Before I start in with this week’s race awards, I want to congratulate everyone involved with Darlington Raceway, whether it’s people that’s associated with the track, or people in the area who bought tickets. When many said the Mother’s Day weekend wouldn’t work, the Lady in Black has proven them wrong. Now, if we can just get NASCAR to take a hint and reward these fine people by moving Darlington’s lone date back to the Sunday night of Labor Day Weekend, and bring back the fans the Southern 500 (even if they have to call it the Dodge Challenger Southern 500).

 

This week is busy in the awards, as it’s that time of the month to look at the “Season-To-Date” awards. First, the awards for Darlington itself.

 

Surprisingly Good Finisher—How can I go wrong with David Ragan? A nice 5th place finish for a driver who was running into everything in sight in 2007. Honorable mentions to Travis Kvapil (8th), Dave Blaney (9th), Jamie McMurray (11th), and Scott Riggs (17th).

 

Most Impressive Run—I’ve gotta go with Martin Truex Jr. He had that car running around the top 5, even led a handful of laps. His 14th place finish is no indication of how well he ran. Honorable mention to Dave Blaney.

 

Perserverance—No one really stood out when it came to this category, but the driver I’m going to go with is someone who’s been getting a lot of negative awards lately. That’s Matt Kenseth. He would sometimes be running top 10, and then next thing I know he was down around 20th and then back around 10th…..but they kept working on it to an eventual 6th place finish. Honorable mentions: Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer & Tony Stewart.

 

Deserved a Better Finish—Greg Biffle. What more can be said? He had at worst a top 5 finish. But mechanical problems just past the halfway mark spelled doom for Biffle.

 

Surprisingly Bad Finisher—Kevin Harvick. He finished in 39th position after an early race incident when he was running in the top 10 at the time. No one else even comes close.

 

Should’ve Stayed in Bed—No one stood out. At the outset, I’d have said Tony Stewart. But he battled back to a respectable 21st place finish. I’m going to give this to Kyle Petty. This was just one of those races for Petty. He started 35th and dropped like a rock. When you start 35th and drop like a rock, it’s a pretty good indication how a driver’s day (or in this case, night) is going. He was running either 41st or 42nd the entire race. An obvious honorable mention to Elliott Sadler.

 

Ok…..how is the season to date looking…..

 

Most Surprising Driver…..I’m going to stay with Greg Biffle on this. He’s currently 11th in points. But right on his heels for this category is his teammate David Ragan, who would also be in the Chase. Ryan Newman joins Ragan as an honorable mention, as would Kasey Kahne & Martin Truex.

 

Most Disappointing Driver: This is a no-brainer in my opinion. The only driver that comes to mind is Kurt Busch. He’s had just 1 top 10, and that was his 2nd place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500. Not to mention 3 DNFs, and only 5 lead lap finishes so far this season. And before anyone brings up Matt Kenseth, consider Kenseth has finished in the top 10 in 5 of this season’s first 11 races.