Carolina dodge Dealers 400 "Darlington"

yomonte · 03-10-2003, 09:39 PM

YTD 7-7 +.19

Qual

D Blaney ov R Gordon

Docwatson · 03-12-2003, 09:47 PM

It's Wednesday evening. Have you had your NASCAR fix???

Away We Go!!!

The unusual egg shaped oval at Darlington has been nicknamed the track “Too Tough to Tame”, and it certainly has been for a number of drivers like Rusty Wallace, Tony Stewart, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr, who have yet to win here despite their overall series success. On the other hand, some drivers have enjoyed their time at Darlington. Jeff Gordon is one of those, as he has tamed the raceway six times in his career, with all but one coming in the fall event. Over the last ten races at the track the 24 car has finished in the top five six times, and eight top 10's or better. Two of those were wins, and two were second palce finishes. Bill Elliott, a five time Darlington winner, and Dale Jarrett, a three time spring event winner have also found success here. However, no one can touch the legend of the late Dale Earnhardt, who captured nine checkered flags at Darlington and still owns the track race record speed of 139.958 mph, set in ’93. In fact, this in one of the tracks which best defined “The Intimidator’s” career.

The 2003 Winston Cup season is setting up to be just as competitive as last year. Bobby Labonte became the fourth different winner this year as he passed Gordon with 10 laps remaining last week to add another chapter to his illustrious history at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Matt Kenseth grabbed fourth place in that event and in turn took over the series points lead. He currently leads 2002 WC Champion Stewart by 49 points. The Dewalt Ford team is not only gaining a reputation for Kenseth’s driving skills, but for the crew’s prowess in the pits as well, turning pit stops of less than 14 seconds regularly. If that continues, he should remain a contender this week as well as most other events.

Aside from Kenseth and Stewart, keep an eye out for the Brothers Burton too, as Jeff owns the best average finish at Darlington (9.5 in 18 total starts), and Ward owns the track qualifying mark of 173.797 mph, set in ’96. The Cat 22 driver has two wins and a second at this track over the last ten races, and has finished 12th or better in all but one of the last ten races here. Brother Jeff will be looking to lead a resurgence of the Roush Racing team, who dedicated themselves to the garage this week after losing three motors last week at Atlanta. Jeff Burton won both races here in 99, and has finished tenth or better in eight of the last ten races at this track. The Young guns of Jimmie Johnson, and Ryan Newman both had unusual good finishes for rookies at this track. The 48, and 12 both had top ten runs in the two races here last year. Newman was tops of the two, and brought home a second place finish in the fall race. This also could be a race we see the 40 team step up. Sterlin is the defending champ of the spring race, and also won the spring race of 95' at Darlington. Marlin has finished fifth or better in three of the last four races run here. My local favorite Elliott Sadler has put together decent runs here in the undermanned Wodds Brothers car. This time around he of course is in better equipment, and may be a guy to look for. While driving for the 21 team Sadler had a second place finish last year, and a couple of top 15 performances over the last ten races here. Sadler's teammate Dale Jarrett should be of some help to him, and that raises the attention bar even more. As mentioned above Dale has won this spring race three times, and amasingly enough only has three races over the last ten here where he's finished out of the top five spots.

It will be interesting to see how the Budweiser Car of Dale Junior does here at this track. Junior seems to be on a mission on all tracks this season. We should know how much he has grown after Sunday's race, because he only has one top ten finish here in six races. Four of the six were 16th or worse. This will be his second test of the season at a trach he doesn't excel at. Granted he has a much worse history at Rockingham, but darlington isn't far behind. If he is legit, and his truly an earnhardt we should definitely see it here Sunday.

Average race finish time: 3:14:00
Average Speed: 127.89 MPH
Average # of cautions: 6 - 36 laps
Average # of lead changes: 16
Average # of drivers leading: 8

Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 - Recent Top Finishers
Year 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

2002 Sterling Marlin Elliott Sadler Kevin Harvick Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Ryan Newman

2001 Dale Jarrett Steve Park Jeremy Mayfield Jimmy Spencer Sterling Marlin

2000 Ward Burton Dale Jarrett Dale Earnhardt Tony Stewart Jeff Burton

1999 Jeff Burton Jeremy Mayfield Jeff Gordon Dale Jarrett Mark Martin

1998 Dale Jarrett Jeff Gordon Rusty Wallace Jeremy Mayfield Jeff Burton

1997 Dale Jarrett Ted Musgrave Jeff Gordon Jeff Burton Bobby
Labonte

1996 Jeff Gordon Bobby Labonte Ricky Craven Rusty Wallace Terry Labonte

1995 Sterling Marlin Dale Earnhardt Ted Musgrave Todd Bodine Derrike Cope

1994 Dale Earnhardt Mark Martin Bill Elliott Dale Jarrett Lake Speed

1993 Dale Earnhardt Mark Martin Dale Jarrett Ken Schrader Rusty Wallace

1992 Bill Elliott Harry Gant Mark Martin Davey Allison Ricky Rudd

1991 Ricky Rudd Davey Allison Michael Waltrip Mark Martin Rusty Wallace

Tony Stewart's average finish at this track type is 8.9. In 37 races, he has 4 wins and 26 top 10 finishes. Average finish in races w/slightly below average number of cautions is 9.6. In 49 races, he has 8 wins and 34 top 10 finishes. Average finish in races run at slightly above average speeds is 10.4. In 67 races, he has 4 wins and 43 top 10 finishes. Average finish over the past 5 races is 11.0. In 5 races, he has 0 wins and 3 top 10 finishes. Average finish in races with a below average winnings payout is 11.3. In 79 races, he has 12 wins and 50 top 10 finishes. Average finish at Darlington International Raceway is 11.9. In 8 races, he has 0 wins and 5 top 10 finishes.

Jeff Burton's average finish at Darlington International Raceway is 9.5. In 18 races, he has 2 wins and 12 top 10 finishes.

Jeff Gordon's average finish at Darlington International Raceway is 10.3. In 20 races, he has 6 wins and 14 top 10 finishes. Average finish in races with a below average winnings payout is 11.0. In 201 races, he has 32 wins and 134 top 10 finishes. Average finish at this track type is 11.7. In 87 races, he has 17 wins and 55 top 10 finishes. Average finish in races run at slightly above average speeds is 12.2. In 146 races, he has 28 wins and 90 top 10 finishes. Average finish in shorter length races. (3 hours) is 12.3. In 119 races, he has 24 wins and 74 top 10 finishes.

Jimmie Johnson's average finish in March races is 10.8. In 6 races, he has 0 wins and 4 top 10 finishes. Average finish over the past 5 races is 12.4. In 5 races, he has 0 wins and 3 top 10 finishes.

Bill Elliott's average finish at Darlington International Raceway is 12.2. In 23 races, he has 2 wins and 9 top 10 finishes.

Dale Jarrett's average finish in races run at slightly above average speeds is 12.4. In 167 races, he has 17 wins and 98 top 10 finishes.

The Actuary · 03-12-2003, 11:09 PM

Haven't like 90% of the winners come from the first ten spots here?

I think this is one of the better tracks for gauging performance off what they show pre-race, I'll probably lean towards the faster Dodges and Chevys, particularly guy's with some experience here.

caterpillar22 · 03-13-2003, 12:20 AM

going with one early win bet as doc said earlier and ive been thinking it for weeks. e sadler ran well here last year in a poor woods bros car and great car at rockingham and good qualifying performance last week and with his teammate dale jarrett who is great at darlington who i may take as well i think this could be a good longshot.
1* sadler 23 to 1

caterpillar22 · 03-13-2003, 10:46 PM

adding one more and probably that will be all before qualifying
2* busch 11 to1 (betroyal) sadler at 5 dimes above

yomonte · 03-14-2003, 12:06 AM

Race

B Elliott ov R Craven -110 Carib .22-.20

Cat, is #38 a hometown boy at Darlington or from where ya'll from. Seems the HT boy has'nt faired well this year. Las Vegas and Bill at Atl. I'm laying off SU's this week and concentrating on Qual and Race MU's.

GL man

Docwatson · 03-14-2003, 02:18 AM

Yo,

The 38 is from our neck of the woods here in Virginia. He probably passed the most Cars at Darlington this year. That track is more of a drivers track much like this one. So that's why the interest in Sadler, because we feel he has done a good job thus far in his career driving in less than average equipment. Now he is in a good ride with a good team that has done well here over the years.

Peace

Doc

CompuPick · 03-14-2003, 11:44 AM

Here goes nothing:

Unsure of how well I'll do at Pole betting, so am limiting my wagers to .5 units until I see some success.

To Win Pole:
Rusty @ 30/1 for .5 units (Pinnacle)

Qualifying Matchups:
Bill Elliott -105 Kurt Busch (Olympic, Gameday)
Johnny Benson +100 Joe Nemechek (Olympic)
Robby Gordon +120 Dave Blaney (Olympic)
Jimmie Johnson +140 Jeff Gordon (Pinnacle)
Jeff Burton +135 Ward Burton (Pinnacle)

SU YTD: 0-5 -5.0
QSU YTD: 0-0
QMU YTD: 0-0

ctownraces70 · 03-14-2003, 06:33 PM

cat looks like you made a good pre qual. bet on sadler dout you gonna find those odds anywhere now that he is on the pole

Mr Memory · 03-14-2003, 09:36 PM

Got 20 pre-qual, and was happy to get it.

Mr Memory · 03-14-2003, 10:18 PM

Sadler 10 at Oly, now. No doubt others will emerge with prices
slightly more generous, but glad I did what I did, when I did it.

caterpillar22 · 03-15-2003, 01:37 AM

ctown thanks but i wish almost he hadnt of gotten the pole about a 2nd or 3rd would have been nice we allknow how the pole can be a jinx to drivers. like doc says how many races are won from the pole each year. but u know someone does win and it is nice to see he does know how to get around the track at least. does make me look like i kknow a little something.

caterpillar22 · 03-15-2003, 01:38 AM

yomonte, sadler is a va. man. he came up on a track not to far from here where i live.

caterpillar22 · 03-15-2003, 01:40 AM

a thought just came to me. w burton always runs well at darlington and sadler is another va. man like burton, also j burton runs well there (va. man as well) maybe it is in their blood. lol. sadler and w burton are good friends maybe a little correspondance there u think. just a thought.

caterpillar22 · 03-15-2003, 01:37 PM

adding another win bet i couldnt turn down
2* 12 to 1 field(includes kenseth and b labonte)at betroyal

caterpillar22 · 03-15-2003, 05:17 PM

adding one more unit on kenseth at 10 to 1, betroyal the field bet is down to 9 to 1 now

caterpillar22 · 03-15-2003, 06:18 PM

couple mups so far
2* j burton over b labonte +130
2* jarrett over jr. even

yomonte · 03-15-2003, 06:29 PM

Its pretty fkn sad that I would rather watch a John Wayne movie than a Busch race but thats what I did. Actually, I never seen this one before. After the movie, I checked my books for MU's and turned it to practice jus in time to hear Dave is going to the back and M Kenseth jus might have ruined his engine. Do not quote me on this and hold your own investigation. But I jus took the following.
T Stewart ov M Kenseth +105 Carib .40-.42
I aint' bettin' much till I see how my season is goin' and so far its jus fair to middlin'

yomonte · 03-15-2003, 06:32 PM

I have'nt found a site yet that lets ya know who's goin' back but I really think Matt will have to change engines. What they say is a little oil line jus might have run long enough to do damage to that engine.