NASCAR CUP Series

Positions at Darlington Raceway

Explore detailed statistics of driver performance at Darlington Raceway, featuring tables with historical and projected start and finish positions, sparklines, averages over the last two and four years, alongside visual charts highlighting the top and bottom performers over the last 6 years.

Trending Drivers at Darlington Raceway

To capture how drivers have performed over time at Darlington Raceway, I calculate the trend of their start and finish positions using linear regression. This method plots each race as a data point and draws a trend line that best fits all the data over a 6-year period. The slope of this trend line helps us understand performance trends:

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How to read these graphs

6-Year Trend of Driver Start Positions

6-Year Trend of Driver Finish Positions

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Displaying All Drivers from the result set.

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2-year

4-year

6-year

Sparkline

Hover the column header numbers to see race information. Complete race list...

'Asterisk Races' driver did not finish with 'Running' status or was more than 2-laps down.

Improving. Average position has improved.

Declining. Average position has worsened.

Stable. Little to no change in average position.

No Data. This could be due to insufficient race data for the period.

The numbers in the table header (... 3, 2, 1) correspond to the races numbered here. Races are ordered chronologically from newest (1) to oldest.

2024
1 #26 Darlington Raceway Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, September 1st, 2024
2 #13 Darlington Raceway Goodyear 400 on Sunday, May 12th, 2024
2023
3 #27 Darlington Raceway Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, September 3rd, 2023
4 #13 Darlington Raceway Goodyear 400 on Sunday, May 14th, 2023
2022
5 #27 Darlington Raceway Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, September 4th, 2022
6 #12 Darlington Raceway Goodyear 400 on Sunday, May 8th, 2022
2021
7 #27 Darlington Raceway Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, September 5th, 2021
8 #12 Darlington Raceway Goodyear 400 on Sunday, May 9th, 2021
2020
9 #27 Darlington Raceway Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday, September 6th, 2020
10 #6 Darlington Raceway Toyota 500 on Wednesday, May 20th, 2020
11 #5 Darlington Raceway The Real Heroes 400 on Sunday, May 17th, 2020
2019
12 #25 Darlington Raceway Bojangles' Southern 500 on Sunday, September 1st, 2019

Driver Track History of Positions at Darlington Raceway * 'Asterisk Races': Driver DNF or was 2+ laps down.
																									Understanding the Sparkline	START POSITION 2-, 4-, 6-YEARS						FINISH POSITION 2-, 4-, 6-YEARS
DRIVER																									START FINISH	PRJ	BST	2	4	6	TRND	PRJ	BST	2	4	6	TRND
AJ Allmendinger																	30	23	16	13						15.1	16	23.0	23.0	23.0		12.4	13	18.0	18.0	18.0
Aric Almirola	30	17	5	12	9	7	10	9	27	37*	8	16	12	11	22	11	17	21	10	14						13.4	5	13.5	16.0	15.0		16.5	7	17.5	18.3	15.5
Brad Keselowski	2	5	1	13	8	4	5	11	1	24*	16	7	23	34*	25	7	10	4	5	6	2	1	12	14		9.4	1	7.3	11.8	9.2		7.2	1	6.3	12.1	10.8
Clint Bowyer	13	6	13	17	4	22	9	10																		8.2	4			9.8		17.8	6			13.8
David Ragan	26	26*																									26			26.0			26			26.0
Denny Hamlin	9	29*	10	5	16	1	2	13	7	5	2	1	22	21	11	2	8	12	2	25	7	4	14	7		8.8	2	7.8	9.1	9.2		11.1	1	12.0	9.6	10.4
JJ Yeley	35	32*	30	28	29	28	37	30*	34	29*			32	23*	33	34*			33	30*						32.6	29	33.0	33.0	32.9		29.4	23	30.0	29.0	29.3
Jimmie Johnson	6	16	8	38*	37	8	22	18																		23.8	6			18.3		21.9	8			20.0
Joe Nemechek	37	31*																									37			37.0			31			31.0
Joey Logano	7	14	9	18	3	6	13	3	12	13	11	8	1	1	1	4	15	18	6	12	14	21	23	8		14.5	1	14.5	10.4	9.6		14.1	1	14.8	10.6	10.5
Kevin Harvick	11	4	6	1	20	3	8	1	2	6	9	5	35	4	18	33*	20	2	7	19						16.8	2	13.5	15.2	13.6		14.0	1	10.5	11.5	7.8
Kurt Busch	4	7	22	3	18	15	16	8	17	35*	3	6	6	28*												8.1	3		8.7	12.3		28.4	3		23.0	14.6
Kyle Busch	33	3	4	26	26	2	15	7	3	3	12	35*	5	33*	5	30*	12	7	11	11	11	27	17	2		11.1	3	12.8	9.5	12.8		14.3	2	11.8	18.5	15.5
Martin Truex Jr	22	15	15	6	15	10	6	22	4	1	10	4	4	24*	17	31*	1	31*	31	18	10	25	5	36*		11.0	1	11.8	10.3	11.7		30.4	1	27.5	21.3	18.6
Matt Kenseth			12	10	11	30	26	14																		9.4	11			16.3		21.5	10			18.0
Michael McDowell	23	38*	31	23	23	17	19	16	13	27*	15	37*	16	7	10	6	19	33*	9	32*	16	10	31	28*		18.1	9	18.8	16.1	18.8		23.0	6	25.8	22.5	22.8
Paul Menard	17	9																									17			17.0			9			9.0
Reed Sorenson	34	30*	36	29																						36.0	34			35.0		29.0	29			29.5
Ryan Newman	24	23	21	15	6	14	31	15	20	10	19	14					26	28*	35	27						30.3	6	30.5	25.0	22.8		27.1	10	27.5	19.8	18.3
Landon Cassill	25	25*											33	22	26	25										29.5	25		29.5	28.0		23.5	22		23.5	24.0
Austin Dillon	14	10	16	11	10	20	12	2	9	16	21	10	14	9	13	17	18	35*	28	20	23	28	16	15		21.6	9	21.3	17.8	16.2		25.2	2	24.5	18.8	16.1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr	21	33*	23	40*	39	25	29	19	28	20*	29	17	26	8	20	35*	3	13	25	16	20	23	36	22		21.1	3	21.0	23.4	24.9		17.8	8	18.5	19.3	22.6
Timmy Hill			38	33*	33	33*	33	35*															37	35*		37.0	33	37.0	37.0	35.3		35.0	33	35.0	35.0	34.0
Kyle Larson	3	2							14	2	6	2	2	36*	7	12	7	20	18	1	6	34*	4	4		8.4	2	8.8	8.0	7.4		17.3	1	14.8	13.9	12.6
Alex Bowman	16	18	2	2	19	18	4	6	19	17	5	26*	15	29*	16	10			24	33*	18	8	27	19		23.7	2	23.0	17.7	15.0		20.2	2	20.0	20.3	16.9
Ryan Blaney	10	13	7	16	5	21	7	24	16	8	1	22	7	17	9	13	11	9	4	9	17	36*	7	37*		10.0	1	9.8	9.0	8.4		24.3	8	22.8	18.9	18.8
Corey Lajoie	27	36*	19	31*	31	24	27	37*	30	22*	25	15	30	35*	34	24	34	24	22	22	24	16	19	9		24.8	19	24.8	27.3	26.8		16.2	9	17.8	20.9	24.6
Joey Gase	39	34*	32	30*	30	29	39	33*			35	29*														32.4	30		35.0	35.0		28.4	29		29.0	31.0
Ty Dillon	29	20	33	19	2	19	25	27*					21	12	29	22	33	27	26	29*						29.4	2	29.5	27.3	24.8		26.7	12	28.0	22.5	21.9
Chase Elliott	8	19	11	4	17	38*	1	20	6	7	4	31*	34	5	23	36*	21	3	13	8	31	12	20	11		24.4	1	21.3	19.0	15.8		8.4	3	8.5	14.1	16.2
Matt DiBenedetto	19	8	3	14	7	9	11	21	8	19*	30	23														14.5	3		19.0	13.0		21.1	8		21.0	15.7
Chris Buescher	12	12	24	32*	32	23	20	26*	11	9	34	9	18	16	27	26	27	10	8	3	3	30	10	6		11.2	3	12.0	17.3	18.8		12.5	3	12.3	13.6	16.8
Erik Jones	15	1	20	8	13	5	30	4	26	18	22	32*	11	25*	15	1	28	25	20	10	30	19	28	24*		26.4	11	26.5	22.5	21.5		20.9	1	19.5	19.3	14.3
BJ McLeod	36	39*	39	39*	38	36*			32	32*	27	27*	36	32*	35	29*	35	32*	36	36*						35.3	27	35.5	33.5	34.9		32.6	27	34.0	31.3	33.6
Ryan Preece	20	22	25	20	1	39*	35	17	29	25*	18	12					32	15	34	28*	26	17	30	12		31.1	1	30.5	28.2	25.0		17.2	12	18.0	18.2	20.7
Gray Gaulding					28	32																					28			28.0			32			32.0
Daniel Suarez	5	11	37	25	25	27	28	25*	15	23*	26	13	20	10	36	18	6	34*	21	34*	19	24	32	18		21.0	5	19.5	21.9	22.5		26.7	10	27.5	21.8	21.8
Cody Ware									33	34*	33	33*	31	19	32	32*										31.4	31		32.3	32.3		25.4	19		29.5	29.5
Ross Chastain	31	28*					34	29*	18	15	23	3	8	30*	12	20	5	29*	27	5	9	11	22	5		13.5	5	15.8	15.5	18.9		11.4	3	12.5	14.8	17.5
Bubba Wallace	28	24	17	21	21	16	17	38*	23	21*	17	21	17	27*	8	9	2	5	19	7	8	7	1	16		5.4	1	7.5	11.9	14.8		7.4	5	8.8	14.1	17.7
Daniel Hemric	18	37*											24	31*	24	23					29	33*	25	29*		27.5	18	27.0	25.5	24.0		29.7	23	31.0	29.0	30.6
William Byron	1	21	18	35*	34	12	3	5	5	4	14	34*	9	13	3	8	4	1	23	4	5	6	8	30*		9.2	1	10.0	8.9	10.6		9.9	1	10.3	12.5	14.4
Brennan Poole			35	27	27	37*	23	28*									36	36*								36.1	23	36.0	36.0	30.3		36.1	27	36.0	36.0	32.0
Cole Custer			14	22	22	31	14	12	24	36*	31	11	28	26*	30	14										30.9	14		28.3	23.3		19.5	11		21.8	21.7
Garrett Smithley	38	35*	26	37*	36	34*																				30.9	26			33.3		35.5	34			35.3
Josh Bilicki			40	34*			38	32*	37	33*	28	28*														30.0	28		32.5	35.8		29.4	28		30.5	31.8
Tyler Reddick			29	7	14	13	24	23	10	12	7	18	10	2	4	3	9	22	3	2	1	32	6	10		2.6	1	4.8	6.3	10.6		15.9	2	16.5	12.6	13.1
Matt Tifft	32	27*																									32			32.0			27			27.0
Quin Houff			27	36*	35	26	32	31*	35	30*	37	30*														37.1	27		36.0	33.2		29.7	26		30.0	30.6
Justin Haley									31	28*	20	25*	29	3	14	19	22	8	29	24	28	9	21	27*		24.6	14	25.0	24.3	24.3		16.0	3	17.0	17.9	17.9
John Hunter Nemechek			34	9	12	35*	18	36*													22	31	18	25*		20.0	12	20.0	20.0	20.8		27.9	9	28.0	28.0	27.2
Christopher Bell			28	24	24	11	21	34*	21	14	13	20	3	6	2	5	16	14	1	23	12	13	9	3		6.9	1	9.5	9.6	13.6		10.7	3	13.3	12.3	15.2
James Davison							36	39*	36	31*	36	36*														36.0	36		36.0	36.0		33.4	31		33.5	35.3
Kaz Grala																					34	18	35	34*		35.1	34	34.5	34.5	34.5		34.9	18	26.0	26.0	26.0
Austin Cindric													19	18	6	16	25	19	14	31*	25	20	11	13		19.1	6	18.8	16.7	16.7		20.5	13	20.8	19.5	19.5
Chase Briscoe									22	11	24	19	13	20	19	27*	31	17	12	15	13	5	3	1		12.9	3	14.8	17.1	17.1		8.6	1	9.5	14.4	14.4
Harrison Burton													25	14	28	21	14	6	32	35*	35	22	24	21		26.8	14	26.3	26.3	26.3		21.7	6	21.0	19.8	19.8
Noah Gragson																	29	26			36	14	29	32*		32.5	29	31.3	31.3	31.3		23.6	14	24.0	24.0	24.0
Anthony Alfredo									25	26*	32	24*														32.4	25		28.5	28.5		23.9	24		25.0	25.0
Zane Smith																					27	35*	26	23*		25.9	26	26.5	26.5	26.5		22.3	23	29.0	29.0	29.0
Josh Berry																	23	30*			33	3	15	31*		23.3	15	23.7	23.7	23.7		17.3	3	21.3	21.3	21.3
Ty Gibbs															21	15	13	16	17	21	4	2	13	20		10.2	4	11.8	13.6	13.6		14.2	2	14.8	14.8	14.8
Todd Gilliland													27	15	31	28*	24	11	30	26	15	15	33	17		25.0	15	25.5	26.7	26.7		16.7	11	17.3	18.7	18.7
Derek Kraus																					32	29					32	32.0	32.0	32.0			29	29.0	29.0	29.0
Carson Hocevar																			15	17	21	26	2	33*		10.2	2	12.7	12.7	12.7		30.9	17	25.3	25.3	25.3
Shane van Gisbergen																							34	26*			34	34.0	34.0	34.0			26	26.0	26.0	26.0

POSITIONS BY TRACK

Follow the links to see position by track at other tracks.

Atlanta Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course Chicago Street Race Circuit of The Americas Darlington Raceway Daytona International Speedway Dover Motor Speedway Homestead Miami Speedway

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Iowa Speedway Kansas Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Martinsville Speedway Michigan International Speedway Nashville Superspeedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway

North Wilkesboro Speedway Phoenix Raceway Pocono Raceway Richmond Raceway Sonoma Raceway Talladega Superspeedway Texas Motor Speedway Watkins Glen International World Wide Technology Raceway

X-Axis (Horizontal Axis)

This axis represents the sequence of races at this track. The leftmost point is the earliest race in your dataset, and the rightmost point is the most recent race.

Y-Axis (Vertical Axis)

This axis represents the positions in the race. Lower on the axis corresponds to a lower numerical position (i.e., closer to 1st place), and higher on the axis corresponds to a higher numerical position (i.e., farther from 1st place).

Blue Line (Start Positions):

This line shows where the driver started each race. Each point on this line corresponds to the starting position of the driver for a particular race.
Lower Points: Indicates that the driver started closer to the front of the grid (better starting position).
Higher Points: Indicates that the driver started farther back on the grid (worse starting position).

Red Line (Finish Positions):

This line shows where the driver finished each race. Each point on this line corresponds to the finishing position of the driver for a particular race.
Lower Points: Indicates that the driver finished closer to the front (better finishing position).
Higher Points: Indicates that the driver finished farther back (worse finishing position).

Interpreting the Lines Together

Consistency: If both lines are relatively flat and near the bottom of the chart, it indicates that the driver consistently starts and finishes in good positions.
Improvement: If the red line is generally below the blue line, it indicates that the driver tends to finish races in better positions than they start. This can be interpreted as the driver making significant progress during races.
Decline: If the red line is generally above the blue line, it indicates that the driver tends to finish races in worse positions than they start. This can be interpreted as the driver losing positions during races.
Variability: Large fluctuations in either line indicate variability in starting or finishing positions. This can highlight inconsistency in the driver's performance or qualifying results.

Example Interpretation

Let's take an example of a driver's sparkline with the following data:

Start Positions: [18, 14, 25, 30, 21, 16]
Finish Positions: [10, 8, 14, 20, 11, 9]

Analysis:

1. Start Positions (Blue Line):

The driver started races in positions 18, 14, 25, 30, 21, and 16.
The start positions indicate that the driver often begins races in the mid to back of the field, with some races starting as far back as 30th.

2. Finish Positions (Red Line):

The driver finished races in positions 10, 8, 14, 20, 11, and 9.
The finishing positions show a trend of consistent improvement during the race, finishing better than their starting position in almost every race.

3. Comparative Insights:

The driver consistently improved from their starting position, such as moving up from 25th to 14th or 21st to 11th.
Even when starting as far back as 30th, the driver made significant gains to finish 20th, showcasing strong race performance.
This pattern indicates a driver who is capable of gaining positions during the race, often finishing much higher than where they began.

Visual Example

This sparkline helps to quickly visualize the driver's performance trends over multiple races, showing how their starting and finishing positions compare and highlighting the pattern of consistent finishes outperforming start positions.

TLDR: When you see a driver with a negative slope (to the left of the 0), they're getting better over time, which could lead to higher points or better bets. Drivers with a positive slope are trending downward, so they may be less reliable choices.

The length of the bars you see on the chart corresponds to a value called the 'slope'. The slope is the result of a calculation called linear regression, which analyzes past data points (in this case, 'finish' or 'start' positions) to identify a trend.

While the slope helps illustrate whether a driver is generally improving or declining over time, it does not specifically predict the next value but rather shows the overall direction of the trend based on previous positions.

The slope on these charts represents the trend in starting or finishing positions the driver has in the races competed in at Darlington Raceway over the previous six seasons.

NEGATIVE SLOPE: Indicates improvement, meaning the driver is generally starting or finishing in better (lower) positions over time.
POSITIVE SLOPE: Indicates decline, meaning the driver is starting or finishing in worse (higher) positions over time.

Interpreting the Bars

Bars to the Left of 0 (Negative Slope): These drivers are improving. For example, a driver with a slope of -7 is showing significant improvement, starting or finishing much better than before.

Bars to the Right of 0 (Positive Slope): These drivers are declining. A positive slope suggests the driver is either qualifying or finishing worse compared to their previous performances.

Fantasy NASCAR, DFS, and Sports Betting

Fantasy NASCAR : Favor drivers with a negative slope (improving trend) for your lineups. They are trending toward better finishes, which likely means more points.
DFS NASCAR : Focus on drivers with an improving trend, especially those who start further back but finish strong. They offer value picks and upside in points.
Sports Betting : Bet on drivers with improving finishing trends (negative slope). They have momentum, making them solid picks for top placements or even wins.