Fantasy NASCAR Scouting Report – Darlington

[themify_box]NOTE: This post is a recap of what happened in 2015 at Darlington[/themify_box]

Darlington Top Ten Starters

1. Brad Keselowski
2. Kurt Busch
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Joey Logano
5. Jeff Gordon
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Martin Truex Jr.
8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
9. Ryan Blaney
10. Kyle Busch

Full Darlington Starting Lineup

Darlington Pre-Race Notes

This Darlington race was the second event that the “Lower Down Force Package” was used.

Danica Patrick started in the rear of the field in a backup car.

Chase Elliott started in the rear of the field for a rear gear change. Chase Elliott drove the #25.

Darlington Race Notes

Brad Keselowski started on the pole in the inside lane and led the opening 62 laps.

Notable Moment: On lap 7 the first caution came out when Brett Moffitt and Cole Whitt got together. Both of those cars got pretty heavy damage. Chase Elliott ran into the back of Whitt and got some damage to his nose.

Running order on lap 18: 2,41,4,20,78,22,24,11,18,19 … 17,27,43,21,16,6,55,42,5,13 … 1,14,15,31,48,47,88,51,9,40 … 3,7,83,46,10,38,25,26,23,33

Notable Moment: On lap 19 Matt Kenseth got into the wall and damaged his car. He was running in 3rd at the time. It damaged his right rear quarter panel. He also had a flat tire and pitted on lap 22 which dropped him two laps down.

Notable Moment: On lap 24 Greg Biffle came down pit road for a flat tire. He was running in the mid-teens at the time. This dropped him one lap down.

Martin Truex Jr. really liked his car.

Running order on lap 38: 5,31,4,78,24,11,22,19,55,42 … 18,14,27,48,31,5,88,43,9,15 … 21,1,3,17,40,6,83,7,10,13 … 25,51,47,38,26,46,33,23,98,16 … 20,34,35

Tires were very important. Kyle Larson pitted during the first caution when many didn’t and moved up from about 23rd to 10th on lap 40.

Notable Moment: On lap 47 Newman spun and brought out the caution. He didn’t appear to get any notable damage.

Running order on lap 53: 2,41,4,11,78,19,42,24,22,55 … 14,48,18,88,5,27,43,1,21,9 … 9,3,6,40,17,83,7,10,13,51 … 31,25,47,16,46,23,26,38,33,98 … 20,34,35

On lap 62 when the caution came out for debris Greg Biffle got back on the lead lap. During this caution Carl Edwards didn’t pit. His lead was very short lived. He lost 7 spots on the first lap under green, and 5 laps the next. On lap 69 he was back to 18th. Edwards was supposed to come to pit road but they had a radio miscommunication.

Running order on lap 72: 11,22,41,2,4,42,5,24,78,18 … 48,14,88,55,1,43,27,15,21,9 … 3,17,31,19,6,13,10,40,25,16 … 83,47,51,7,46,38,26,33,98,23 … 20,34,35

On lap 90 Edwards pitted under green because of a suspected flat tire. This dropped him down a lap.

Running order on lap 91: 11,41,2,4,22,42,78,24,18,48 … 14,88,55,43,1,21,27,15,3,9 … 16,17,6,31,5,25,13,40,83,10

Big Moment: On lap 96 Ryan Blaney was on pit road after getting a significant Darlington stripe. This dropped him down at least one lap.

On lap 109 Michael Annett spun and brought out the caution.

Running order on lap 109 under caution: 11,4,2,41,22,78,42,24,48,14 … 88,18,55,1,27,43,3,16,9,17 … 25,15,6,31,40,13,83,47,19,21

On lap 120 Mike Bliss got into the wall hard. It brought out the caution.

On lap 126 Mike Bliss got into the wall again and JJ Yeley also got into the wall which brought out another caution. Michael Annett also got into the wall hard.

Running order under caution on lap 126: 2,4,41,78,42,14,18,1,16,40 … 48,3,11,22,24,88,55,43,27,9 … 17,6,31,25,15,13,47,83,5,10 … 7,20,19,21,38,98,26,23,33,46 … 51,34,35

Notable Moment: On lap 134 Jimmie Johnson spun. He didn’t get any notable damage. He was running around 10th at the time.