Darlington Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions
It’s Throwback Weekend in NASCAR, as the annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 is set to take place at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night. This also marks the 25th race of the 2019 season, which means we’ll have just one race after this week before the Playoff field is set. Will we see a surprise driver win his way in to the postseason? It’s unlikely, but you never know what’s going to happen…
William Byron is on the pole for Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500. You can view the entire starting lineup by clicking here. There were two practice sessions held on Friday, and the speeds from those can be found here: Practice #1 — Happy Hour. You should also read our in-depth notes for those sessions: Practice #1 — Happy Hour.
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Final Top 25 Fantasy NASCAR Rankings for Darlington
1. Kyle Larson – Starts 3rd – DraftKings Price: $10,600 – FanDuel Price: $11,500 – Slingshot Price: $11,300
Darlington is the type of race track where a driver’s skill can make up a little bit more for a crappy car than it can at typical intermediate venues, so the good thing for Kyle Larson fans is that he doesn’t have a crappy car this weekend–and we all know this kid has a ton of talent. Larson came out this weekend and posted the 6th-fastest lap in the opening practice session before ending up 2nd-fastest in Happy Hour while also having the best ten-lap average. Looking at last year’s race here, the #42 Chevrolet led a race-high 284 laps, and don’t forget that Kyle led 124 laps in the 2017 Southern 500. Additionally, he came home 3rd here back in 2016–the same position he finished last season. Momentum-wise, this #42 team is finally clicking, with five finishes of 8th or better in the last six races, and seven top 10s in the last nine races overall. Darlington has been a great track for Kyle Larson–his career average finish of 7.6 here is 3rd-best in the series–and there’s no reason to think he won’t have a great race here on Sunday night, either. The #42 Chevrolet is the best car heading into the Southern 500 this weekend, and with the momentum this team is building, I think they bring it home with a win.
2. Denny Hamlin – Starts 9th – DraftKings Price: $11,400 – FanDuel Price: $14,000 – Slingshot Price: $11,600
Denny Hamlin is in championship form right now, no question about it. With his win at Bristol a couple of weeks ago, Denny now has four straight top 3 finishes (including two wins) and hasn’t finished outside of the top 5 since the Daytona race in early July. Now we’re at Darlington–a track that he’s always been good at–and he’s got a really fast car to contend with on Sunday night. Looking at practice speeds, the #11 Toyota had the 6th-best ten-lap average in the opening session on Friday and then jumped up to 2nd on that chart in Happy Hour. Hamlin also ranked 4th in 20-lap average during that final practice. Denny is a two-time winner at Darlington Raceway with his most recent victory here coming in 2017. He owns the best average finish at Darlington (6.2) of anyone in the garage and has finished inside the top 5 in over half his attempts here (7-for-13). There’s no reason to go against Hamlin on Sunday night.
3. Kyle Busch – Starts REAR of the field but will be scored from 33rd – DraftKings Price: $11,900 – FanDuel Price: $15,000 – Slingshot Price: $13,500
Darlington is one of those race tracks where driver talent plays a more significant role than usual, so obviously Kyle Busch is going to be a good fantasy pick. Surprisingly, Rowdy has just one win here at “The Lady in Black” (back in 2008) but he’s still been great here overall, with finishes of 7th or better in seven of his last nine starts here. The two exceptions? 11th-place finishes in 2016 and 2011. This weekend, the #18 Toyota has been great on the long runs, ranking inside the top 3 in ten-lap average during both practice sessions on Friday, and also ending up with the 2nd-fastest 20- and 25-lap averages during Happy Hour. You’d be crazy to think that Kyle Busch won’t contend for a top 5 finish in Sunday night’s race, even with his horrible qualifying lap. He’ll have plenty of time to come up through the field.
