Darlington favorites have yet to win a race in 2008

Gordon, Earnhardt, Biffle have run strong at 'Lady in Black'

By Official Release
May 9, 2008
01:03 PM EDT

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Already this season, there have been seven different race winners through the first 10 Sprint Cup Series races. Figure on Saturday night's Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway producing number eight.

Specifically, three different winless drivers have excelled at Darlington in recent years: Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

A case can be made for all three winning this week.

The Case for Greg Biffle

Pro: Biffle conquered Darlington in both 2005 and 2006. During that span, he racked up some impressive numbers: an average running position of 2.5, a driver rating of 143.8 and had 131 fastest laps run, the only driver in triple digits in that category.

In the past three years, he has track-bests in driver rating and average running position:

Darlington Raceway

Driver Rating and Average Running Position (track bests)

Pos.	Driver	Date	Driver Rating	Pos.	Driver	Date	Avg. Running Position

1.	Greg Biffle	5/05	144.4	1.	Greg Biffle	5/06	2.5
2.	Greg Biffle	5/06	143.1	2.	Greg Biffle	5/05	2.6
3.	Denny Hamlin	5/07	137.6	3.	Denny Hamlin	5/07	3.0
4.	Jimmie Johnson	5/07	125.5	4.	Kasey Kahne	5/05	3.1
5.	Kasey Kahne	5/05	122.7	5.	Jimmie Johnson	5/07	4.1

Con: Biffle was not the same driver in the new car at Darlington last year. Not that he was bad. Biffle finished 15th in the 2007 Darlington event, but his driver rating and average running position dipped to 90.9 and 10.6, respectively.

The Case for Jeff Gordon

Pro: Jeff Gordon is the odds-on favorite at Darlington, winning here last season and finishing second in both 2005 and 2006.

His numbers at Darlington are consistently solid -- his lowest Darlington driver rating was 111.4 in the 2006 race.

Check Gordon's race-by-race log:

Jeff Gordon

Loop Data at Darlington (2005-2007)

Date	Fin.	Avg. Running Pos.	Fastest Laps Run	Laps in Top 15	Driver Rating

5/05	2	5.5	16	98.9%	113.4
5/06	2	7.5	19	98.4%	111.4
5/07	1	6.4	15	99.2%	119.2
Total	1.7	6.4	50	70.9%	114.7

His laps in the top 15 figure might be most impressive. In the past three races, Gordon has run inside the top 15 at Darlington in all but 12 of the 1,104 laps.

Con: Even during his win, Gordon did not have the best car. Last year, Denny Hamlin was the class of the field, leading 179 laps and scoring a race-high driver rating of 137.6.

The Case for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Pro: Earnhardt, like Gordon, has been very consistent at Darlington the last three races. He has had driver ratings higher than 100.0 in each of the past two races with three consecutive top-10 finishes.

Additionally, Earnhardt -- like Biffle -- has earned a couple of track-bests at Darlington:

Darlington Raceway

Green Flag Passes and Quality Passes (track bests)

Pos.	Driver	Date	Green Flag Passes	Pos.	Driver	Date	Quality Passes

1.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	5/07	81	1.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	5/07	51
2.	Martin Truex Jr.	5/07	76	2.	Carl Edwards	5/07	44
3.	Kyle Busch	5/07	72	3.	Jimmie Johnson	5/07	44
4.	Mike Wallace	5/05	71	4.	Denny Hamlin	5/07	43
5.	Jeff Burton	5/07	70	5.	Tony Stewart	5/07	42

Con: Earnhardt did not lead a lap in any of the last three Darlington races. Plus, though he leads the series in passes with 176, he's also been passed 123 times.