The queen of NASCAR’s historic race tracks, the “Lady In Black”- is a diva. Unlike big, brawny Talladega- where numerous drivers have collected either their first or only career Cup victory- Darlington Raceway has discriminating tastes.
Her favorite suitors include David Pearson (10), Dale Earnhardt (9), Jeff Gordon (7), Bobby Allison (5), Bill Elliott (5), Darrell Waltrip (5), Cale Yarborough (5), Harry Gant (4), Buck Baker (3) and Dale Jarrett (3). Even her list of companions with just one victory- Neil Bonnett, Fonty Flock, Junior Johnson, Kyle Busch, Tim Richmond and Mark Martin is pretty impressive.
In Friday practices and qualifying, Darlington hasn’t played nice. She’s taught Scott Speed of the need to treat her with respect. She wasn’t much nicer to Aussie Marcos Ambrose. She even turned her nose up at Jimmie Johnson- the 2-time winner here and 3-time champion got escorted to the back of the pack with a qualifying mishap.
A look at the starting grid reveals a few surprises. Known more for his conservative (The Lady In Black prefers a gentleman) qualifying approach- Matt Kenseth….Matt Kenseth!…. set a track record with a qualifying lap of 27.394 seconds. Showing she may occasionally entertain a young dance partner- Sudden Sam Hornish and Joey Logano have found themselves in 4th and 5th respectively. Marcos Ambrose bounced back from his practice incident to capture 10th.
Qualifying up front isn’t necessarily a ticket to victory lane. Just ask Greg Biffle,
who started on the pole last year and ended up 43rd after an engine failure. Dale Jarrett was the last Cup driver to win from the pole when he did so in the 1997 TranSouth 400.
Yesterday I mentioned that this could prove an important race for the Roush Fenway team. If qualifying is an indicator, they are ready to shake off the futility of recent weeks. Beside Kenseth at P-1, you’ve got Carl Edwards in 9th, Greg Biffle in 11th, David Ragan in 16th and Jamie Mc Murray at 21st. Not bad. Biffle and Kenseth were top 10 in happy hour.
The race will be mental test for Denny Hamlin, no doubt devastated after coming up short at his home Richmond. While his starting spot is nothing to crow about, he was 4th in final practice.
As for Jeff Burton- a 2-time Darlington race winner- he was, in a word, consistent. Would you expect anything less? His car has been good off the truck. He’ll start in the 3rd row, ran 2nd in happy hour and a perfectly respectable 12th in the first session.
Based on happy hour, you would have thought the stars were aligned for Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff Gordon topped the happy hour speed charts, Johnson finished 3rd and Mark Martin 5th. Johnson’s qualifying wreck puts him in the back, but if anyone could overcome an issue like that, certainly J.J. can. Given the fact he was so racy in practice, it’s a bit of surprise that Martin didn’t fare a little better in his qualifying run. He’ll start 12th. The 4th member of this team- Dale Earnhardt Jr.- has been running in the 20’s placement-wise throughout the day.
A win from the likes of Biffle, Burton, the Busch brothers, Hamlin or Martin would be no surprise. The Lady In Black likes an experienced man. Yet, among today’s drivers, she has a particular favorite.
With a flair for the dramatic I suspect she’ll bestow honor upon a driver who could tie Cale Yarborough with his 83rd career victory. He’s no Johnny- Come- Lately or Ordinary Joe. He’s a driver she’s submitted to on 8 occasions throughout his storied career.
With today’s Fearless Forecast- I predict our winner at Darlington Raceway will be…. one Jeffrey Michael Gordon.
PHOTO CREDITS- Photos by Walter G. Arce. To see more, visit flickr.com or click on the hyperlink.
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I was very surprised that Joey qualified 5th, that really shocked me, hehe. I think Joey’s been qualifying well, lets see how he does in the race, should be interesting for sure.