Tyler Reddick a Question Mark at Cook Out Southern 500

Tyler Reddick held off Austin Dillon by being more patient last week at Daytona. His fifth-place finish sealed a playoff spot and his first one at that. Darlington has been a bit of a mixed bag for Reddick. In four races there, he has finished on the lead lap twice. The Spring race saw him […]

Aric Almirola's Recent Consistency May Work at Darlington

Aric Almirola won at New Hampshire then followed that up with four straight finishes of 19th place or better. That was enough to help the driver make "The Chase" for the first time. The young Stewart-Haas Racing driver will now see the intensity of the final ten races firsthand. He crashed out in the opening […]

Michael McDowell May Struggle at Darlington

Michael McDowell qualified for the playoffs behind the season-opening win at Daytona. What is crazier is that McDowell has not led ten or more laps once in 2021. Also, he never factored into the spring race at Darlington dropping from 13th to 27th (finished five laps down). McDowell has also never finished in the top-15 […]

Christopher Bell New to the Playoffs as Darlington Beckons

This is Christopher Bell's second full season and first in the NASCAR Playoff. He starts 13th at Darlington on Sunday evening. He only has one summer race at the top level to go off of and he finished 34th after beginning 21st. Bell had issues throughout and never factored into the race. All four of […]

Kurt Busch Finds Ways to Stay Near Front at Darlington

The summer Darlington race has been a success for Kurt Busch of late. He has several top-ten finishes (four of the last six races on the track overall). His average finish of 12.33 the past three years is in the top ten among active drivers. The No. 1 car does start third on Sunday which […]

Brad Keselowski Risky at Best at Darlington

Brad Keselowski could not keep it together at Darlington in the Spring. He tried a crazy pit strategy gamble that backfired. He fell quickly back from the pole position and wound up 24th. Last summer's build seemed to cause Keselowski issues as well. The Team Penske driver fell out of the top ten quickly but […]

Joey Logano Has Knack for Contending at "Chase" Events

Joey Logano comes into the NASCAR playoff starting in ninth. He begins Sunday 11th at Darlington. He does have four top-five results in the last six summer races. The No. 22 tends to stay out of trouble on the track but often does not lead laps. The last time he led more than ten laps […]

William Byron Could Run Fast at Darlington

William Byron tends to run well at Darlington. In his previous two races, he finished in the top five despite not leading a single lap. This Sunday, he starts 14th which could offer the potential for a positive place differential. Again, the Hendricks Motorsports Racing driver likely will have to claw a bit for track […]

Denny Hamlin Intriguing Possibility at Darlington

Throw out all the chaos Denny Hamlin has off the track for a second. Hamlin has enjoyed quite a bit of success at Darlington including a couple of wins in the past five seasons (a summer 2017 win as well). The last two summer races have seen the No. 11 have some car trouble along […]

Alex Bowman Could Be Under the Radar at Darlington

Alex Bowman tends to be a risky proposition and this week is no exception. He starts the chase in sixth place because of his three wins. He did not have much result-wise early in his career on this track. However, 2020 was different for the No. 48 car. The Hendricks Motorsports Racing driver finished second […]

Chase Elliott Might Rack Up Some Laps Led at Darlington

Chase Elliott may not necessarily win on Sunday at Darlington but he has a decent chance of leading a good number of laps. That may mean winning a stage or two. Hey, every point counts. The Hendricks Motorsports Racing driver led 114 laps last summer and nine more the summer before. It is last year's […]

Kyle Busch Expected to Challenge at Darlington

Kyle Busch is among many candidates who thrive at Darlington. Again, it all comes down to staying on the track. Last week, he crashed with less than ten laps to go at Daytona thwarting what would have been a solid finish. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver wound up third during the Spring Race. What surprised […]

Martin Truex Jr. Bounce Back Candidate at Darlington

Martin Truex Jr. has been the dominant driver with the best car the last two times at Darlington. He led 248 laps of the 293 in the Spring race en route to one of the most impressive wins of the season. Last summer, he led 196 laps before fate dealt him a cruel hand (finished […]

Ryan Blaney May Contend at Darlington

Ryan Blaney has not enjoyed the success some other drivers have at Darlington. Some argue it takes time to get used to the 25 (turns 1 and 2) and 23-degree banking (turns 3 and 4). Maybe that is true because Blaney did seem to get it right at the last race on the track. He […]

Kyle Larson Favorite at Darlington Again

The NASCAR Playoff Chase begins Sunday night with the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington. Naturally, metrics dictate Larson starting from the sixth spot which is not too bad. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing team has four drivers in the chase overall. Larson has nearly won this race in four of his last five starts. (40+ […]

Harris English Could Struggle at Tour Championship

Harris English plays golf like a yo-yo. He can be so great at times and then just be so-so too many others. The past two weeks have been the case of the so-so's. English just could not make enough birdies at two more wide-open tournaments. By the time, the American got going last week, it […]

Jason Kokrak Might Be Factor at Tour Championship

Jason Kokrak played better as the week went on at the BMW Championship. The 65-66 weekend turned around a poor start and resulted in a top-15 finish for the American. When that putter is working for Kokrak, he can get on a roll. The only problem was last week everyone was making putts all four […]

Jordan Spieth Could Turn it Around at Tour Championship

The last couple of weeks have been rough for Jordan Spieth but hope springs eternal at Atlanta. This week's Tour Championship could reinvigorate Spieth at the right time. He did have a final-round 66 on Sunday to turn around what had been another dreadful week of missed opportunities. Errant iron shots and below-average putting have […]

Scottie Scheffler Contending at Tour Championship Possible

Scottie Scheffler played a solid final three rounds at the BMW Championship. That first round 73 was a dagger to any hopes of contending, however. The five birdies in the final round were much more encouraging. Arguably, some better putting may have netted him a few more. On the other hand, that may be being […]

Kevin Na In Solid Form As Tour Championship Beckons

Kevin Na has bounced back nicely from a brutal Spring stretch where he missed several cuts, most notably the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Shots were going all over the place and his putting was constantly in the negative strokes realm. Things have changed over the last five weeks as Na has finished 23rd or […]

Pressure Might Get to Hideki Matsuyama at Tour Championship

Hideki Matsuyama nearly won a medal at the Tokyo Olympics and then finished tied for second at the FedEx-St. Jude. After that, there was this one nagging issue. His putting and ball striking were a little errant late in each tournament. Too many opportunities were missed and then he cracked. He could not make enough […]

Daniel Berger Questionable Choice at Tour Championship

Daniel Berger needed a final round 66 last week just to cement his spot in the Tour Championship. That Sunday got him a tied for 26th finish which allowed him to rank 26th in the Top 30. The American golfer is fifth in strokes gained approaching the green. Normally, he putts well enough but last […]

Xander Schauffele Not Recommended for Tour Championship

Xander Schauffele won the gold medal and then it seemed things got difficult. He finished outside the top-40 in two of the last three tournaments. Last week, while everyone was making birdies over the weekend, Schauffele shot above par at the BMW Championship. The Maryland golf course just played games with the American. He started […]

Brooks Koepka Building Momentum for Tour Championship

The East Bay course may prove to Brooks Koepka's liking. Often, the best of the best brings out the best in golfers. Koepka is no exception. He slowly got better the past three weeks and nearly finished in the top-20 at the BMW Championship (22nd). The American golfer just could not string enough birdies together […]

Rory McIlroy Could Thrive at Tour Championship

It seems hard to believe that Rory McIlroy is ranked just 16th in the FedEx Cup Standings but yet the golfer is. He needed a very good weekend (65-67) just to finish in the top-five at the BMW Championship. McIlroy putted well and struck the ball like the former number one ranked golfer used to. […]

Fantasy Football Kicker Draft Rankings

It's time to look at everyone's favorite position for fantasy football. That's right... we're talking about kickers! More so this year than in the past, fantasy leagues continue to drop the kicker position in favor of one more flex spots. For those of you that hold steadfast in your kicker ways, I'm here to make […]

Austin Dillon Had Playoff Spot Chance Then Crashed

Austin Dillon and his No. 3 car were running near the front all night at Daytona. The performance was noticeable and there was even a slight change Dillon could win. Close to the end, Dillon was starting to fade a bit but was still well in the top ten when disaster struck. The nine-car melee […]

Tyler Reddick Secures Fifth at Daytona, Makes Playoff

Tyler Reddick just had to stay out of trouble and the rest would take care of itself. He had an intense race with his own teammate Austin Dillon for the final playoff spot. In the end, Reddick was smart and composed. He not only avoided the wrecks but finished with a top-five result. The Richard […]

Ryan Newman Winds Up Third at Daytona on Saturday

Ryan Newman was awarded third on Saturday after the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Before Chris Buescher's disqualification, Newman was one of three Fords in the "top four" on Saturday night at Daytona. Those Fords were able to stay near the front and out of trouble. Newman even led a couple of laps during pit sequences. […]

Bubba Wallace Rewarded With Second Place at Daytona

Bubba Wallace thought he had a good car going into the race Saturday night and he was right. Wallace ran near the front for a majority of the 165 laps and finished third at Daytona. The 23XI Racing driver led eight laps and thought that was that. However, when Chris Buescher was disqualified, Wallace moved […]