Shop Talk: Darlington

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A pattern has developed over the past two years at Darlington.

The pattern is a simple one: A Greg Biffle win followed by a Greg Biffle win.

During a news conference this week during testing at Charlotte's Lowe's Motor Speedway, Biffle adamantly proclaimed his love for the historic South Carolina track.

But the trend of Biffle dominance is, at best, a question mark going into this weekend. The unknown is the Car of Tomorrow, which will run on its longest track to date -- 1.366 miles (the previous longest was Phoenix at 1 mile).

Biffle has tremendous statistics at Darlington in the old racecars over the past two years. But after four races in the COT, Biffle has had up and down efforts.

The question this Saturday night: which Biffle will show up? Will it be the Biffle who has owned Darlington the past two years? Will it be the Biffle who has struggled in the COT? Or will it be a combination of both?

First take a look at some of the startling stats Biffle has accumulated over the past two years at Darlington. His average Driver Rating at Darlington is an amazing 143.8. If you took any driver's two best Driver Ratings from any track, only one driver has a better average than Biffle at Darlington:

NASCAR's Loop Data includes a statistic called Laps in the Top 15. Biffle's dominance allows the stat to be pared down even further. Check out the Laps in the Top Five. (A total of 737 laps were run at Darlington over the past two years.):

As the above shows, Biffle spent only 38 laps outside the top five the last two years.

Now the bad news for Biffle. In the COT races, Biffle has finishes of fifth, 32nd, 17th and 19th.

While Biffle hasn't been awful in the COT, his output has dipped compared to his usual standards.

All that should make for an interesting watch come Saturday night. Usually Biffle would be considered a top-five lock at Darlington. But with the COT, who knows?