[onlòóker]

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)

[onlòóker]

Here is the starting grid for Saturday's race.

1	9	Kasey Kahne	   Dodge
2	12	Ryan Newman	   Dodge	
3	07	Clint Bowyer*	   Chevrolet
4	40	David Stremme*	   Dodge	
5	11	Denny Hamlin*	   Chevrolet	
6	38	Elliott Sadler	   Ford	
7	99	Carl Edwards	   Ford	
8	25	Brian Vickers	   Chevrolet
9	16	Greg Biffle	   Ford	
10	2	Kurt Busch	   Dodge
11	43	Bobby Labonte	   Dodge
12	24	Jeff Gordon	   Chevrolet	
13	20	Tony Stewart	   Chevrolet
14	29	Kevin Harvick	   Chevrolet
15	26	Jamie McMurray	   Ford	
16	41	Reed Sorenson*	   Dodge
17	6	Mark Martin	   Ford	
18	32	Travis Kvapil	   Chevrolet
19	10	Scott Riggs	   Dodge	
20	31	Jeff Burton	   Chevrolet	
21	42	Casey Mears	   Dodge	
22	8	Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet	
23	21	Ken Schrader	   Ford
24	7	Robby Gordon	   Chevrolet	
25	48	Jimmie Johnson	   Chevrolet
26	18	J.J. Yeley*	   Chevrolet	
27	14	Sterling Marlin	   Chevrolet	
28	66	Jeff Green	   Chevrolet	
29	5	Kyle Busch	   Chevrolet	
30	19	Jeremy Mayfield	   Dodge
31	17	Matt Kenseth	   Ford	 
32	22	Dave Blaney	   Dodge	
33	74	Derrike Cope	   Dodge	
34	95	Stanton Barrett    Chevrolet
35	88	Dale Jarrett	   Ford	
36	01	Joe Nemechek	   Chevrolet	
37	55	Michael Waltrip	   Dodge
38	4	Scott Wimmer	   Chevrolet
39	1	Martin Truex Jr.*  Chevrolet	
40	45	Kyle Petty	   Dodge	
41	49	Kevin Lepage	   Dodge	
42	96	Tony Raines+	   Chevrolet
43	44	Terry Labonte	   Chevrolet

[onlòóker]

Im going to go with the same lineup of drivers from last race for this race.

My starting five for my stockcar challenge:

Jeff Gordon        #24
Kevin Harvick      #29
Jeff Burton        #31
Kasey Kahne        #9
Dale Earnhardt Jr. #8

[onlòóker]

Toinghts odds to win the race.

Pinnacle:

Odds to Win the Dodge Charger 500
Sat 5/13  04:05 PM 	
1 Greg Biffle 	        +590
2 Jimmie Johnson 	+850
3 Tony Stewart 	        +1250
4 Jeff Gordon 	        +1400
5 Kasey Kahne 	        +600
6 Mark Martin 	        +1600
7 Kurt Busch 	        +1200
8 Matt Kenseth 	        +800
9 Carl Edwards 	        +900
10 Kyle Busch 	        +3500
11 Kevin Harvick 	+1900
12 Jeff Burton   	+2500
13 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 	+2750
14 Ryan Newman 	        +1450
15 Jamie McMurray 	+2600
16 Bobby Labonte 	+3200
17 Denny Hamlin 	+1950
18 Elliott Sadler 	+3500
19 Brian Vickes 	+4500
20 Scott Riggs 	        +8500
21 Casey Mears   	+5000
22 Jeremy Mayfield 	+4200
23 Joe Nemecheck 	+8500
24 Clint Boyer 	        +5500
25 Dale Jarrett 	+11500
26 Martin Truex Jr. 	+12500
27 Robby Gordon 	+12500
28 J.J. Yeley 	        +10000
29 The Field 	        +8000

[onlòóker]

Here are the results from the Dodge Charger 500.

1	9	#16	Greg Biffle 	   Ford	
2	12	#24	Jeff Gordon 	   Chevrolet
3	31	#17	Matt Kenseth 	   Ford	
4	25	#48	Jimmie Johnson 	   Chevrolet	
5	22	#8	Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet
6	2	#12	Ryan Newman 	   Dodge	
7	29	#5	Kyle Busch 	   Chevrolet	
8	17	#6	Mark Martin 	   Ford	
9	20	#31	Jeff Burton 	   Chevrolet	
10	5	#11	Denny Hamlin *	   Chevrolet	
11	16	#41	Reed Sorenson *	   Dodge
12	13	#20	Tony Stewart 	   Chevrolet
13	24	#7	Robby Gordon 	   Chevrolet
14	39	#1	Martin Truex Jr. * Chevrolet	
15	23	#21	Ken Schrader 	   Ford
16	36	#01	Joe Nemechek 	   Chevrolet	
17	21	#42	Casey Mears 	   Dodge
18	40	#45	Kyle Petty 	   Dodge
19	10	#2	Kurt Busch 	   Dodge
20	42	#96	Tony Raines 	   Chevrolet	
21	1	#9	Kasey Kahne 	   Dodge
22	11	#43	Bobby Labonte 	   Dodge
23	3	#07	Clint Bowyer *	   Chevrolet
24	35	#88	Dale Jarrett 	   Ford	
25	4	#40	David Stremme *	   Dodge 
26	26	#18	J.J. Yeley *	   Chevrolet	
27	32	#22	Dave Blaney 	   Dodge	
28	27	#14	Sterling Marlin    Chevrolet
29	6	#38	Elliott Sadler 	   Ford	
30	18	#32	Travis Kvapil 	   Chevrolet	
31	19	#10	Scott Riggs 	   Dodge	
32	28	#66	Jeff Green 	   Chevrolet
33	38	#4	Scott Wimmer 	   Chevrolet
34	43	#44	Terry Labonte      Chevrolet
35	37	#55	Michael Waltrip    Dodge
36	41	#49	Kevin Lepage 	   Dodge	
37	14	#29	Kevin Harvick 	   Chevrolet
38	30	#19	Jeremy Mayfield    Dodge
39	7	#99	Carl Edwards 	   Ford	
40	34	#95	Stanton Barrett    Chevrolet
41	8	#25	Brian Vickers 	   Chevrolet
42	15	#26	Jamie McMurray     Ford	
43	33	#74	Derrike Cope 	   Dodge