2010 SHOWTIME Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

By Steve McCormick, About.com Guide

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Darlington Raceway

Logo Courtesy of NASCAR

2010 SHOWTIME Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway:

Darlington Raceway was NASCAR's first superspeedway when Johnny Mantz won the first race here in 1950. Sixty years later Darlington Raceway is still hosting great racing as the 2010 SHOWTIME Southern 500 rolls off under the lights this Saturday night.

Tickets:

Speedway ticket office (843) 395-8499

The Track:

Darlington is a tricky 1.366 mile egg shaped oval. The racing surface is very narrow and the groove is up against the wall. Slip just a little and you'll get a "Darlington Stripe" on the side of your car. Since being repaved in 2008 speeds are up and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" is tougher than ever.

Race Distance:

367 laps = 501 miles

The Big Picture:

Jimmie Johnson finished tenth in Richmond last week but it wasn't good enough to hold onto his point lead. Kevin Harvick moves into the top spot by ten points over Johnson. No one else is within 100 points.

The top twelve are now:

Kevin Harvick
Jimmie Johnson -10
Kyle Busch -109
Matt Kenseth -119
Greg Biffle -133
Jeff Gordon -162
Denny Hamlin -199
Kurt Busch -212
Jeff Burton -220
Mark Martin -225
Carl Edwards -240
Clint Bowyer -254

Storylines:

Kevin Harvick leads a rejuvenated Richard Childress Racing team into Darlington. Harvick is leading the NASCAR Sprint Cup series points. He is joined in the top twelve by two of his teammates as Jeff Burton is currently ninth overall and Clint Bowyer is twelfth.

Richard Childress Racing didn't put any drivers in the 2009 Chase. Clint Bowyer was the top finisher in points last season as the four Childress teams finished 15th, 17th, 19th and 21st in the final standings.

Can Childress win his first Championship since Dale Earnhardt's back-to-back titles in 1993 and 1994?

Media Coverage:

TV: FOX Saturday, May 8th, 7:00PM Eastern.

Radio: MRN and SIRIUS Satellite

Actual Race: 7:30PM Eastern

Recent Events:

2009 Polesitter: Matt Kenseth

2009 Winner: Mark Martin

Last Year:

Last season Darlington earned it's reputation for being tough. 25 cars hit the wall during practice and qualifying for the 2009 Southern 500. That was before the race ever started!

When the green flag flew it didn't stay green for long. "The Track Too Tough to Tame" immediately starting taking victims. This race never got into a rhythm and the cautions continued to fly.

By the time the 2009 Southern 500 came to a close this race had set an all-time record for caution flags and left a long string of broken cars in its wake. Mark Martin made it to Victory Lane but Darlington Raceway was the real winner.

Predictions:

Based on recent history there are two clear favorites for this Saturday night's Southern 500.

Jeff Gordon's seven Darlington wins puts him third on the all-time Darlington win list behind Dale Earnhardt and David Pearson. A win this weekend will put Gordon one win behind Earnhardt and two wins behind Pearson on Darlington's winner's list.

Jeff Gordon also has finished in the top five in each of the last six Darlington races. Gordon knows how to get to Victory Lane in Darlington and is racing with a renewed passion this year. Gordon makes a strong pick this week.

For my backup this week I am going to dig deep. Martin Truex Jr. has been near the top of the Darlington standings since he joined the series full time in 2006. Truex is a bit of a reach but I look for him to surprise people with a very strong run on Saturday.