Restrictor Plate Racing Mayhem

Brad Keselowski celebrates his second win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 on Sunday in Talladega, Ala.
Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

Another restrictor plate race and another horrible weekend for yours truly. I think that the last nine out of 10 races at these tracks I have been doing very well until the last twenty laps of the race and then all heck breaks loose on my team. I hate these races almost as much as most of the drivers that have to race in them. Other than that…

Congratulations to Brad Keselowski on winning another restrictor plate race. Brad stayed out of major trouble all day and was in position at the end to take the lead with a little help from Kyle Busch. These two guys stayed close enough to each other so they could use the draft to their advantage. Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle got to far apart and it cost them a win and a few positions.

This week the series heads to Darlington Raceway for another Saturday night race on the day before Mother’s Day. This is the last race before the All-Star week at Charlotte, followed by the Coca-Cola 600 on May 27th of Memorial weekend. I will not be writing an article for the All-Star race and my article for the 600 will not be written until after the conclusion of the All-Star weekend.

Bojangles’ Southern 500

Jeff Gordon: Jeff is my pick to win this weekends race at Darlington. He has seven career wins here and has finished in the top-5 in seven of his last eight starts here. After sitting on the pole last week and then getting caught up in an accident. Jeff and his team will be looking for a little redemption heading to Charlotte and I think they are going to get it.

Greg Biffle: Greg now leads the point standings and won back-to-back races here in 2005 and 2006. He did what he needed to do at Talladega by staying out of trouble and coming away with a top-10 finish. He will challenge for his second win of the season.

Jimmie Johnson: Two restrictor plate races and two disappointing finishes this season for Jimmie. He won both races here back in 2004 and would like nothing better than to get back on track before the series takes a break for the All-Star weekend. Look for them to come out firing on all cylinders.

Brad Keselowski: Brad won the race at Talladega last week but I don’t think that he is getting the respect that he deserves yet. He has only run three races at Darlington in his short career and has finished in the top-10 in two of those races, including a 3rd place finish last season.

Mark Martin: Mark won the race here back in 2009 and has been having an excellent season for Michael Waltrip Racing so far this year. After letting Michael take his seat last week at Talladega, Mark will be raring to get back behind the wheel this weekend.

Ryan Newman: Ryan has run consistently well at Darlington throughout his career and is on a roll finishing in the top-10 in six of his last seven starts there. He will be happy to get out of Talladega and get back to a track that he loves to race on this weekend.

Tony Stewart: This is one of the few tracks that Tony has yet to win at even though he has finished in the top-10 here in over half of his starts. After having fuel pickup problems at Talladega last week, this team will be happy to get back to the type of racing that they love and are great at.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. : Dale has been having a very good year so far but he was very disappointed with his top-10 finish at Talladega. This week will be a good test for this team. Dale has run very well here during his career but, he hasn’t run well here the past three seasons. I believe that will change this weekend and Dale will compete for the win once again.

Matt Kenseth: Matt currently sits in 2nd place in the standings and has had his ups and downs at Darlington. He had four straight top-10 finishes from 2006 to 2009 and led laps in every one of those races. He hasn’t done either of those things the past two seasons but, I think he will return to the better form this weekend.

Carl Edwards: Carl finished 2nd in this race last season and would like to improve on that finish this weekend. He has run very well here when he hasn’t had any mechanical issues with his car. This could be a breakout weekend for this team.

Yahoo Fantasy NASCAR Picks for Darlington Raceway

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jeff Gordon
• Jimmie Johnson

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Mark Martin
• Jeff Burton
• Dale Earnhardt Jr.
• Greg Biffle

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Aric Almirola
• Bobby Labonte

My Top-5 For Darlington Raceway

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Greg Biffle
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Mark Martin
5. Denny Hamlin

Dark Horse: Jeff Burton

Stay Away From: A. J. Allmendinger