The wealthy southern history of NASCAR is going to be renewed this weekend using throwback paint schemes, special memorabilia and nostalgia since the circuit heads to historic Darlington Raceway for its famous Southern 500, unofficially one of NASCAR’s four big races.

Sunday night’s race marks the second-to-last race of the regular season before the 16-driver playoffs start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-79 points from cutoff), Ryan Newman (-91), Daniel Suarez (-93) and Paul Menard (-99) are drivers currently with a slender opportunity to make the playoffs without a win while the rest of the field needs a success at Darlington or Indianapolis to punch their ticket into the playoffs.

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With”The Lady in Black” prepared to paint a Darlington stripe on anyone who gets too close to her wall, motorists will have to be at their best since the trail changes when the sexy South Carolina sun begins to set at the 1.366-mile asphalt trail. Among the most unique tracks in NASCAR features 25 degrees of banking in Turns 1 and 2, and 23 degrees in Turns 3 and 4 as the track narrows by 17 feet since the vehicle rounds the oblong oblong.

There’s no other track like Darlington making it hard to handicap but the track is very abrasive like similar paths in length at Atlanta and Chicagoland. Sunday’s race-favorite Kevin Harvick will be using his winning Atlanta chassis that led 181 of 325 laps in February while Kyle Busch expects another 50+ lap-leading triumph at Darlington like he’d at Chicago this summer. The last member of the”Big 3,” Martin Truex Jr. is the 2016 Darlington winner that has a streak of three top-10 finishes at the track.

Entering Sunday’s race with the fourth-shortest odds is a driver who has dominated Darlington and needs a good showing to secure a place in the playoffs: Denny Hamlin.

The No. 11 Toyota driver is a two-time Darlington winner and defending race champion. Hamlin boasts the very best driver evaluation (110.3 — well above the next statistical best of Kyle Busch in 105.1), the best average running place (7.8) and tops the list of fastest laps operate (272) in this race. Hamlin also has 10 top-10 endings in 12 career starts including seven.

Odds to win Southern 500

Kevin Harvick 5/2
Kyle Busch 7/2
Martin Truex Jr 7/2
Denny Hamlin 6/1
Kyle Larson 6/1
Erik Jones 18/1
Ryan Blaney 18/1
Brad Keselowski 18/1
Kurt Busch 18/1
Clint Bowyer 18/1
Chase Elliott 25/1
Joey Logano 25/1
Aric Almirola 50/1
Jimmie Johnson 100/1
Ryan Newman 100/1
Daniel Suarez 100/1
Alex Bowman 100/1
Austin Dillon 200/1
Jamie McMurray 200/1
Paul Menard 200/1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr 300/1
Matt Kenseth 300/1
William Byron 300/1
Kasey Kahne 1000/1
Chris Buescher 1000/1
Darrell Wallace Jr 1000/1
AJ Allmendinger 1000/1
Ty Dillon 5000/1
Michael McDowell 5000/1
Field (All Others) 1000/1

Notable Southern 500 betting matchups

Kyle Busch -110
Martin Truex Jr. -110

Denny Hamlin -110
Kyle Larson -110

Kevin Harvick -145
Martin Truex Jr. +125

Erik Jones -110
Brad Keselowski -110

Brad Keselowski -110
Clint Bowyer -110

Kyle Busch -115
Denny Hamlin +135

Chase Elliott -110
Joey Logano -110

Read more: sports-opinionated.com