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Your Darlings are in Darlington!!!

(now that's a bad headline)

What:Transouth Financial 400, Race No. 5
Where:Darlington Raceway, Darlington, SC
When:12:30, March 21, 12:30 pm; ESPN

(Don't want to read my insightful and witty comments? Click here to go straight to making your picks.)

This week we're at NASCAR's scarriest racetrack. Why scarry? Because it ain't easy to stay away from the wall at this place. Drivers call it "The Track Too Tough to Tame." This track, built in 1950, is an egg-shaped monster. Drivers have to be constantly aware of exactly where they are on the track, and they can't be fooling with two-wide racing in these super tight turns. Every inch of the 1.366-mile track spells trouble for drivers who don't know what they're doing.

Who can turn laps here to win? Think real hard before you go with someone who hasn't run this race a few times. Many drivers consider this the toughest track on the circuit, and we're talking drivers who've spent thousands of miles here. Last spring this race was won by Dale Jarrett; the fall event went to Jeff Gordon. Either of those guys are obviously good choices, but you might want to keep in mind some of those older fellows. Also, it's been a real long time since a Pontiac took the checkered at Darlington. Is the track setup somehow biased against that GM make? Have the new rules about spoilers made the Grand Prix as competitive at Darlington as its been at ther tracks? You decide.

Last week I told you not to forget Terry Labonte. He got lapped and wasn't heard from again, but I still like him this week. I also haven't given up on Kenny Schraeder, driver of the Skoal car. If Kyle Petty has a strong race left in him, this is the place for him to do it.

Y'all had better look at the list of names long and hard before you go making your picks. Just because some of those guys haven't been hot the last couple years, don't count them out.

But there's plenty of young'uns to pick from. Jarrett's looking real good to me -- he may be due for a win. The Burton brothers, number 6 (he's not young, though), and prettyboy Gordon can never be counted out.

If there's only one race you're going to see this Sunday, make sure this is the one. There's going to be more wrecks than you can shack a camshaft at. They should call it the Wreckington 400. They should enter ambulances in the race. I wouldn't be surprised if the pace car leads the most laps. If you like DNF's, then you'll love what's going to happen on Sunday. Expect to hear the names Joe, Buckshot, Sadler, Benson, and Irvan a lot, but don't expect to see them leading any laps.

Now a quick web note. At the top of this page you'll see a link for the table of contents. The table of contents provides links to all of our past pages, including the wrap-ups and picks & comments pages from last week's races. You can also access my awesome predictions and our previous picking pages. Check it out!

Instructions

First of all, choose your name from the pull-down list. Then pick the names of the drivers that you think will finish in the top five. After that, you get to make your surprise pick, where you'll name a guy who isn't high in the points, but you think has a shot to get into this week's top five. It doesn't have to be one of the names you've already put in your top five. Now that the season is in full swing, let's use the current Winston Cup Points standings. Click here to check out the nicely done standings page at nascar.com. Remember, your surprise pick can't be any of the names listed in the TOP TEN of the points standings.

And hey, don't forget to pick a DNF. That's the guy you think will get a big fat Did Not Finish.

on the upside-down triangle at the right margin of each blank to see a list of drivers, then select a name. No typing necessary. Don't forget to tell me your name!

What's your name?

Name of First Place Driver:

Name of Second Place Driver:

Name of Third Place Driver:

Name of Fourth Place Driver:

Name of Fifth Place Driver:

Name of your surprise pick:

Choose your "DNF of the Week"

Any comments for this week? And hey, I've got a question for y'all. I was heartbroken a couple weeks back when Tim S. picked Ernie Irvan to DNF, and then Irvan wrecked TWICE but managed to stay in the race. What do you think about changing it so that for our purposes "DNF" means any driver who either is totally knocked out of the race or just finishes more than 50 laps behind the leader? Let me know.