Darlington Southern 500 Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Rankings / Post Practice Predictions
On Sunday night under the lights, NASCAR will be racing at Darlington in the Southern 500 to start the 2025 Playoffs. Darlington is a unique 1.33-mile egg shaped oval where tire wear is extreme, and the driver is a difference maker. Often times at Darlington, you’ll see the same drivers finish up front, since this race is in the driver’s hands more than others.
On Saturday, practice was held. Teams had 25 minutes, and keep in mind teams have different agendas. Make sure you check out our Darlington Practice Notes, Darlington Practice Group Speed Rankings, Darlington Practice Speed Cheat Sheet and Darlington Practice Speeds & 10 Lap Averages.
Here’s Darlington Qualifying Results/ Starting Lineup.
Darlington Southern 500 Full Field Fantasy Rankings
1) Ryan Blaney
Start 12th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Darlington Outlook – In the Darlington Southern 500, look for Ryan Blaney to be a factor to win. Blaney nearly won this spring and right now, no team is executing better than the #12. Blaney’s fresh off a trip to victory lane and over the last six races heading into the weekend, Blaney has a series best 4.8 average finish. At high-wear intermediates since 2024, Blaney has the best Track Type Total Speed Ranking and over the last three races he’s ranked 2nd, 1st and 1st for speed. At Darlington in the Next Gen, Blaney ranks 4th in terms of Next Gen Speed Rankings but in terms of average finish, he ranks a mid-pack 16th (18.0). This spring, the #12 was stout and Blaney was robbed of the win. In the race, Blaney started 9th, finished 7th in Stage #1, finished 4th in Stage #2 but then to begin the last Stage, Blaney had a slow pit stop that dropped him from 4th back to 16th. Then over the last Stage, Blaney made a ton of passes, drove up to the lead on lap 290 and led 2 laps but then shortly after that, Larson crashed a second time and Blaney than had a slow pit stop that dropped him back to 4th. When the checkered flag waved, Blaney finished 5th. In terms of speed stats, Blaney ranked as the fastest driver late in a run and had the 2nd best Total Speed Ranking. Over the final quarter of the race, the #12 was the fastest car on the track. Last summer, Blaney crashed on lap 2, so no lessons learned and then in the spring he finished 8th in Stage #1 but then in Stage #2 on lap 129 while battling for 4th, Blaney got into the wall hard, leading to his 36th. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Blaney ranked 6th. In 2023, Blaney had a pair of 9th place finishes. In practice, Blaney was a stopwatch standout and ranked #1 in Group 2 for 25 and 30-lap averages.
DraftKings $10,200/ FanDuel $12,500
Further Recommended Reading – Darlington Projected Finish Ranges, DraftKings Darlington Scoring Projections, FanDuel Darlington Scoring Projections, Darlington Quick Rankings
2) Kyle Larson
Start 5th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Darlington Outlook – Kyle Larson’s a super-elite performer at Darlington and I wouldn’t be surprised if the road to victory lane goes thru him. Larson’s a recent winner (summer 2023) and in many of the recent races, he’s been a factor. Over Larson’s last six incident free Darlington races, he’s 6 for 6 at finishing in the top 4. Larson’s had quite a few misleading results here in the Next Gen but in terms of speed, Larson hasn’t lacked and has a 6.3 average speed ranking minus this spring. Overall in the Next Gen, Larson has the 5th best Total Speed Ranking, the 7th best Driver Rating and “Performance Wise”, he’s been a factor to win 3 of the last 5. This spring, Larson crashed on lap 4, crashed again and brought out overtime, so make sure you avoid any takeaways for his afternoon. Last summer, Larson was the class of the field but finished 4th, after losing the lead during a late restart. In the race, Larson won Stage #1, won Stage #2, led 263 laps, had a 2.0 average running position and earned the best Driver Rating. In terms of speed stats, Larson had the best Total Speed Ranking and ranked 4th for Speed Late In A Run. Last spring, Larson was a top five contender but finished an asterisk mark 34th. In the race, Larson started 6th, won Stage #1, finished 5th in Stage #2, led 15 laps but then in the last Stage on lap 235 while running in 3rd, Larson tagged the wall hard and then immediately came to pit road. Then shortly after that on lap 253 while running in 6th, Larson had a flat tire and crashed. In summer 2023, Larson had the best Total Speed Ranking, had a 4.5 average running position, earned the best Driver Rating, led 55 laps, and raced his way to victory lane. In spring 2023, Larson likely had the best car but finished an asterisk mark 20th after having a late run-in with Ross Chastain while battling for the lead which led to him crashing. In practice, the #5 was fast and ranked 4th in Group 2 for 10,15 and 20-lap averages.
DraftKings $10,500/ FanDuel $14,000
3) William Byron
Start 11th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Darlington Outlook – William Byron is a super-elite performer at Darlington who’ll be tough to beat in the Southern 500. Byron dominated much of the race this spring, he raced his way to victory lane in spring 2023 and over the combined Next Gen Races, Byron has the best average finish (9.1), the best Driver Rating, the best average running position and the best Next Gen Speed Ranking. At Darlington since 2023 minus last summer, Byron has a 3.3 average finish. This spring, Byron started on the pole, won Stage #1, won Stage #2, led 243 laps, had a 1.5 average running position, earned the best Driver Rating and then finished 2nd. Byron’s pit strategy put him behind for the last green flag run and then he also just wasn’t at his best to close out. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Byron ranked 1st but take note his speed over the segments were 1st, 3rd, 1st and then 8th. Last summer, Byron was a top 5 performer but finished an asterisk mark 30th after crashing in a late “Big One.” In the race, Byron finished 8th in Stage #1, finished 4th in Stage #2, was in 6th with 40 laps to go but then during a caution just after that, Byron was leap frogged by some who used pit strategy and then on lap 343 he was collected in a crash. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Byron ranked 4th. Last spring, Byron finished 9th in Stage #1, finished 6th in Stage #2, had a 5.6 average running position, had the 5th best Total Speed Ranking and then finished 6th overall. In 2023, Byron finished 4th in the summer and then raced his way to victory lane in the spring. In practice, Byron was a stopwatch standout and in a stacked Group 2, he ranked #1 for 15 and 20-lap averages. In terms of 30-lap averages he ranked 3rd.
DraftKings $10,700/ FanDuel $13,000
