Up to NASCAR Betting Trends

posted May 11, 2006 at 12:27 EST in NASCAR Betting Trends

It’s not too often a fourth-place finish will bring a smile to your face. Unless you’re Greg Biffle, and you’re desperate.

The former NASCAR Truck Series and Busch Series champion looked poised to complete the trifecta in 2006 after finishing second to Tony Stewart in last year’s Nextel Cup standings. Instead, Biffle is suffering through a drought of Saharan proportions. Despite starting in the Top 10 in each of his past nine races, it wasn’t until last week’s Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway that Biffle finally registered a Top 5 finish. So you can forgive Biffle for his postrace cheer: “I won! I finally won! It feels like a win.”

The actual winner of the Crown Royal 400 was Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who snapped a 27-race losing streak in the process. But it certainly was an interesting day for Biffle and Roush Racing in general. Carl Edwards came in seventh to register his third consecutive Top-10 finish. Matt Kenseth spent most of the day in the garage after his oil tank broke before ending up in 39th place. Mark Martin was 11th, while youngster Jamie McMurray placed a disappointing 19th.

It’s still going to be a tough task for Roush Racing to repeat last year’s consistency and get all five of its Cup drivers into the Chase. McMurray hasn’t responded as hoped to the transfer of crew chief Bob Osborne from the Edwards camp, but it’s pretty clear that Edwards himself has been motivated since the controversial move. His three strong results have vaulted Edwards into 13th in the drivers standings, just 53 points behind Casy Mears for 10th. Biffle is still in 20th place, but he can be expected to leapfrog the 17th-ranked McMurray before too long – perhaps as soon as this Saturday night at Darlington Raceway, home of the Dodge Charger 500.

Darlington is not for the faint of heart. They call the course “The Lady in Black,” apparently because of the frequent contact tires make with the wall. Darlington was the first superspeedway on the NASCAR circuit; the unique egg-shaped oval track remains one of the most celebrated and challenging in the sport, despite losing the traditional Labor Day Southern 500 in the realignment shuffle.

Younger drivers tend to perform poorly at Darlington because of its unfamiliar conditions. Roush Racing’s contingent is a notable exception. Biffle won the inaugural Dodge Charger 500 last year, boosting his average finish at Darlington to 11.8 after five races. Edwards placed seventh and ninth in his only two appearances; even McMurray has two Top-5 finishes and a Top-10 in five trips to Darlington. Martin and Kenseth have each started eight races on this track. Martin has enjoyed three Top-5 finishes, but Kenseth has just two Top-10 results and an average finish of 20.88.

Outside of Roush Racing, the driver with the most success at Darlington has been Jimmie Johnson. In seven career starts, Johnson has finished in the Top 10 an eye-opening six times and took the checkered flag at both of Darlington’s 2004 events. Johnson continues to sit on top of the points standings after finishing 12th at Richmond, his second-worst result of what has been an outstanding 2006. He should be more than motivated to bounce back and pick up his fourth win of the season.

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