The Cup Series will travel back to Darlington this weekend for the Southern 500. The Cup series last raced at Darlington in May. That race had an exciting battle between the two RFK Racing Drivers (Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher) and Tyler Reddick in the final laps. The race this weekend could be even more exciting since this race is now the final race of the regular season. It should be fun to see how it all plays out at “The Track Too Tough to Tame.” The Southern 500 can be seen Sunday at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.
We needed to get lucky last Saturday night at Daytona. Austin Cindric and Michael McDowell were two of my One & Done picks. They ran up front for most of the race, but they were caught up in wreck and did not get the finish they deserved. Alex Bowman was my pick in the One & Done games were you can use a driver more than once. He did not get the finish he deserved as well. Bowman was caught up in an early wreck and he sucked for most of the race. Somehow, the No. 48 car was able to finish 16th. I was expecting more from Bowman, but I will take his 16th-place finish.
Here are the picks for the Southern 500 at Darlington….
ONE & DONE CONTESTS
This pick is for games where you can only use a driver once throughout the season.
ERIK JONES will be my pick in games where you can use a driver once throughout the season. I pencil in Jones for one of the races at Darlington every year when I map out my drivers for my One & Done contest. This is by far his best track. Jones won in the Gen-7 car at Darlington in 2022 and he also won here in 2019. Jones finished 19th in the first race at Darlington. He is typically better in the Southern 500, so I will use him as my One & Done pick Sunday night.
ONE & DONE (REGULAR SEASON/PLAYOFF GAMES)
There are some One & Done Contests that reset when the playoffs start. That means you only need to use 26 Drivers for the regular season and then 10 drivers for the playoffs. We can be more aggressive in these types of One & Done Contests.
CARSON HOCEVAR will be my pick in games that reset at the end of the regular season. I am running out of choices in this format. My choices in this format are Austin Dillon and Carson Hocevar. The No. 77 car was a lot faster than the No. 3 car in practice. Hocevar has raced in two Cup Series races at Darlington. He finished 17th last year and 26th in May. This pick came down to who I trust more. To be honest, I do not trust Hocevar or Dillon, but the No. 77 team has been more consistent this year, so Hocevar gets the spot in my One & Done lineup. It also helps they Hocevar starts on the front row Sunday night.
ONE & DONE (USE A DRIVER MORE THAN ONCE)
BUBBA WALLACE will be my pick in games where you can use a driver more than once during the 2024 season. Wallace has the third-best average finishing position at Darlington in the Gen-7 car. The No. 23 car has finished 7th, 7th, 5th and 9th in the last four races at Darlington. Wallace posted had fastest speed in practice and he won the pole for the race. Wallace needs a win or a lot of Stage Points in order to make the playoffs. I expect Wallace to score well Sunday night.
Good luck Sunday!
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