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Location: Darlington Raceway
Time: Saturday 6:30PM EST / 5:30PM CST / 3:30PM PST
2005 Pole Winner: Kasey Kahne #9
2005 Winner: Greg Biffle #16

Dodge Charger 500

Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

Before we get started on this Saturday night’s race at Darlington Raceway, I’d like to say Happy Mother’s day to my loving Mother in Jackson, CA and thank her for all her hard work and sacrifice. She shaped and guided me throughout my life, being ever so supportive along the way. Thanks Mom, Love you!

To all Mother’s out there, we wish you a wonderful day filled with appreciation and reflection. The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series used to always take the weekend off. It was in the spirit of true Southern hospitality for a couple of reasons. First, was to make there was no excuse why anyone affiliated with NASCAR wouldn’t be with their mother. The other one was to ensure that no Mother would ever have to remember their sons dying on Mothers Day due to the dangerous nature of the sport.

With the growth and popularity of the sport, the tradition of having Mothers Day weekend off was doomed. The demand from every track in country wanting a Cup race and the addition of dates caused NASCAR to redo the schedule several times over the last couple of years. The Cup race isn’t actually on Mothers Day, it is at night, but the long tradition has been broken.

Among other things that were broken was taking two dates away from the South Carolina track. In the process, NASCAR also eliminated the longest continuous running race in NASCAR, the Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend. The tradition is one thing, but another disheartening fact on the whole subject is that one more unique track has been nearly put to rest. Darlington’s special 1.36 mile egg shaped oval has given way to California’s cookie cutter facility. At least Darlington hasn’t been eliminated altogether, but a 45-year tradition in sports that spans over that sports’ exact existence makes it tough to swallow.

Beyond the history of the track which coincides with NASCAR’s beginnings, the best thing about the track is how tough it is. There’s no easy day for anyone on this track. Once you relax, you get a Darlington stripe which means you’ve hit the wall coming too hard out of a turn. Each side of the track is different and the track surface is like sand paper where it just eats away at those Good Years till they have absolutely no grip on them after a few laps. Once that occurs, then the drivers really have to use every ounce of their skills to get a good finish giving the fish tailing cars around the turns a similar look to old school Friday night dirt track specials.

There have been nine different winners in the last ten Darlington races dating back to the fall of 2000. In two of those races, the winner started from the 37th position, the lowest position since the inaugural event in 1950. The last driver to win from the pole was Dale Jarrett in 1997.

Kasey Kahne hasn’t won there yet, but he’s come pretty close. In his three career starts he’s been on the Pole twice. In his last two starts he’s come away with a fifth and third place finish. Kahne needs a big bounce back this week after losing three positions in the point standings.

The driver with the most success in the last three years at Darlington has been Jimmie Johnson, the seasons current point leader. Johnson swept the 2004 season when the track had two races and bookend those two with third in the 2003 Southern 500 and last year with a solid 7th. His four straight top ten finishes at Darlington is the longest current streak going.

Johnson’s teammate, Jeff Gordon, is the current active leader in wins at Darlington with six. In fact, Gordon has done something there that no one else ever has before or since and that’s winning four straight Southern 500’s. His last win there came in 2002, but in his last two starts at the tough track he’s finished 3rd and 2nd. Look for Gordon to be the driver to beat this week.

Mark Martin is another strong candidate to do well this week. He hasn’t won there since ’93, but in his last two starts he’s contended for the win. He finished 4th last year and in 2004 he had a solid 7th place and 2nd place finish.

Greg Biffle won the race last season. It was his first top 10 finish at the track in five career Cup starts. Last week at Richmond may have been a turning point for Biffle and his team when they battled back from major adversity and a lap down all the way to their first top 5 of the season. Last season after Darlington Biffle had three wins already.

Jamie McMurray has had three top 6 finishes in his last four starts, but that was in a decent car, not the bargain basement heaps that he’s been driving this year for Jack Roush.

Kevin Harvick is absolutely on fire right now. Last week he climbed from 7th to 5th in points and scored his 5th top ten finish of the season. All five of those finishes have come in the last six races which coincides with the ultimatum given to him by car owner Richard Childress. Harvick is signed now and the car is running better than ever. His best finish at Darlington is a second back in the fall of 2003.

TOP 5 Finish Prediction:

1) #24 Jeff Gordon (9/1)
2) #16 Greg Biffle (10/1)
3) #29 Kevin Harvick (12/1)
4) #48 Jimmie Johnson (7/1)
5) #6 Mark Martin (14/1)