-place tie with Dale Earnhardt at 19 top fives.

Denny Hamlin, 17th in points, 37 points outside the top 10: The defending champion at Darlington, Hamlin boasts an outstanding average finish at the 1.366-mile track – 6.6. Four of his six starts have resulted in top-10 finishes, and his Driver Rating of 109.1 ranks third. He is coming off a runner-up finish last weekend at Richmond.

Series Hits Quarter Pole

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series reached race No. 9 at Richmond last Saturday night, the official quarter mark of the season. At this point, teams – and fans – have a pretty good feel for how this year might fall out. In other words, we’re well past the “it’s too early to tell” phase of the season.

Thus far, the season has been filled with competitive balance and record-breaking numbers. Only two drivers – Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch – have multiple wins, sending a clear signal that this year’s championship is wide open. Some of the other numbers…

• There has been an average of 14.1 leaders per race, the most through nine races in series history.

• There has been an average of 35.8 lead changes per race, the most through nine races in series history.

• Four of the nine races have seen the lead change record broken or tied.

• Six different teams make up the top 10.

• There have been seven different winners in the first nine races.

• There have been seven different Coors Light Pole winners in the first nine races.

• Five of the nine races have had a margin of victory under one second, including Talladega, which tied the closest MOV since the inception of electronic timing in 1993 (.002 seconds).

• There has been an average of 4,255 passes per race, second-most since the inception of Loop Data in 2005.

• There has been an average of 50 passes per race, second-most since the inception of Loop Data in 2005.
Changes Here And There, But Darlington Remains Darlington
\Drlington Raceway is NASCAR history.
Opened in 1950, the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped track was the organization’s first paved superspeedway.
It can be said that Darlington showcases greatness. Often as not, a Darlington winner is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. Darlington’s top seven winners – David Pearson, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Allison, Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough – have won at least one title.
Over the years, there have been changes here and there: the start-finish line moved to what used to be the backstretch; the roof removed from the Brasington Grandstand; and guardrails gave way to concrete and finally SAFER barriers.
In 2007, the track was repaved adding speed but hardly diminishing Darlington as a track “too tough to tame” – unless, of course, you are NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Pearson, who won a record 10 races and 12 poles at his home Palmetto State track.
And nothing has changed the track’s shape, built to accommodate a minnow pond that shortens the radius of turns 3 and 4. The strategy to race the track – and not your fellow competitors – is as true today as it was more than 60 years ago.
Californian Johnny Mantz started only three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. But he’ll forever be remembered as the first winner at Darlington, starting 43rd in a 75-car Southern 500 field.
Mantz needed six hours 38 minutes 40 seconds to complete the race. Kyle Busch polished off 500 miles in a record three hours 34 minutes 14 seconds in May 2008.
The pole speed for the first Southern 500 was 82.034 mph. Jamie McMurray whizzed around the track at a record 180.370 mph last May.
NASCAR
HALLf Fame inductee Ned Jarrett won the 1965 Southern 500 by a whopping 14 laps over Buck Baker, the largest margin of victory in series history.
Darlington also had the closest finish since the advent of electronic timing and scoring in 1993 – matched a month ago at Talladega Superspeedway. In 2003 Ricky Craven edged Kurt Busch by 0.002 seconds.
Allmendinger In Midst Of Career Year
After three races to start the 2011 season, AJ Allmendinger enjoyed top-10 status, a rarity for a driver still learning the nuances of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing (he has run every race in a season just twice). couple hiccups dropped the Richard Petty Motorsports driver outside the top 10, but a recent charge – in the form of a top-10 finish at Richmond – has him back in contention.
Currently 11th, 12 points outside the top 10, this is the highest through nine races Allmendinger has been in his career. Last year he was 24th after nine races; in 2009 he was 27th.
Allmendinger was the guest on this week’s NASCAR national teleconference. Click here to listen to the interview.
With his 11th-place position, Allmendinger currently sits in the second Wild Card spot. After race No. 26 at Richmond, the top 10 drivers in points will earn a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Chase spots 11 and 12 will go to the drivers outside the top 10 with the most wins, provided they are in the top 20. The tiebreaker goes to the driver highest in points. So, as it stands right now, Jeff Gordon – due to his win at Phoenix – would get the 11th Chase spot, with Allmendinger sitting in Wild Card spot No. 2 thanks to his 11th place points position.
Kyle Busch, who at Richmond won his second race of the season, figures three victories would be the number to land a Chase spot, saying, “Two's probably going to be borderline. I think if you get three, you can probably guarantee yourself a spot. If you get four, yeah, you locked yourself in.”
NSCS Etc.
This weekend, NASCAR and Darlington Raceway will honor one of the sport’s giants, Jim Hunter, who passed away last October after a year-long battle with cancer. It is the series’ first return to Darlington since Hunter’s passing. On Thursday, The Jim Hunter Memorial Golf Tournament will be held at Florence Country Club, with proceeds benefitting the McLeod Children’s Hospital, The NASCAR Foundation and a scholarship set up in Hunter’s name at his alma mater, the University of South Carolina. Also, Darlington has rededicated its media center – the Jim Hunter Media Center. As part of the rededication, a plaque featuring a photo of Hunter will be installed near the building’s main entrance. … Tony Stewart will sport a special rear panel on his car at Darlington encouraging small business owners to enter the 2011 “Official Small Business of NASCAR, Courtesy of Office Depot” sweepstakes. Two small business finalists will have a chance to win $1 million and see their company’s logo featured on Stewart’s No. 14 Chevy or Greg Biffle’s No. 16 3M Ford later this season. Office Depot will also award one $1,000 Office Depot gift card every day during the sweepstakes entry period. Small businesses can enter now through May 28 at www.OfficeDepotRacing.com. … As has become a NASCAR Mother’s Day Eve tradition, the drivers’ mothers will again say the command, “Sons, start your engines.” As of Tuesday, May 3, 16 mothers are confirmed to participate.