Week 11 Preview

Darlington Raceway: Bojangles Southern 500

Week 10 on the Nascar season is about to arrive at Darlington Raceway just one week after Talladega put a dent in some drivers spot in the standings. Darlington has the potential to do the same thing this Saturday.  After a crazy finish that brought Nascar fans two small car teams, that happened to be from the same team, finishing one and two can Darlington exceed that excitment? This Saturday night trip is the only stop at Darlington Raceway on the 2013 season. Last year none other than Jimmie Johnson got the win. In 2011 Darlington brought Regan Smith a win so anything is possible.

Lets get into this weeks Good, Middle, and Bad category drivers at Darlington. For results of last years race at Darlington Raceways look here.

The Good:

• Jeff Gordon- Not only does Gordon have the most career wins at Darlington of current drivers, but he also has notched one in his last 6 races (plus 4 top 5's). Best Chance Forecast: If he doesn't add another Darlington Stripe he could have a real shot at a top 5 and helping out his Chase chances.
• Jimmie Johnson- The second Hendrick driver on the list, JJ was not only the last winner at Darlington (2012) but also 2 other wins, 6 top 5's, and 7 top 10's in his last 10. Best Chance Forecast: JJ has a good track record here and in the Sprint Cup, I will take a for sure top 10.
• Ryan Newman- Best Driver to not have a win at Darlington in the last 10 races? Newman. Ryan has 7 top 10's in the last 10, 5 of those top 5's. Best Chance Forecast: If I was taking a long shot this week for the win, Newman would be it. But look for a chance at the top 10 and continuing to be the best Stewart-Haas driver this season.

The Middle:

• Dale Earnhardt Jr- Jr is going to be my spotlighted middle man. He has struggled in his last 4 races here, only getting one top 15. But if you just look at the last 10 as a whole he has 5 top 10's and 2 top 5's. Something has to give and maybe this time around he finds the top 10 again.

The Bad:

• Paul Menard- Having a good season, but a bump in the road last week at Dega and now a place where his career average finish position is 24.5 isn't what Menard wants to see. If their is a bright side, in his past three starts he has finished better in each (including 13th last year).
• Clint Bowyer- Last year Clint did finish 11th and he also had a Pole in 2007, but his average finish is 22.6 in 7 career starts (only 1 top 10).
• Juan Pablo Montoya- I guess in a way finishing in the 20's isn't "bad" but it sure isn't good either. In 6 career starts he did finish 5th once, but his other 5 go like this, 24, 23, 20, 23, and 23. So id you are looking for a guy to finish in the mid 20's you have found the guy.

Laying Low:

• Aric Almirola- Well he is a long shot. Aric only has one career start here and he finished 19th. Darlington is a tough track for young drivers but if he stays clean he has been hot so he could get lucky.
• Martin Truex Jr- He has back to back top 10's at Darlington. He had a good run for a few weeks where it looked like he would break his win less streak but came up short. I don't know that he can win but another top 10 isn't out of the question.

Could we get another crazy week like we have come accustom to this 2013 season? Will Kenseth keep his hot streak going this season by figuring out another track he hasn't been dominate at? Can another small car team come out of no where for a win? Tune in this Saturday to find out! Need more, check out these links:

           JGR and Kenseth penalties reduced.
           Penske penalties reduced.
           Paint Scheme's for Darlington
           Air Titan at Talladega

Check back later for Tweets of the Week! Also, with a Saturday race, Pit Road Week 10 on Sunday with Power Rankings.