Darlington Bojangles Southern 500 Fantasy Top Tier Elite Picks

Jeff Gordon – Points leader Jeff Gordon is a good fantasy NASCAR pick to win the Darlington Bojangles Southern 500. This ranks as one of his best best tracks. At The Lady In Black he’s a seven-time winner. Also at this historic track he’s finished in the top five 58% percent of the time and in the top ten 67% percent of the time. Over 33 races at this tough track he has a 10.5 average finish. Perhaps more impressive is his 6.8 average starting position and 1,736 laps led. That lap led total equates out to leading nearly 5 full races. Last season this veteran drove a patient race. He never really pressed the issue and let the track come to him. In the race he finished 3rd, earned the 4th best driver rating, had a 6th place average running position and led 16 laps. In 2012 Jeff Gordon’s bad luck intangible struck him here. He had a flat tire on lap 193, 205 and 221. If he didn’t have those issues I would estimate he had about an 8th place car for the event. In 2011 Jeff Gordon finished 12th, prior to that race he had 7 consecutive top 5 finishes. Since 2006 at Darlington Gordon has scored the most points, has the best average running position (8.5), the best driver rating and the 2nd best average finish (8.1). In the Darlington Bojangles Southern 500 make sure Jeff Gordon is on your short list of fantasy options. (Yahoo A Driver)

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Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch had the dominant car at Darlington last year in the Bojangles Southern 500. If it wasn’t for a tire starting to go flat late in the race he likely would’ve won. With 14 laps to go he was in the lead and when the checkered flag waved he fell all the way back to 6th. In the event he started 3rd, had a 1st place average running position, earned the best driver rating and led 265 laps. His car was unchallenged on the track before he had his late issue. Whenever anyone looked like they would catch him he simply floored his car and increased the gap he had on them. In 2012 at Darlington he earned the 2nd best driver rating, finished 4th, had a 3rd place average running position and led 44 laps. In 2011 he had the third best driver rating and led 78 laps. In 2008 Busch went to victory lane and led 169 laps. One strength of Busch’s at Darlington is leading laps. He’s paced the field in the last six races for a combined 587 laps. Look for Kyle Busch to be tough to beat in the Darlington Bojangles Southern 500. (Yahoo A Driver)

Recommended Reading: Darlington Front Runner Rankings, DarlingtonMid Pack Predictions, Darlington Yahoo C List Preview, Scouting Report, Who will win at Darlington

Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie Johnson is a good fantasy pick to win the Darlington Bojangles Southern 500. He’s a three-time winner who could easily get win #4 on Saturday night. At Darlington minus a 2003 performance and 2010 crash he has a 5.3 average finish. Over that select group of races he’s finished in the top ten 84.6% percent of the time and hasn’t had a result worse than 15th. Last season at Darlington Johnson had a solid race but he was never really a contender for the win. In the event he had nothing for the Joe Gibbs cars. In the race he started 2nd, had a third place average running position, earned the 3rd best driver rating and finished 4th. In 2012 Johnson got Hendrick Motorsports its 200th win. In that race he started 2nd, led 134 laps and earned the best driver rating. In the Darlington Bojangles Southern 500 there should be little doubt that the best team in NASCAR won’t play into the mix at the end. (Yahoo A Driver)

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