1. Kyle Busch, 85.7 driver rating. Busch hasn’t distinguished himself at Darlington (one top 10 in three races). But he also hasn’t had a season like the one he is having. Toss in the finish last week at Richmond, and it should be an even more interesting 367 laps Saturday night.
2. Jeff Burton, 83.6. From 1997 to 2000, Burton was the man at Darlington -- eight races, eight top fives with two wins. Not so since, although he finished in the top 10 the past two years. He hasn’t led a lap since the fall race in 2003.
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 99.6. Junior is winless in 13 races but has finished in the top 10 the past three years. In those three races he has had the most green-flag passes (176).
4. Clint Bowyer, 87.5. Bowyer’s driver rating is misleading because he has run only two races at Darlington. He won the pole last year and finished ninth, which is probably more indicative of what we can expect Saturday than his 23rd-place finish as a rookie in 2006 after qualifying third.
5. Kevin Harvick, 75.5. Since finishing second in the fall race in 2003 and eighth the following spring, Harvick hasn’t done much. His average finish in the four races since is 25.0 with no top 10s. Harvick has led laps in only one race – 14, when he finished second.
Five to watch
6. Denny Hamlin, 119.2. Hamlin has the third-best driver rating behind Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson. He has top-10 finishes in both of his starts, and last year, when he finished second to Jeff Gordon, he led a race-high 179 laps. Problems with lug nuts on a late caution cost the No. 11 the victory.
7. Jimmie Johnson, 122.0. Johnson has a terrific record at Darlington with only one finish outside the top 10 in nine races. He has finished in the top five in five of the past six races (with two wins) and always runs with the leaders. Johnson has been inconsistent this year, so it’s not a given he’ll turn in a similar performance Saturday night.
9. Greg Biffle, 126.1. Biffle has won two of the past three races and has led the most laps, 346, during that stretch. An issue for Biffle – and other dominant drivers at Darlington such as Gordon and Johnson – is whether the new track surface has negated whatever advantage they have had at the track. Biffle participated in a tire test at Darlington so that might provide a slight edge.
11. Ryan Newman, 116.4. Although winless in nine races, Newman is very competitive at Darlington. He qualifies well -- no surprise there -- and has six top 10s, including five top fives. He also is working on his best stretch of finishes in 2008 since the first two races of the season.
13. Jeff Gordon, 114.7. Only David Pearson (10) and Dale Earnhardt (nine) have more wins than Gordon’s seven. No. 7 came last year, which was his fourth straight finish in the top three. Of the 1,104 laps run in the past three races, Gordon has been in the top 15 for all but 13. If he produces a typical finish Saturday night, Gordon likely will return to the top 12 for the second time this season.
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