Fantasy Update: RFK Racing rising at Darlington
Coming off a heartbreaking loss at Kansas Speedway, RFK Racing has brought even more speed to Darlington Raceway this weekend. Chris Buescher looked to have among the best cars in the field on Saturday in practice, while his teammate and co-owner Brad Keselowski earned his first top-10 starting position of the season. The Darlington usuals of Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are all lineup-worthy, too.
RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live lineups
Dustin Albino‘s race-day lineup:
Starter 1: Kyle Larson
Starter 2: Tyler Reddick
Starter 3: Chris Buescher
Starter 4: Martin Truex Jr.
Starter 5: William Byron
Garage pick: Brad Keselowski
NEXT IN LINE: Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell
RISING: When McDowell announced his departure from Front Row Motorsports at the end of the season, he vowed to be committed to the No. 34 team for the remainder of the 2024 season. That promise looked to be true on Saturday, as McDowell‘s continuous speed in practice and qualifying transferred to Darlington. He ranked fifth on 10-lap averages in practice, with Ford taking four of the top-five spots.
No matter what series Chastain competes in at Darlington, he always brings speed. He won the Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday evening, taking advantage of an overtime restart. He‘s been fast in all four of his starts with Trackhouse here, too, but has just a single top-five finish to show for it. In two of the other three races, he wrecked while battling for the lead. The No. 1 car was sporty in practice and qualified ninth.
FALLING: If Elliott is to extend his streak of top-five finishes to six straight on non-superspeedway tracks, the No. 9 car is going to have to come from 31st. Elliott came from 29th starting position at Dover to finish fifth. He ranked sixth on 10-lap averages in practice. The primary reason for keeping him from my lineup is it will be an uphill battle to earn stage points.
While many of the Ford drivers showed up with competitive speed, Logano ranked middle of the pack on long-run speed. His 14th-place qualifying position matched his 10-lap speed. The No. 22 car is typically a contender at Darlington, but Team Penske has shown moderate speed this season and I‘m not optimistic that it will get better during the race.
FEATURED MATCHUPS:
William Byron vs. Denny Hamlin: This is a true tossup entering race day. Byron and Hamlin both made the final round of qualifying and had similar speed in practice. Going into the weekend, Byron was the choice, so I‘ll stick with that here, understanding Hamlin is one of the top two fastest cars in the series on average. The sole reason why the No. 11 car isn‘t in my lineup is that it has limited uses left.
Tyler Reddick vs. Joey Logano: Though both drivers were in my lineup to begin the weekend, Reddick is the clear choice entering the 400-mile race. He won his first Busch Light Pole Award since last fall at the Charlotte road course and has three podium finishes in the four Darlington Next Gen races. Sure, Logano won the first Next Gen race here, but the No. 22 team doesn‘t have that same speed.
Chase Elliott vs. Ross Chastain: If Elliott avoids early chaos, the No. 9 car will likely make a spirited charge throughout the field during the race. Meanwhile, Chastain has an early track position advantage, with the No. 1 team making the final round of qualifying for just the fourth time this season. I‘ll take Chastain because he‘s always a factor — for better or worse — at Darlington.
Kyle Busch vs. Christopher Bell: The disparity in Bell‘s pace over the short and long run in practice was eye-catching. The No. 20 car ranked fourth after one-lap speed and dropped to 33rd on 10-lap averages. By the slimmest of margins — Busch lost the tiebreaker to Chastain — the No. 8 car missed the final round of qualifying. Busch looked to have a car capable of competing in the back half of the top 10 while it‘s hard to gauge how good Bell actually is. Because of that, I‘ll take Busch.
