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Articles
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Ross Chastain Winds Up In Top Five At Darlington
Ross Chastain began the Cook Out Southern 500 in 27th place. Toss in some attrition and a little bit of late-run speed and the Trackhouse Racing driver ended fifth after 367 laps. Now, the No. 1 car did not lead a single lap but the fifth-place result was important. It boosts the confidence of Chastain […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
William Byron Ends Up Fourth Sunday At Darlington
For William Byron, the race did not go quite as planned but it was not all bad. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver finished fourth after starting 23rd. Although, the No. 24 car never led a single lap, the +19 place differential combined with other results helped Byron. Now, he is 45 points above the cutoff […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Chris Buescher Stays Hot With Third At Darlington
Chris Buescher seemed to lose some speed late and then he found enough to finish third at Darlington on Sunday night. Buescher and his RFK Racing car even managed to lead 36 laps which is encouraging heading to Kansas. Surprisingly both RFK Racing cars fared pretty well during the final long run of 55 laps. […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Tyler Reddick Finishes Second At Darlington On Sunday
Tyler Reddick led 90 laps in his 23XI Racing Toyota but lost the lead on a pit stop. That stop with 55 laps to go was the difference between first and second place. He came up less than a half second short of Kyle Larson in the end at Darlington. The good news for the […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Kyle Larson Wins Cook Out Southern 500
Kyle Larson started from the middle of the pack on Sunday evening. After 367 laps, the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver ended up at the top. Larson's No. 5 Chevy was able to hold off Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher to win at Darlington. With the victory, Larson automatically advances to the Round of 12. He […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Austin Cindric Stuck In The Middle At Darlington
Austin Cindric ends at Darlington consistently. Cindric starts his fourth race on the track from the 14th position for Team Penske. Sunday figures to see the No. 2 Ford right around 15th to 20th. Why? Cindric has finished 19th, 16th, and 18th on the 1.366-mile track. It does not seem to matter what happens around […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Chase Briscoe Likely To Struggle At Darlington
Chase Briscoe has now tried to qualify six times at Darlington on the NASCAR Cup level. He still has not cracked into the top-ten. Briscoe will start 12th on Sunday which is his best ever start. However, the Stewart-Haas Racing Ford loses so much speed in long runs. That is the big concern. The No. […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Ryan Preece Great To Be Back At Darlington
After what happened to Ryan Preece at Daytona last week, few expected him back this week at Darlington. Preece and his Stewart-Haas Ford did not qualify well and will start 34th. That is not the real story. After his car flipped more than 11 times last week, the real win was seeing Preece at Darlington […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Chase Elliott Hoping For Better Fall Darlington Result
Septembers have not been kind to Chase Elliott at Darlington. The last three races have seen the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver start well and then a variety of issues cropped up. He was a DVP victim last year. An accident ended a promising late run in 2021 where he looked heading into the top five […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Erik Jones Starts 20th At Darlington On Sunday
Erik Jones and the Legacy Motor Club have had a season to forget. However, the No. 42 Chevy did come out on top at Darlington last September. He started 15th and roared his way to the win late. Jones also has a win and five other top-ten results on the 1.366-mile track. Questions from the […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Bubba Wallace Has Some Work To Do At Darlington
Bubba Wallace has raced well at Darlington lately. His two previous trips saw him finish fifth and ninth respectively. There is one nagging concern for the 23XI Racing driver. That is negative place differential. Wallace has been in the red there four straight times. One consistent lately is that Wallace and his No. 23 car […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Tyler Reddick Completes Podium In Qualifying For Toyota Saturday
Tyler Reddick will begin third from Darlington on Sunday evening. Now comes the hard part. Can Reddick stay near the front? The No. 45 from 23XI Racing ran well early in the Spring but slipped from ninth down to 22nd late. Last Fall, Reddick in the Richard Childress Racing Chevy ended up third (was 2nd […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Ross Chastain Feels The Heat At Darlington
Ross Chastain has struggled for awhile this 2023 season. The win at Nashville only masked those problems a bit for the Trackhouse Racing driver. Since then, he has the one top-ten result at Michigan. Other than that, the car has mostly qualified in the 20's. Naturally, Chastain starts the Cook Out Southern 500 from the […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Chris Buescher Hot Heading Into The Playoffs
Did Chris Buescher peak too soon? It will be asked often. The answer is no, of course. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver won three of his last five races to vault up to fourth in the playoff standings. Now, what can he do at Darlington? Buescher qualified well and will begin eighth on Sunday evening. The […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
William Byron A Mixed Bag At Darlington
William Byron can be great or average at Darlington. He starts 23rd for the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday evening. Byron's laps were not overly bad, but made a few technical mistakes causing him to be 0.391 seconds off Christopher Bell's pole-setting time on Saturday. Byron only led seven laps in May but won […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Denny Hamlin Starts Second At Darlington On Sunday
Denny Hamlin felt a little heat yesterday for winning the Xfinity race. However, the heat he generated in qualifying for Darlington on Sunday was just as noticeable. The Joe Gibbs Racing car set the second quickest lap just behind Christopher Bell. Hamlin has two wins on the track "too tough to tame" since 2020. He […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Kyle Busch Wants To Start Chase Off Right
Kyle Busch took it to the limit then exceeded it. The Richard Childress Racing driver looked primed for a top spot in qualifying. However, he smacked the wall pretty hard on Saturday afternoon. Changing a toe link prior to qualifying may be something to monitor. Usually, that results in starting from the rear. No matter […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Martin Truex Jr. Starts From Near Back On Sunday
Martin Truex Jr. qualified 31st for Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500. It is not exactly the ideal way to start the playoff chase. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver will have his work cut out for him. Toyota cars were fast in qualifying going first, second, and third. Maybe Truex Jr. was too fast as he […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Chase Elliott Settles For Owners Playoff Chase Instead
Chase Elliott needed to win at Daytona to get into the playoffs. He missed it by that much and settled for fourth. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver could not get by the RFK Racing drivers. He did get close a few times but Chris Buescher shut the door during lap 162. Elliott did manage to […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Aric Almirola Comes Up Short In Playoff Bid
Aric Almirola tried a little of everything to steal a win on Saturday night from Daytona International Speedway. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver ended up third ahead of teammate Kevin Harvick. He led three laps but never could get the momentum to pass Buescher or Brad Keselowski over the final lap and a half. The No. […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Brad Keselowski Helps Teammate Over Himself On Saturday
Brad Keselowski could have ended his winless streak but instead gave a helping hand to Chris Buescher. Saturday night at Daytona was far more interesting than usual. Keselowski still finished second in his best performance of the season. The RFK Racing driver led six laps after starting in 12th (ironically right behind Buescher). Keselowski will […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Chris Buescher Rides A Good Pusher To Victory
Chris Buescher capped off a great run on Saturday night by winning the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in overtime. He only led two laps but those were the two that mattered. Behind a great push by teammate Brad Keselowski, the RFK Racing driver held off Aric Almirola and Chase Elliott. It was Buescher's third win […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
NASCAR PrizePicks Predictions - Coke Zero Sugar 400 DFS Prop Picks
August 26th, 2023, on a Saturday night, features the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida. This is the 26th 2023 edition of NASCAR DFS on PrizePicks. Our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Kyle Busch Getting Ready For The Playoffs
Kyle Busch probably wants to forget his first Daytona with Richard Childress Racing. The Duels ended poorly with an accident and so did the race (ended 19th after leading six laps). Now, Busch is locked into a playoff position. He qualified 18th on Friday afternoon and has experience running well during the August races on […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Chase Elliott Might Have To Eye The Other Chase
Chase Elliott is facing the growing reality that the chase for the Owners Standings may be his reality for 2023. However, the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver has a chance at Daytona. Elliott and his No. 9 car have never won on the 2.5-mile track yet they have finished second and eighth in two of the […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Austin Cindric Does Run Well At Daytona
Austin Cindric has had a trying sophomore season in NASCAR. If one guy might find a way to sneak into the playoffs, it might be the Team Penske Ford. Cindric did win the Daytona 500 last year and even has run well in August (led 13 laps, finished third last year). Cindric and his No. […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Ross Chastain Limping Into The Playoffs
Ross Chastain still did not have the speed some were expecting on Friday in qualifying. The Trackhouse Racing driver will start the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from the 25th spot on Saturday night. Chastain has that one win in Nashville but only three top-10 results since Kansas. It has not been only one thing for […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
William Byron Trying To Just Get Past Daytona
William Byron did not have the speed in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevy in qualifying on Friday and he knew it. Byron qualified 27th and seemed content to put a safer car out there. The No. 24 car won the 160-lap race in 2020 but has seen an accident end his day twice since. Furthermore, the […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Begins Near The Back At Daytona
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. starts the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from the 32nd position on Saturday night. He did start the Daytona 500 from 31st and held off Joey Logano for the win. However, this is August and he has locked up a spot in the playoffs. The past three summer races have been interesting, as […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago
Joey Logano Could Be In Position At Daytona
Joey Logano has endured some pretty bad luck the past three summers at Daytona International Speedway. Add in the fact that the Team Penske car nearly won the Daytona 500 in February and that adds extra salt into the wound. However, the one consistent is the No. 22 Ford has been quick during the stages. […]
Chris Wassel 1 year ago