Driver Averages | Laps Led Leaders | Driver Ratings | Past Winners
Detailed driver notes and statistics to help set your fantasy racing lineup for Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Who’s HOT at Darlington Raceway
- Kevin Harvick is the only driver that has finished in the top 10 in each of the last five races, including a win in 2014.
- Denny Hamlin has finished sixth or better in seven of his last eight starts, including two wins.
- Kyle Busch, who finished second last year, has posted an 8.9 average finish in his last 10 starts dating back to his win in 2008.
- Martin Truex Jr. has finished in the top 10 in his last three starts, including a win in 2016.
- Kyle Larson has combined to lead 172 laps and has posted an 8.8 average finish in his four starts.
- Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth each have finished in the top 10 in four of their last five starts. However, Kenseth (won in 2013) made those starts with Joe Gibbs Racing. This weekend, Kenseth will make his ninth start of the season with Roush Fenway Racing and is still seeking his first top 10.
Keep an Eye On at Darlington Raceway
- Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers with three wins, but has not finished in the top 10 in his last three starts. He owns a 10.5 average finish in 19 overall starts.
- Erik Jones finished fifth in his first Darlington Monster Energy Cup Series start last season.
- Brad Keselowski has combined to lead 246 laps in the last three races at Darlington. He scored points in both stages last season, but finished 15th – snapping a streak of two straight top 10s – after slight contact with the wall on Lap 286.
- Joey Logano had a streak of two consecutive top fives at Darlington come to an end last season when he finished 18th after battling a loose-handling car and a sensor issue that prevented the engine from re-firing.
- Chase Elliott has a 10.5 average finish in his last two starts at Darlington. Elliott also has finished in the top 10 in each of the last five races in 2018.
- Kurt Busch has finished in the top 10 in each of the last six races this season, including his win at Bristol two weeks ago. Busch also has two top 10s in his last three starts at Darlington.
- Darlington is Austin Dillon’s best track based on average finish (12.2). He finished 14th in this event last season.
- Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard and Daniel Suarez participated in the Goodyear tire test at Darlington in early June.
Notes: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series teams will run the same tire combination this weekend…The left-side tire code is new, but teams in both series did compete with the right-side tire code in May…Ty Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick are the full-time Monster Energy Cup Series drivers that will also be competing in the Xfinity race…The pole position has produced the most winners (20) in the 114 races held at the track…32% of winners have come from the front-row and 61% from the top five…The last seven Darlington races have produced seven different winners…A Toyota has gone to Victory Lane in the last three races.
*Best Average Finish at Darlington
| Last # of Races | Driver | Average Finish |
| Two Races | Denny Hamlin | 2.5 |
| Four Races | Kevin Harvick | 4.2 |
| Six Races | Denny Hamlin | 5.2 |
| Eight Races | Denny Hamlin | 4.8 |
| Ten Races | Denny Hamlin | 5.8 |
* – The best average finish is based off a driver entered in the race who has competed in every race during that time span.
Laps Led Leaders at Darlington
| Last # of Races | Driver | Laps Led |
| Two Races | Kevin Harvick | 236 |
| Four Races | Kevin Harvick | 518 |
| Six Races | Kevin Harvick | 518 |
| Eight Races | Kevin Harvick | 567 |
| Ten Races | Kyle Busch | 597 |
Click Here to view all laps led leaders at Darlington Raceway over the past 10 races.
Darlington Loop Data Stat Leaders (2005-2017, 13 Races)
| Average Running Pos. | Laps in Top 15 |
| 1. Denny Hamlin – 7.9 | 1. Kyle Busch – 4,179 |
| 2. Kyle Busch – 8.8 | 2. Denny Hamlin – 3,933 |
| 3. Erik Jones – 9.8 | 3. Kevin Harvick – 3,629 |
| 4. Kyle Larson – 10.0 | 4. Jimmie Johnson – 3,446 |
| 5. Martin Truex Jr. – 10.9 | 5. Kurt Busch – 3,369 |
| Fastest Laps Run | Driver Rating |
| 1. Denny Hamlin – 272 | 1. Denny Hamlin – 110.3 |
| 2. Kevin Harvick – 269 | 2. Kyle Busch – 105.1 |
| 3. Jimmie Johnson – 266 | 3. Erik Jones – 103.1 |
| 4. Kyle Busch – 264 | 4. Jimmie Johnson – 100.8 |
| 5. Kasey Kahne – 240 | 5. Kevin Harvick – 100.4 |
Top 10 Stage 1 &2 Points Earned at Darlington
One Race
| Driver | Points Earned |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 20 |
| Denny Hamlin | 17 |
| Kyle Larson | 16 |
| Kevin Harvick | 15 |
| Brad Keselowski | 11 |
| Kyle Busch | 8 |
| Jamie McMurray | 7 |
| Erik Jones | 5 |
| Kurt Busch | 4 |
| Joey Logano | 3 |
| Austin Dillon | 3 |
| Matt Kenseth | 1 |
2017 Darlington Stage Finishes
| Stage 1 | Stage 2 |
| 1. Martin Truex Jr. | 1. Martin Truex Jr. |
| 2. Kyle Larson | 2. Denny Hamlin |
| 3. Denny Hamlin | 3. Kevin Harvick |
| 4. Kevin Harvick | 4. Kyle Larson |
| 5. Brad Keselowski | 5. Kyle Busch |
| 6. Erik Jones | 6. Brad Keselowski |
| 7. Jamie McMurray | 7. Kurt Busch |
| 8. Joey Logano | 8. Jamie McMurray |
| 9. Kyle Busch | 9. Austin Dillon |
| 10. Austin Dillon | 10. Matt Kenseth |
Rookie Report
Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates William Byron and Bubba Wallace each will be making their first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at Darlington Raceway. Both have made at least one start in the Xfinity Series at the 1.366-mile track. Byron has the only top 10 among the two, finishing fifth in 2017 in his only track start. Byron leads Wallace in the rookie standings by 96 points heading into the Bojangles’ Southern 500.
MRN.com Staff Picks
Jeff Wackerlin:Â Kyle Larson
Pete Pistone:Â Kevin Harvick
Tyler Burnett:Â Kevin Harvick
Driver Notes – Ordered by Average Finish (Top 15) in the Last Five Races at Darlington
Kevin Harvick is the only driver that has finished in the top 10 in each of the last five races at Darlington, including a win in 2014. Harvick also leads all drivers with 518 laps led in that five race span.
Erik Jones finished fifth in his first Darlington Cup Series start last year. Jones posted a 9.8 average running position in last year’s race from the 10th starting position.
Denny Hamlin scored his second win at Darlington in this event last year after leading 124 laps. Hamlin is the only driver that has finished in the top five in each of the last three races. Hamlin ranks first with a 7.9 average running position in his 12 starts at Darlington.
Kyle Busch finished second in this event last year for his seventh top 10 in the last 10 races, which includes a win in 2008. Busch ranks second with an 8.8 average running position since 2005 at Darlington.
Matt Kenseth will be making his ninth start of the season with Roush Fenway Racing. He finished sixth or better in five of his last six starts at Darlington with Joe Gibbs Racing, including a win in 2013. Kenseth did participate in the Goodyear tire test in early June at Darlington.
Kyle Larson finished 14th last year in this event, snapping a streak of three consecutive top 10s. Larson led 124 laps last year and finished in the top five in both opening stages but fell back due to a tire rub. Larson has posted an 8.8 average finish and a 10.0 average running position in his four starts at Darlington.
Ryan Newman has finished 13th or better in his last five starts at Darlington, including four top 10s. He ranks sixth in laps while running in the top 15 since 2005 with 3,368.
Martin Truex Jr. has finished in the top 10 in his last three starts at Darlington, including a win in 2016. Last season, Truex led 76 laps and won the opening two stages en route to an eighth-place finish after a tire blew late in the race.
Austin Dillon is coming off his first top 10 at Darlington with a fourth-place finish. Dillon finished in the top 10 in both opening stages last season and posted an average running position of 10.3 in the race.
Ty Dillon finished 13th in his first Darlington start in the Cup Series last season. He did not score any stage points in the race.
Jimmie Johnson has finished outside the top 10 in his last three starts at Darlington. Johnson is a three-time winner at the 1.366-mile track with his last coming in 2012. He did not score any stage points in the 2017 race.
Jamie McMurray has finished 16th or better in his last five starts at Darlington, including a 10th-place finish in 2017. McMurray, who scored points in both stages last season, participated in the Goodyear tire test in early June at the track.
Brad Keselowski finished 15th last season to snap a steak of two consecutive top 10s at Darlington after contact with the wall on Lap 286. He led a race-high 196 laps in 2015 en route to a second-place finish. Keselowski finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the first two stages in 2017.
Joey Logano finished 18th last year at Darlington, snapping a streak of two consecutive top fives. Logano did record stage points in the first stage last season. Logano battled a loose-handling car in that event and also experienced a sensor issue that prevented the engine from re-firing.
Chris Buescher has finished 17th in his two starts at Darlington.
