Beat The Experts: Bojangles’ Southern 500 At Darlington
By Cole Mentzel
The Sprint Cup Series is set to visit Darlington this Sunday night in a race where many drivers will be using throwback paint schemes or honoring other drivers with special schemes. From Richard Petty and David Pearson to Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough, many of the greats are going to honored and some of fans favorite sponsors like Tide, Mello Yello and Valvoline will be represented. Overall, it’s setting up to be a very cool night.
This race will be one of the most important races of the season for drivers on the bubble of the Chase. If something goes wrong, some drivers could find themselves in a situation where a win is the only way they are able to get into the Chase. Check out the BTF staff predictions for the race:
John Harlow – Tony Stewart – Low downforce means you have to drive the car. Going to be hot and slick at Darlington and Smoke is beyond due. Besides a 65 race winless streak, Stewart is also looking for his first career win at the track.
Joseph Shelton – Matt Kenseth – He is the 2013 Southern 500 winner and a three-time Xfinity winner at Darlington. He knows how to get around Darlington and those JGR Toyotas are beasts this season. He’ll be a repeat Southern 500 winner.
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Cole Mentzel – Kevin Harvick – Harvick is the defending winner at Darlington, plus he has continued to finish in second place, including the last two weeks at Michigan and Bristol. He has been on a roll the whole year and you can’t go wrong by picking him. I believe Harvick will finally get his third win of the season this weekend.
Mike Hutton – Kyle Larson – The Darlington high groove coupled with his car control skills should finally pay off for him. Larson finished 8th in his only career Sprint Cup race at the track.
Zach Roethlisberger – Kevin Harvick – Being at a track that the series has not visited this season gives Harvick an advantage as he and crew chief Rodney Childers have been able to adapt so well to anywhere they go this season. He’s your 2014 Southern 500 winner so look for Harvick to finally win his third race of 2015.
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Underdog of the Weekend – Greg Biffle – As a back-to-back winner in 2005 and 2006, Biffle knows what it takes to master Darlington. He will likely need a win to get into the Chase since he sits 83 points out right now, so he will be feeling the pressure to make it to Victory Lane. Biffle could be a dark horse this Sunday.
Emotions will be running high with only one race left before the Chase after this weekend concludes. Anyone and everyone will be looking to win at such a historic track. It’s Darlington, it’s a night race and it’s time for everyone to clinch their spot in the Chase and get ready for Fall racing. This could be one of the best races of the season.
Leave a comment below and let us know who you think will win at Darlington!