The Rundown: Darlington driver grades – Nascar

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Breaking down the full field for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway:

1. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex’s two victories this season are the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and now the Southern 500 … and he finished second in the Daytona 500. Even with all the bad luck he has had, Truex is having a monster year. Grade: A+

2. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. This is word-for-word — except for the number of laps led Sunday night — from the race at Dover in May when Harvick finished 15th: Harvick led a race-high 214 laps, and who knows how well he would have done if his pit crew had done its job. Harvick’s grade is an average of his A and his crew’s F. Grade: C

3. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. Larson led 45 laps and was in contention to win for the second week in a row. Larson and his team are hitting their stride at the exact right time. Grade: A

4. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Breaking news: No pit-road penalties for Hamlin or his crew … just their seventh consecutive top-10 finish (5.3 average finish in the streak). Grade: A

5. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano doesn’t have a streak to rival Hamlin’s, but he now has top-10 finishes in 11 of his past 13 starts. Grade: A

6. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth was running 14th when he stayed out during the sixth caution and restarted with the lead. He was a fixture in the top 10 the rest of the night. Grade: A

7. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne’s first top-10 finish since Sonoma in June is too little too late. Unless he wins at Richmond, he likely won’t make the Chase. Grade: A

8. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Huge night for Newman. Despite having to start from the back of the field (unapproved adjustments), Newman scored a must-have top 10 and is sitting seven points behind Jamie McMurray for the final spot in the Chase. He came into the race 15 points back. Grade: A+

9. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. An early vibration and two loose wheels couldn’t keep Keselowski from his 16th top 10 of the season, tying him with Kurt Busch for third most behind Kevin Harvick (20) and Joey Logano (17). Grade: A

10. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott did much better on restarts Sunday night, but he lost spots on pit road. Another good run at Richmond should net him a spot in the Chase. He is 24 points ahead of Ryan Newman and 17 ahead of Jamie McMurray. Grade: A-

11. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch missed a top-10 finish at Darlington for the first time since 2011 (also an 11th-place finish). Grade: B

12. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. An early pit-road speeding penalty had no bearing on his finish. He is 12 points ahead of Jamie McMurray and 21 ahead of Ryan Newman. A good finish at Richmond should clinch a spot in the Chase. But … in five starts at Richmond, Dillion has finished 27th three times and 20th twice. If he runs to form, that might not be good enough. Grade: B –

13. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney had multiple visits with the wall, had to pit under green for a flat and had a pit-road penalty (for a crew violation) … and still finished 13th. Busy night. Grade: B-

14. Jeff Gordon, No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon scored his third top-15 finish in four starts for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Grade: B-

15. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. If McMurray misses the Chase by a handful of points, an extra pit stop Sunday night might turn out to be the difference. McMurray had to pit for a second time under caution on Lap 354 for a loose lug nut. Instead of restarting 13th, 13 points to the good on Ryan Newman, McMurray restarted 18th, the last car on the lead lap. Newman finished seven spots better than McMurray and trails McMurray by seven points for the final Chase-eligible spot. Grade: B-

16. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard did a nice job of moving through the field after starting from the back for unapproved adjustments. But a tire rub late in the race resulted in a flat left rear and Menard losing control of the No. 27 and wiping out Kurt Busch on Lap 327. Still, Menard’s 16th-place finish was his second best in his past nine starts. Grade: B-

17. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Buescher is not out of the woods yet. He is 11 points ahead of David Ragan for 30th in the points standings and a spot in the Chase. His task at Richmond is simple: Stay ahead of Ragan or close to him all night. It didn’t happen in the April race at Richmond, however, when Ragan finished 23rd and Buescher 34th, an 11-point difference. How’s that for coincidence? Saturday night should be fun. Grade: B

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse was the final car on the lead lap. Grade: B

19. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards finished 19th in the JGR No. 19 Toyota for the third time, the first time this season. That’s three more times than Edwards finished 99th in No. 99 Ford in 11 seasons driving for Jack Roush. Grade: B-

20. Regan Smith, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Smith scored his third-best finish of the season. The other two are top 10s (eighth in the Daytona 500, third last month at Pocono). Grade: B

21. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Despite having to start from the rear of the field because of an engine change, Ragan equaled his third-best finish of the season. Grade: B

22. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Contact with Aric Almirola brought out the 10th and final caution. Fortunately for Bowyer, Almirola’s car got the worst of the encounter. Grade:  C

23. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger’s run of top-15 finishes ended at four on a night when he completed no laps in the top 15 for the second time this season (Week 4 at Phoenix). Grade: C

24. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. For the third time this season, and second time in three weeks, Patrick had the second-best finish among the four Stewart-Haas Racing cars. Grade: C

25. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing.  Geico “It’s What You Do” fact of the night: RAF, as in “running at the finish.” Did you know only two Sprint Cup drivers who have started all 25 races this season have been running at the finish of each race this season? One is Brad Keselowski. The other is Geico’s very own Casey Mears. It’s what he does. Grade: C

26. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto scored his fourth-best finish of the season, his best at a track more than a mile long. Grade: B+

27. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing. Despite an early pit-road speeding penalty on his first stop, McDowell posted his best finish at Darlington in five starts. Grade:  C

28. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett equaled his fourth-best finish of the season. Grade: C

29. Josh Wise, No. 30 Chevrolet, The Motorsports Group. The theme of the backmarkers continues: Wise also equaled his fourth-best finish of the season. Grade: C

30. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Cassill matched his lowest finish at Darlington in six starts. Grade: C

31. Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Sorenson finished nine laps off the pace. Grade: C

32. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola was running 20th with 19 laps to go when he got into Clint Bowyer and then Bowyer hit Almirola, sending the No. 43 hard into the wall. Grade: C-

33. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The lowlight of Johnson’s night came when he lost control off of Turn 4 on Lap 214 and went for a spin. He ultimately finished 39 laps off the pace and with his 77th finish of 30th of worse in his illustrious Sprint Cup career — which also equals his Cup wins. Who knew? Well, you do now. Grade: F

34. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch called it a “tough, tough night.” We call it being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Paul Menard was nursing a tire going down, and Busch was next to him when it finally did. The No. 41 suffered major damage, and Busch was left with his second DNF for crashes in three weeks. Grade: C

35. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Score one for karma in Stewart’s final race at “The Lady in Black”. In a move few will dispute, Stewart wrecked Brian Scott to bring out the third caution. Then, after battling a cooling issue for a good chunk of the night, Stewart’s engine expired a shade more than 100 laps later. Grade: F

36. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle got loose in Turns 3 and 4 and hit the wall to bring out the sixth caution. The No. 16 returned to the track but was through after 295 laps, giving Biffle his sixth DNF, tying a season high with 11 races remaining in 2016. Grade: F

37. Cole Whitt, No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Electrical issues cut short Whitt’s night after 250 laps. Grade: F

38. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 32 Ford, GO FAS Racing. Earnhardt hit the wall literally and figuratively on Lap 250. Grade: F

39. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Scott was running 24th on Lap 114 when Tony Stewart took exception to something Scott did or was doing and turned the No. 44, sending it crashing into the inside wall. Maybe Scott wasn’t handling his car as well as ‘Smoke’ thought he should. But no one will dispute how well Scott handled himself in his interview on NBC afterward. Grade: B

40. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne brought out the first caution when he went for a spin trying to get to pit road on Lap 95. But it was his engine that ended his night after 161 laps, leaving Bayne with his first DNF of the season. Grade: F