Breaking down the Darlington starting lineup

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Matt Kenseth won the Southern 500 five years ago.

That race was on Mother’s Day weekend; now the race has returned to its Labor Day roots.

That was in his first year at Joe Gibbs Racing and was already his third win of the season. He now is racing part-time back at Roush Fenway Racing, the team he left following 2012.

That year he finished second in the standings in what many regard as was one of his best seasons, as he won seven times.

Now Kenseth must decide whether he wants to keep racing. Does he want to go full-time, considering that in his eight races this year in the Roush Fenway No. 6 car, he has an average finish of 22.5?

“I’m just kind of honestly trying to concentrate on the rest of this season and trying to get this done,” Kenseth said. “Those are probably things to talk about at a later date, but the season has been up-and-down.

“I wish our results were better than what they were, but yet on the other hand I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress. It doesn’t really show necessarily on the stat sheets or the box score all the time, but I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress and really just trying to keep that going and keep moving forward and keep trying to get more competitive by the end of the season.”

Kenseth will continue to split time with Trevor Bayne through the end of the season. He starts 15th Sunday in the Southern 500.

“I have not made the impact at Roush Fenway Racing at least in the finishes and the performance necessarily as I had hoped, or as big of a one as I hoped,” Kenseth said.

Here’s the breakdown of the lineup for the Southern 500:

1. Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota): The defending winner of the race, Hamlin led 124 laps at Darlington a year ago. Yeah, it was “encumbered” but it’s hard to find someone in the garage who feels his being off on postrace measurements meant he and his team cheated their way to the win. Hamlin is a favorite. Hamlin: “[I’m] hopeful that we have a good, smooth race on Sunday and continue to build some momentum here over the next few weeks.”

2. Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet): He led 124 laps at Darlington a year ago but had to settle for 14th. Larson: “If we can keep our track position and keep it out of the wall we should have a good shot.”

3. Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota): Truex will try to focus amid the turmoil of whether he will be back with the team — or if the team will exist next year. Truex, who won this race in 2016, said his team is doing what it always does. Truex: “We’re here to try to win the race and do what we do every week. Everybody is focused on their jobs and the result today was proof of that.”

4. Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet): Bowman hasn’t raced at Darlington since 2015. You couldn’t tell that in qualifying, as he led a group of three Hendrick cars into the final round.

5. Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota): Busch will be a threat on Sunday. He was happy in practice and knows how to win at Darlington, where he captured a Cup win in 2008 and won Xfinity races in 2011 and 2013.

6. Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet): Don’t rule out a Newman upset Sunday. He hasn’t won in his 19 starts but he has seven top-5s and 13 top-10s at the track.

7. Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota): Jones was fifth at Darlington as a rookie. Don’t be surprised if he goes 2-for-2 in earning top-5s.

8. Joey Logano (Team Penske No. 22 Ford): Logano has top-10 starts in his past four Darlington starts. He’s matched those starts twice — starting fourth and finishing fourth in 2015 and starting fifth and finishing fifth in 2016.

9. Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford): Busch enjoyed a third-place finish a year ago. Any way he can go back-to-back after his win at Bristol? A Cubs fan, Busch is flying the W flag above his hauler this weekend.

10. William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet): This is Byron’s second career start in any series at Darlington. He was fifth in the Xfinity race a year ago.

11. Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet): Elliott won at Darlington in his first Xfinity start. He has a 10th and 11th in his past two Cup starts at the track.

12. Aric Almirola (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Ford): Almirola doesn’t have a top-10 in six Cup starts. He’s hoping for a top-10 and to clinch a spot in the Cup playoffs Sunday.

13. Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford): Keselowski has led laps in the past four Cup races at Darlington. But he still seeks his first Cup win at the track, where he has nine career Cup starts.

14. Paul Menard (Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford): Menard has never led a lap in 11 career Cup starts at Darlington, where he has two top-15 finishes but no top-10s.

15. Matt Kenseth (Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford): Kenseth has top-10s in five of his past six Cup races at Darlington (including a win in 2013). He might not earn a top-10 Sunday, but even a top-15 would be considered a good day as he continues to see some progress in this car.

16. Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota): Suarez didn’t finish the race in his first Darlington race in Cup, but he has a pair of thirds in Xfinity races.

17. Clint Bowyer (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford): Bowyer has never finished in the top 10 and has led in just one of his 12 career Cup starts at Darlington.

18. Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet): He was fourth in this race a year ago. If he can repeat with another top-5, that would be a good sign for the playoffs. He has an awesome silver paint scheme that will remind many of one of Dale Earnhardt’s memorable rides.

19. Chris Buescher (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 37 Chevrolet): Buescher has finished 17th in both of his Cup starts at Darlington.

20. Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet): Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, celebrated the birth of his son Tuesday and was at the track Friday. Can Johnson pull off a throwback to 2012 or both 2004 races that he won at the track? He’ll have to do it coming from the rear of the field as he will drop to the back for the start of the race for unapproved adjustments after impound since he damaged the car by hitting the wall in qualifying.

21. Ryan Blaney (Team Penske No. 12 Ford): Blaney loves Darlington but it hasn’t treated him well. He has one top-25 finish in Cup, a 13th in 2016.

22. Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford): Harvick won at Darlington in 2014, and he has led 518 laps in the past four Darlington races. His right front tire lost some air during qualifying, causing his car to be a handful.

23. David Ragan (Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford): A little more than 10 years ago, Ragan was fifth in the Southern 500.

24. AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 Chevrolet): A top-20 finish would be considered a good day as he has two top-20 finishes in 10 career Cup starts at Darlington.

25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford): Why did Stenhouse think Bristol was his best place to win late in the regular season? His career Darlington finishes: 18th, 20th, 38th, 18th, 29th.

26. Michael McDowell (Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford): McDowell had his best finish at Darlington a year ago when he finished 19th.

27. Bubba Wallace (Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Chevrolet): Not making it to the second round of qualifying was not much of a surprise — Wallace struggled at this track in the Xfinity Series with results of 14th and 17th.

28. Ty Dillon (Germain Racing No. 13 Chevrolet): This is a good track for Dillon. He was 13th at Darlington as a rookie last year and he has finishes from seventh to 15th in the Xfinity Series at the track.

29. Kasey Kahne (Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Chevrolet): Kahne has had a love-hate relationship with Darlington. He has five top-10s but has seven finishes of 20th or worse.

30. Matt DiBenedetto (Go Fas Racing No. 32 Ford): DiBenedetto will finish 28th. How do I know? He was 25th in 2015, 26th in 2016 and 27th in 2017.

31. Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet): McMurray’s 10th a year ago at Darlington was his first top-10 in his past six Darlington starts. He’ll have his work cut out for him as he starts at the rear for an engine change Saturday.

32. J.J. Yeley (Rick Ware Racing No. 52 Chevrolet): Yeley is in the second Rick Ware car this weekend — and he posted the top qualifying speed for all the drivers whose teams are considered the most underfunded.

33. Ross Chastain (Premium Motorsports No. 15 Chevrolet): Chastain got a big opportunity in Xfinity, where he has a few races in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 car. He put that car on the pole. This car has a plain black paint job, so the team is joking its throwback is to all the unsponsored cars over the years.

34. Corey LaJoie (TriStar Motorsports No. 72 Chevrolet): LaJoie has a paint scheme honoring his father.

35. Landon Cassill (StarCom Racing No. 00 Chevrolet): Cassill has finishes of 20th and 21st in two of his past three Darlington starts.

36. Timmy Hill (Carl Long Motorsports No. 66 Toyota): Hill is coming off a 28th-place finish at Bristol, his best in 11 starts this year.

37. B.J. McLeod (Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Chevrolet): Last time McLeod was in this car, he finished a career-best 31st at Michigan.

38. Derrike Cope (StarCom Racing No. 99 Chevrolet): Cope is making a start in somewhat appropriate fashion in the throwback race.

39. Joey Gase (BK Racing No. 23 Toyota): Gase will be in this car at Darlington and Indy. Front Row Motorsports will operate it under the BK Racing name — part of its purchase included all intellectual property assets.

40. Jeffrey Earnhardt (Gaunt Brothers Racing No. 96 Toyota): Earnhardt is back in this car for the rest of the season. His team had to repair the car after a crash in qualifying.