Darlington Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Ranking Picks

1) Kyle Busch (Starting – REAR of the field but will be scored from 4th. I still think he’ll compete for a top five) Kyle Busch will be a favorite at Darlington and this weekend I would look for him to finish in the top five, and be a factor to win. At Darlington, Busch is a former winner who’s run exceptionally well in recent races. Over the last five Darlington races, Busch’s 6.0 average finish ranks as the 2nd best. Last year at “The Lady In Black”, Busch had a phenomenal showing. In the race he started 33rd, finished 3rd, led 118 laps and ranked as the 4th “Fastest Driver Late In A Run.” In the first two Stages, Busch finished 4th and 1st. I’ll also note Busch was on pace to finish 2nd, but right near the end he got into the wall and then eased up. In 2018, Busch finished 7th and had a 9th place average running position. In the first two Stages he place 9th (Stage #1) and 8th (Stage #2). In 2017, Busch had a great car. He finished 2nd, earned the 3rd best driver rating and had a 5th place average running position. Additionally, Busch finished 9th in Stage #1 and 5th in Stage #2. In 2016 he was a solid performer and when the checkered flag waved he finished 11th, earned the 9th best driver rating and had an 8th place average running position. In the four Darlington races prior to that Busch had results of 7th, 6th, 6th and 4th. Right when the season left off, the #18 team was getting hot and Busch’s last two results were 2nd (Auto Club) and 3rd (Phoenix). (DraftKings $11,800 / FanDuel $14,000)

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2) Joey Logano (Starting – 9th) You may not remember it, but Joey Logano has won 50% of the races this year. At Darlington, look for Logano to perform at a high-level and be a top five contender. In 3 of the last 5 races at “The Lady In Black” he’s come home with a top five. Last year at Darlington, Logano didn’t have a race to brag about, and it wasn’t incident free. In the event he finished 14th, ranked as the 16th “Fastest Driver Late In A Run” and had a 16.3 average running position. In the race he finished 8th in Stage #1, but in Stage #2 on lap 172 he had a flat tire while running in the top ten and that handcuffed him for the remainder of the race. In 2018, Logano had a great car and came home with a runner-up finish. Additionally, he earned the 2nd best driver rating, had a 5th place average running position, finished 4th in Stage #1 and 3rd in Stage #2. In 2017, Logano finished 18th but I’ll note he was better than his result, pit strategy at the end hurt him. Realistically he was around 13th place good. In the race he had an 11th place average running position, finished 8th in Stage #1 and finished just outside the top ten in Stage #2. In the two Darlington races prior to that he had results of 4th (2015) and 5th (2016). I will note, it sounds like this weekend Paul Wolfe his crew chief is bringing a rather safe setup that the team can work on throughout the race. (DraftKings $10,100 / FanDuel $12,200)

Further Recommended Reading: Darlington Projected Finish Ranges, DraftKings Darlington Playability Value Chart/ Projected Base Scores, FanDuel Darlington Playability Value Chart/ Projected Base Scores

3) Kevin Harvick (Starting – 6th) At Darlington, there’s no question Kevin Harvick will be one of the drivers to beat. He’s a past champion and over the last five races he has the best average finish (4.3), the best average running position (5.3), the best driver rating and he’s only once finished worse than 4th. Last year at Darlington, Harvick finished 4th, had a 10.1 average running position and ranked as the 11th “Fastest Driver Late In A Run.” In 2018, 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. (DraftKings $11,500 / FanDuel $14,500)