Last week’s race in Bristol ended with not much surprise, as Kyle Busch took home the title. Busch was among the favorites entering that event, and will be again this weekend, when the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series pay Darlington a visit. Will he win his second straight at the Bojangles’ Southern 500? Or will another driver come out on top?
Currently the leader of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup with 951 points, Truex arrives in Darlington as the defending champion of this event. Truex won the 2016 Bojangles’ Southern 500 off of the eighth starting position, has back-to-back top 10 finishes at the said track. Furthermore, he’s come on hot of late, notwithstanding a 21st-place finish at Bristol last week, as he has three top three finishes over his past four starts.
Kyle Busch also arrives in Darlington with some serious pedigree at the track. While he only has a win in 12 races there, Busch nonetheless is sporting an impressive collection of seven top 10 finishes at Darlington Raceway. Busch, who was 11th here last year, is looking to double down on his win last week at Bristol Motor Speedway, which extended his streak of top 10 finishes to four races.
Sleeper: Jimmie Johnson
It’s been a tough year for Johnson despite three wins under his belt. Johnson has struggled to find his form of late, as he’s missed the top 20 in four of his last seven races, which includes a disappointing 40th-place campaign in the Quaker State 400 last July. He appears to be trending upwards, however, with back-to-back top 19 finishes in his last two starts. In addition, Johnson’s 10.39 career average finish in Darlington is third best among all active NASCAR drivers.
Long Shot: Clint Bowyer
The window is slowly closing for Bowyer’s chances to win this season. With zero wins on the year so far, Bowyer is hoping that this weekend’s race would finally bring an end to his personal drought. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be close to happening based on his track record at Darlington Raceway. Bowyer only has one top 10 finish there in 11 races. His record in Darlington is littered with forgettable finishes that consist of six races in which he crossed the finish line 25th or worse.
