Southern 500 Preview from Darlington Raceway

There’s another night race on the NASCAR betting schedule this weekend, as the Sprint Cup Series rolls into Darlington Raceway on Saturday night for the Southern 500.

Last weekend Sprint Cup Series drivers raced under the lights of Richmond International Raceway in the Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400. Kyle Busch returned to victory lane for the third time this season after holding off Tony Stewart to take the checkered flag. Despite a bad back Jeff Gordon finished eighth at Richmond and re-took the points lead from Kurt Busch. Kurt Busch finished 12th at Richmond and now trails Gordon by 10 points in the Race for the Chase. Kyle Busch moved up to fifth pace in the standings with the win, while the rest of the current Top 5 includes Stewart in third and Denny Hamlin in fourth.

The favorite on the NASCAR odds heading into Darlington this weekend is Kyle Busch at +450. Not only is Kyle Busch coming off a nighttime win at Richmond last week, but he also won at Darlington last year when the race was called the Dodger Challenger 500. That was Kyle Busch’s first career win at Darlington after failing to crack the Top 5 in three previous races.

Following Kyle Busch on the NASCAR odds is Jimmie Johnson at +600, while Gordon and Carl Edwards both check in at +700. Johnson is coming off a frustrating performance at Richmond last week where he was never a contender for the checkers and finished well back in 36th place. That makes back-to-back poor finishes for Johnson, who wrecked at Talladega two weeks ago and finished 30th. Johnson won twice at Darlington back in 2004, when the track still held two races per season, and his best finish since was a third-place result in 2007. Gordon has seven career wins at Darlington, with his last trip to victory lane coming in 2007. Gordon has finished in the Top 3 in his last five races at Darlington. Edwards is still looking for his first win at Darlington, but he came as close as you can without winning last year when he finished second behind Kyle Busch.

One driver bettors may want to keep an eye on this weekend is Greg Biffle. The 2009 season hasn’t been kind to Biffle so far, as he has only three Top-5 finishes, which puts him 11th in the current standings. Biffle owned Darlington in 2005 and 2006 when he claimed back-to-back checkered flags. Since then he’s run into engine trouble that has kept him from competing at Darlington, but if he’s going to break out this appears to be the right track. Biffle is a +900 underdog on the NASCAR odds.