In The Loop’ At Darlington Raceway

Making A Case For Three New Winners In 2008


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 7, 2008) – Already this season, there have been seven different race winners through the first 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

Figure on Saturday night’s Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway producing number eight.

Specifically, three different winless drivers have excelled at Darlington in recent years: Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

A case can be made for all three winning this week.

The Case for Greg Biffle

Pro: Biffle conquered Darlington in both 2005 and 2006. During that span, he racked up some impressive numbers: an Average Running Position of 2.5, a Driver Rating of 143.8 and had 131 Fastest Laps Run, the only driver in triple digits in that category.

Over the past three years, he has track-bests in Driver Rating and Average Running Position:

Driver Rating – Track Bests
Driver Date ARP
1. Greg Biffle 5/05 144.4
2. Greg Biffle 5/06 143.1
3. Denny Hamlin 5/07 137.6
4. Jimmie Johnson 5/07 125.5
5. Kasey Kahne 5/05 122.7

Average Running Position – Track Bests
Driver Date ARP
1. Greg Biffle 5/06 2.5
2. Greg Biffle 5/05 2.6
3. Denny Hamlin 5/07 3.0
4. Kasey Kahne 5/05 3.1
5. Jimmie Johnson 5/07 4.1

Con: Biffle was not the same driver in the new car at Darlington last year. Not that he was bad. Biffle finished 15th in the 2007 Darlington event, but his Driver Rating and Average Running Position dipped to 90.9 and 10.6, respectively.

The Case for Jeff Gordon

Pro: Jeff Gordon is the odds-on favorite at Darlington, winning here last season and finishing second in both 2005 and 2006.

His numbers at Darlington are consistently solid – his lowest Darlington Driver Rating was 111.4 in the 2006 race.

Check Gordon’s race-by-race log (all driver race logs can be seen at NASCARMedia.com):

Gordon at Darlington (2005-2007)
Date Finish ARP FLR LT15 DR
5/05 2 5.5 16 98.9% 113.4
5/06 2 7.5 19 98.4% 111.4
5/07 1 6.4 15 99.2% 119.2
Total 1.7 6.4 50 70.9% 114.7
ARP: Average Running Position
FLR: Fastest Laps Run
LT15: Percentage of Laps in the Top 15
DR: Driver Rating

His Laps in the Top 15 figure might be most impressive. Over the past three races, Gordon has run inside the top 15 at Darlington in all but 12 of the 1,104 laps.

Con: Even during his win, Gordon did not have the best car. Last year, Denny Hamlin was the class of the field, leading 179 laps and scoring a race-high Driver Rating of 137.6.

The Case for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Pro: Earnhardt, like Gordon, has been very consistent at Darlington over the last three races. He has had Driver Ratings over 100.0 in each of the past two races with three consecutive top-10 finishes.

Additionally, Earnhardt – like Biffle – has earned a couple of track-bests at Darlington:

Green Flag Passes – Track Bests
Driver Date DR
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5/07 81
2. Martin Truex Jr. 5/07 76
3. Kyle Busch 5/07 72
4. Mike Wallace 5/05 71
5. Jeff Burton 5/07 70

Quality Passes – Track Bests
Driver Date ARP
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5/07 51
2. Carl Edwards 5/07 44
Jimmie Johnson 5/07 44
4. Denny Hamlin 5/07 43
5. Tony Stewart 5/07 42

Con: Earnhardt did not lead a lap in any of the last three Darlington races. Plus, though he leads the series in passes with 176, he’s also been passed 123 times.

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Loop Data Defined: NASCAR statistics generated from electronic scoring loops embedded around each track hosting races in NASCAR’s three national series – the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series