Darlington Bojangles Southern 500 Fantasy Top 10 Confidence Rankings

1. Jimmie Johnson – On Saturday night Jimmie Johnson will be starting on the front row alongside Kurt Busch. In my Top Tier Elite post Jimmie Johnson was my favorite and now that all the information is in he’s still my pick. In last years race Jimmie Johnson had the best car and took home his third Darlington trophy. Also in the 2012 edition of the Southern 500 he started in 2nd (same position), led 134 laps and earned the best driver rating. Jimmie Johnson has raced here 14 times and has 7 top fives and 10 top tens. Only twice in his career has he finished lower than 15th. Look for Jimmie Johnson to tame the “Lady In Black”.

Get the ifantasyrace advantage and read our full exlusive fantasy NASCAR analysis

2. Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch will be a serious threat to win the Bojangles Southern 500. On Saturday night he’ll be starting in third right behind his brother. Kyle Busch is perhaps the most aggressive driver around this egg shaped oval and it’s worked out pretty good for him. He won here in 2008 and has finished in the top eleven 63% percent of the time. In last years race he finished 4th, had a 3rd place average running position and led 44 laps. Tire wear might be a huge factor in this race and Kyle Busch has fared very well in those races. Two notable races this season where that was a major factor were Texas and Auto Club Speedway. Busch went on to victory in both of those races.

Want another take on who will perform well at Darlington? Read our Post Practice Top 15 Predictions post.

3. Martin Truex Jr. – Martin Truex Jr. will play into the mix on Saturday night. Last year at Darlington he was stout. In fact he may of very well had the best car at the end. He finished 5th, had a 4th place average running position and led 25 laps. When it came to long runs nobody was better than him. He could’ve potentially won but with about 60 laps left he pitted from the lead and others choose not to pit. That mired him back in traffic but he still drove up to a top five. Reason’s like that are why he hasn’t won in the last half decade despite having strong cars. On Saturday he’ll be starting in 5th.