The “Lady In Black” will test the field like no other. It’s funny, I used to think the short tracks were the most challenging, and that the road courses provided unique hurdles of their own. While that’s still true, Darlington has zoomed to the top of my list as NASCAR’s most difficult track.

Because of that, Darlington may have just become my favorite.

This track has handed out more stripes than a prison uniformer. The list of people who’ve tattoed their cars looks suspiciously like the all-star field. Whether ir racing or practice- Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch are among the drivers Darlington has collected this week.

The track is a temptress. Drivers can get up to those high speeds, and you’ve got all that banking, but you’ve got those narrow spots where you just can’t do that 3-wide racing that you can in a place like Richmond. Shrub found this out the hard way last night.

Now I’m not saying anything about the mental capacity of the following drivers, but I will say that Darlington does not suffer fools. Given that, I expect a slightly different result than what we’ve seen lately. Young, hyper-aggressive drivers like Klye Busch, David Ragan, A.J. Allmendinger and Brian Vickers will likely struggle here.

Drivers with “controlled” aggressiveness will likely be fine, provided their luck holds up. I’m looking for good efforts from many of the “usual suspects.” Jeff Gordon (7 Darlington wins), pole-sitter Greg Biffle (2 checkereds here), Tony Stewart (last night’s Nationwide winner), Jimmie Johnson (2004 winner) should all do well. I’m even expecting a good race from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who believe it or not, has not won at Darlington.

History is also on the side of some other veterans. Former champ Bobby Labonte was won a race on the 1.366 miler, Mark Martin has had tons of Nationwide success at the South Carolina, Ryan Newman finished 4th here last year, Kasey Kahne has won poles galore, and Newman’s teammate Kurt Busch has cracked the top 5 in qualifying. Make no mistake that this is very much a track position race. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the guys that I mentioned earlier who are young and perhaps overly aggressive.  

I find it interesting that the Dodge boys always qualify well where speed matters. There are 3 Dodges in the top 10, and some at the back of the field who got there by being too quick and losing control.

A Dodge will win today. “What?” You Say? This is why I call it the “Fearless Forecast.”I mean everybody expects the likes Junior, Smoke, Gordon and Jimmie to do well. There’s nothing fearless about that.

It will be too easy to overlook the veterans like Martin, Labonte, and maybe even Jeff Burton. But I think Kurt Busch is overdue. You’ll note he’s been curiously quiet since Daytona, running with a ton of bad luck since. Not only will he do well, but so will Labonte and Newman.  The Penske duo, however, have the best equipment of all the Dodges.

My top five (in no particular order) are as follows:Junior, Smoke, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, and Greg Biffle. And the winner will be……

Kurt Busch! That’s why I call it the “Fearless Forecast.” Either I will look like a genius or a raging fool!

 

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