Livescore
When athletes have their backs pressed up against the wall, they oftentimes come up clutch.
After Harrison Burton upset the playoff bubble battle last weekend at Daytona, Michael Jordan texted Bubba Wallace — who had fallen below the playoff elimination line. It read, “Things you want more, cost more.” An emotional Wallace displayed full commitment during qualifying on Saturday at Darlington Raceway, slinging his car around the track to win his third career pole. This could set up Wallace‘s “Game 7” moment.
RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live lineups
Dustin Albino‘s race-day lineup:
Starter 1: Kyle Larson
Starter 2: Tyler Reddick
Starter 3: Denny Hamlin
Starter 4: William Byron
Starter 5: Bubba Wallace
Garage pick: Chris Buescher
NEXT IN LINE: Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Carson Hocevar
RISING: As we noted earlier this week in Fastlane, Blaney‘s stats aren‘t exactly eye-catching at Darlington. The defending Cup champion has a best finish of eighth in 15 starts, with only two additional top 10s. Yet, the No. 12 car displayed potential race-contending speed during practice and qualifying, as NBC Sports broadcasters Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte labeled the No. 12 car among the pre-race favorites. I‘m keeping Blaney off my lineup, but he moved up the pecking order.
It‘s time to start taking Spire Motorsports and Carson Hocevar seriously. No matter the size of the venue, the No. 77 Chevrolet is consistently fast and leading the three-car team. Hocevar‘s summer surge included consecutive top-10 finishes at Richmond and Michigan and 10 top 20s over the last 11 races. He will get a head start on track position at Darlington, qualifying second. It‘s just the second time this year that Hocevar made the final round of qualifying.
FALLING: Entering Darlington 27 points below the elimination line, Ross Chastain likely needs a walk-off win to qualify for the playoffs. Qualifying 22nd might make the No. 1 team‘s race strategy even easier by solely calling the race to win and not focusing on points. Unfortunately for Chastain, with the drastic tire wear, four tires are about a given whenever teams pit at Darlington. Maybe he can pull a Hail Mary like Regan Smith did in 2011 to win the Southern 500 on two tires? I‘m not banking on it, though.
Entering the regular-season finale just 18 points out of the lead, Chase Elliott needed to maximize qualifying to allow an easier path to him to scoring points in the opening stage. The No. 9 team could still do that, but Elliott will take the green flag from 20th, while both Reddick and Larson made the final round of qualifying . Elliott was 25th on 10-lap averages in practice.
FEATURED MATCHUPS:
Harrison Burton vs. Carson Hocevar: Spire Motorsports continues to rise to the occasion, as Hocevar is having a solid rookie campaign. The No. 77 team has leaped 16 spots in the owner‘s standings entering the regular season finale compared to this time last year. Meanwhile, Burton qualified 24th, one spot better than his season average and does have a top 10 finish at Darlington on his resume. I‘ll take the No. 77 car all the way.
Bubba Wallace vs. Ross Chastain: Wallace has the outright speed to win the Southern 500. The only concern that I have is it could become win or bust if Buescher is having a solid race and that could lead to mistakes. Somehow, some way, the Phil Surgen-led No. 1 team will probably be in the picture at some point, but if we‘re basing this solely on speed, Wallace was the best in class on Saturday.
Martin Truex Jr. vs. Ty Gibbs: Over the last 13 events, Truex only has a pair of top-10 finishes. Gibbs‘ woes have been comparable, though he enters Darlington with consecutive top 10s. Going to flip to Truex entering Sunday, with the No. 19 Toyota cracking the top five in qualifying. Truex also has multiple Darlington wins, which could bode well for him this weekend.
Chris Buescher vs. Kyle Busch: Busch believes he has a car to work with this weekend, but the No. 8 car still qualified 17th. Both RFK Racing cars lacked pace in practice, though Buescher rebounded in qualifying to make the final round of qualifying. Buescher is in my lineup and was in contention to win the last two Darlington races, so I‘ll stick with the No. 17 car.
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