Darlington Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Denny Hamlin – Denny Hamlin is an elite performer at Darlington who should be on your short list of favorites. At “The Lady In Black” he’s a two-time winner who’s finished in the top five 54% percent of the time, in the top ten 85% percent of the time and has only once finished worse than 13th. His overall average finish is an impressive 6.2. Over the last four combined races at this egg-shaped oval he sports a 4.5 average finish and a 6.3 average running position. Last year at Darlington, Hamlin had a solid showing. He finished 10th, earned the 10th best driver rating and had an 8th place average running position. In 2017, Denny Hamlin had a great car and he raced his way to victory lane. In the race he earned the best driver rating, had a 3rd place average running position, led 124 laps (tied for the most), finished 3rd in Stage #1 and 2nd in Stage #2. In 2016, Hamlin had a very strong showing. He finished 4th, earned the 6th best driver rating and had a 7th place average running position. In 3 of the 4 Darlington races prior to that he finished in the top 3. One attribute you have to like about Denny Hamlin is his momentum. He’s fresh off a win, and over the last five races heading into the weekend he’s finished in the top 3 every race and has a 1.8 average finish. On Sunday, I would look for Hamlin to finish in the top five and compete for the win.

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Martin Truex Jr. – Martin Truex Jr. will be tough to beat at Darlington. He won in 2016 and if 2017 was 4 laps shorter he would’ve won that race too. Over the last three Darlington races, Truex Jr. has the best driver rating, a 6.0 average running position and a 6.7 average finish. Last year, Truex Jr. had a strong car but finished a misleading 11th. During green flag pit stops in the lap 160’s while he was running in 2nd his team had an uncontrolled tire and he had to serve a pass thru penalty. That made for a long evening and he never fully recovered. In the race it should be noted he led 30 laps and finished 3rd in Stage #1 prior to his problem. In 2017, Truex Jr. had a great car. He earned the 2nd best driver rating, had a 3rd place average running position, led 76 laps, won the first two Stages but finished a misleading 8th. Late in the race Hamlin had fresher tires and chased him down. I will note while he was leading with 3 laps to go he had a flat tire, got into the wall and then made an unexpected pit stop. In 2016 Truex Jr. had a great car and raced his way to victory lane. In addition to winning he earned the 2nd best driver rating, had a 5th place average running position and led 28 laps.

Kevin Harvick – Kevin Harvick should be near the top of your fantasy NASCAR radar at Darlington. It’s been a great track for him and he’s consistently run well. Over the last six races at “The Track Too Tough To Tame” he has the best driver rating, the best average finish (4.3), the best average running position (4.5), he’s led the most laps (518) and he’s finished in the top 9 every race. Last year, Harvick had a strong showing. He started back in 22nd but that wasn’t a problem. When the race reached its conclusion he finished 4th, had a 7th place average running position and earned the 6th best driver rating. Additionally, he finished 6th in Stage #1 and 10th in Stage #2. In 2017, Harvick had a solid showing from the pole and finished 9th. In the race he earned the 5th best driver rating, had a 5th place average running position and led 22 laps. In the race he had a slow pit stop while leading which dropped him back to 10th, and then near the end his car wasn’t at its best. In 2016, Harvick had the best car and was unquestionably the driver to beat. Unfortunately, bad pit stops on a few occasions killed his chances of winning. When the checkered flag waved he earned the best driver rating, finished 2nd, had a 2nd place average running position and led 214 laps. In 2015 he had a great car and was a serious threat to win. He earned the 2nd best driver rating, had a 3rd place average running position, finished 5th and led 44 laps. In 2014 nobody was better than Harvick. He dominated the race from start to finish. He started on the pole, earned the best driver rating, had a 2nd place average running position and led 238 laps.

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Top Tier Elite Picks > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions >The Low Tier