Darlington has been nicknamed the "track too tough to tame" and it is certainly a different animal.

The 1.366-mile track is so narrow that it's hard to see how two Sprint Cup drivers can run side-by-side in the corners. The fact they do is testament to their skill, courage and craziness. The fastest way around is up against the wall, and back in the days when guardrails encircled NASCAR's oldest superspeedway, they would leave a "stripe" across the passenger side of the cars.

Well, the place changed its "stripes" in 2008 when it was repaved. Drivers will tell you the Lady in Black is a lot more forgiving with the added grip preventing them from sliding up into the wall as much. It also means ESPN Stock Car Challenge players need to pay more attention to recent Darlington stats and not really worry about the numbers prior to the new surface being laid down.

This is also the final race in Segment 1 of SCC, so you can turn it all loose knowing you'll get a fresh set of driver values next week.

I've been told lately that not only was the engine-cooling advantage going to help the Fords at Talladega (which it did), but they've been able to run more tape on the nose of their Fusions on the other tracks, creating more down force and thus better handling. It's why I think it's going to be a big weekend for the "Roushketeers" with Greg Biffle (22.8), Carl Edwards (23.0) and Matt Kenseth (23.4) major players in the Bojangles Southern 500.

However, I think two guys will keep them honest: Denny Hamlin (22.8) in his Toyota, and the Chevy of Jimmie Johnson (23.5), who keeps threatening to win on the intermediate speedways this year but has failed to do so. ... MORE

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Jayski.com's Mark Garrow analyzes the racing world every week for ESPN.com. Garrow provides readers with an in-depth look at driver trends, race history and life on the circuit. Follow each race with exclusive coverage from the track and create a championship Stock Car Challenge team.

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