Darlington Stripes

"The Lady in Black" continues to be "Too Tough to Tame" and the first Darlington stripe came barely five minutes into the first session. According to @NASCAR, Joey Logano was the first driver to get a stripe.
 
Our View Here is a ongoing list of who has scraped the wall so far:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (backup) and then he striped the backup as well. Practice 1
Clint Bowyer (backup) Practice 1
Scott Speed (backup) Practice 1
Greg Biffle (backup) Happy Hour
Joe Nemechek, hard crash (backup) Happy Hour
Casey Mears, hard crash (backup) Happy Hour
Marcos Ambrose, crash (backup) Happy Hour

Joey Logano Practice 1
Travis Kvapil Practice 1
Jamie McMurray Practice 1
Kyle Busch Happy Hour and qualification

Juan Montoya, very slight Practice 1
Kurt Busch, spin without contact Happy Hour

Darlington International Raceway 1950-1967



Darlington Raceway: 50th Anniversary

Biffle fastest in Texas practice 1

Greg Biffle posted the single fastest lap in the first practice session for the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway with a speed of 190.813 mph.

Our View Biffle enters the weekend with three consecutive Texas top-10s, but only one of those came after he started on one of the first five rows. He should be able to improve that record in time trials.

Biffle slaps wall in Kobalt Tools 500 Happy Hour

Update: Greg Biffle has rolled out a backup.

Biffle slapped the wall 10 minutes into Happy Hour for the Kobalt Tools 500 and sustained significant damage.

Our View Expect him to roll out a backup car and give up his 13th-place starting position. Driver can come from the back at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but winning from there is nearly impossible.

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N'Wide: Logano dominates, Busch wins Stater Bros. 300

Joey Logano dominated the race but he was roughed up by Greg Biffle on the final restart. Kyle Busch exacted revenge, however, and passed Biffle in the run to the checkers.

Our View The best car doesn't always win and today, they finished fifth after getting knocked around by Biffle and Brad Keselowski—who must have thought Denny Hamlin was in the No. 20 this week.

Keselowski dumped Logano only a few yards from the finish line.

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Harvick wins Budweiser Shootout

Kevin Harvick won back-to-back Budweiser Shootouts after leading Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray when the final caution waved.

Our View The race ended with a green-white-checkered finish and you just knew that it was going to get hairy. However, no one expected Jeff Gordon to trigger a wreck when he bump-drafted Greg Biffle into a spin in the corner.

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Bud Shootout Lineup

Not that it matters much on a restrictor-plate superspeedway, but here is the starting lineup for Saturday's Bud Shootout (determined by a blind draw):

1. Carl Edwards
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Brian Vickers
4. Ryan Newman
5. Greg Biffle
6. Mark Martin +
7. Jeff Burton
8. Matt Kenseth
9. Jamie McMurray
10. John Andretti
11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
12. Bobby Labonte
13. Tony Stewart
14. Ken Schrader
15. Michael Waltrip
16. Jimmie Johnson
17. Kyle Busch
18. Derrike Cope
19. Kasey Kahne
20 Juan Montoya
21. Joey Logano
22. Kurt Busch +
23. Jeff Gordon
24. Denny Hamlin +

+ will drop to the back with an unpracticed backup car.

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Four drivers to backup Shootout cars, six wreck

Four drivers involved in a six-car accident in the final minutes of the first practice session for the Budweiser Shootout will be forced to roll out a backup. They are Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray. Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer (in Kevin Harvick's car) suffered minor damage but are not expected to go to their backups.

Our View The accident happened when Hamlin clipped the back of Martin's car and turned him sideways in front of the field. Both drivers accepted partial blame and there are no hard feelings as fallout.

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Phoenix pit stall selections

Jayski has posted the pit stall selections, and as expected Martin Truex Jr. took the final slot before pit exit.

Our View Other drivers with an opening in front of them are Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne, so they should have an easy time exiting after their service. Drivers with openings behind them are Casey Mears, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch and Mark Martin.

The other driver with a mathematical shot at leaving this race with the points' lead, Jeff Gordon is pitting directly behind Truex and if the No. 1 team has any trouble, he could inherit the best stall.

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Official tweets from the track

Inspection cleared part two

According to @bobpockrass: NASCAR engines of Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth from last weekend have all passed inspection with no issues.

Inspection cleared part one

According to @bobpockrass: NASCAR tech center evaluation of cars is done. Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Greg Biffle cars all passed with no issues.

Auto Club Pit Stalls

Jayski has posted the pit stall selections, and as expected pole sitter Denny Hamlin has the first piece of real estate leaving pit road.

Our View Greg Biffle and Juan Montoya are the only other drivers with an opening in front of them, but the pits at Auto Club are wide enough so that there should not be any issues.

Notably, immediately in front of Biffle is Joey Logano. Those two drivers exchanged paint during the Nationwide race in a move that appeared to be a deliberate attempt to cripple Logano's car. The teenage sensation came back to win the race, while Biffle ultimately suffered more damage in a second tangle with Logano's teammate Denny Hamlin.

In addition to Logano, other drivers with openings behind them are Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon.

Since David Reutimann's speed was disallowed in qualification for illegal shocks, he lost the right to pick a stall early and finds himself in one of the center pits.

Complete Pit Stall Selection

N'Wide: Logano stages comeback to win

After Greg Biffle pinched Joey Logano into the wall early in the Copart 300 it appeared one of the dominant cars was out of contention. Joe Gibbs Racing worked on the No. 20 during the next several cautions and got it back up to speed, however. With fresh tires, Logano took the lead late in the going to win his second consecutive race and the sixth of his career.

Our View Logano taking the lead was only one of several great stories at the end. Denny Hamlin and Biffle crashed at the end of the race and a wild restart with a green-white-checkered finish made sure that fantasy owners stayed on the edge of their seat until the checkers waved.

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Biffle spins in Kansas Sat. a.m. practice

Greg Biffle spun off the track in the Saturday morning session at Kansas Speedway. He did not do any apparent damage.

Our View His confidence has to be shaken, however. This is his second spin of the day after previously crashing in Nationwide qualification. It's hard to recommend him for the Price Chopper 400 unless he shows a ton of speed later in the day.

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Dover pit stall selections

Jayski.com has posted the pit stall selections and as expected, Jimmie Johnson took the final stall leaving pit road.

Our View Juan Montoya and Ryan Newman are the only two other drivers with openings in front of them and this pit is extremely tight, so those are the only truly good stalls.

Greg Biffle, David Reutimann and Kasey Kahne each have an opening at the back.

Pit stall selection can often be the final piece of the puzzle for fantasy owners.

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Official tweets from the track

Johnson fastest in Dover practice 1

Jimmie Johnson posted the fastest single lap of practice at Dover International Speedway in practice for the AAA 400. His top lap of 158.026 was more than one mile per hour faster than second-place Ryan Newman with a 157.020.

Our View The top of the board was dominated by Chasers. In addition to Johnson and Newman, Juan Montoya (156.986), Greg Biffle (156.952) and Kurt Busch (156.474) rounded out the top five.

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Bristol pit stalls

Jayski has published the pit stall selections for the Bristol race.

Our View There are really only four good stalls at either end of the front and back pits. Pole sitter Mark Martin took the final pit stall before turn one, Greg Biffle has the final stall before turn three while Matt Kenseth and Scott Speed have the first stalls entering the pits. However, Clint Bowyer also is in a nice position; he is in pit stall four with the start and park Dave Blaney immediately ahead of him.

For a complete list of the stalls, visit Jayski.com.

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N'Wide: Harvick wins Watkins Glen pole

Kevin Harvick is the surprise winner of the pole for the Nationwide Watkins Glen Zippo 200 with a lap of 121.998 mph. He and Marcos Ambrose beat the old track record.

Our View Harvick chased down and passed Greg Biffle during his qualification session in the unique format used on Nationwide road courses. That had to slow him down a little, and he still set fast time. That is impressive.

On the other hand, Ambrose did not take as many laps and he might have been able to better his time. The race should be competitive.

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Biffle fastest in Brickyard 400 practice 1

Greg Biffle posted the fasest single lap of practice in the first session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 with a speed of 177.075 mph.

Our View With four practices this week, drivers worked on a combination of qualification and race trim. Biffle posted only seven laps, which suggest he mostly worked on qualification.

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Biffle, Hornish will have to go to the back

Greg Biffle and Sam Hornish Jr. will have to go to the back of the grid, according to NASCAR.com, because their backup cars did not turn any laps in practice or qualification.

Our View: Just another casualty of the qualification rain-out. Starting position is not overly important at Daytona, however.

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Biffle, Hornish to backups at Daytona

Following a crash in Happy Hour, both Greg Biffle and Sam Hornish Jr. will have to roll out backup cars.

Our View: Biffle might have the highest hurdle to clear; his backup is a brand new car that will have only two qualification laps under its hood before the race begins.

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