With the 16-driver field officially set, the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs get underway in Sunday night's Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, NBC) at Darlington Raceway.
The Southern 500 is typically the only Cup Series visit to this historic track during a traditional season schedule, however, 2020 has been anything but traditional.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NASCAR postponed its season in the spring and restarted in May with back-to-back races at Darlington.
As a result, we're in a unique position with data from two races to help pinpoint which drivers should perform well on Sunday night.
With this in mind, here is one driver I'm targeting for a top-10 finish in the Southern 500.
NASCAR Southern 500 at Darlington Odds, Picks
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Clint Bowyer (+175) for a Top-10 Finish
Bowyer was plenty fast throughout both Darlington races in May, evidenced by his fourth-best driver rating. However, it's his blazing speed in the second event, the Toyota 500, which really caught my eye.
While both Darlington races are important, I'm especially interested in the Toyota 500 as that was run at night, just like Sunday's Southern 500, which will finish under the lights.
His 22nd-place finish in that race is deceiving, as an ill-timed caution, contact with the wall and a cut tire all contributed to that misleading result.
Despite finishing outside of the top 20, Bowyer arguably had the fastest car, which included the best driver rating, the most fast laps and the most laps led in that event.
The No. 14 Stewart-Haas Ford will start ninth on the grid as well, which only helps Bowyer's cause for a top-10 finish.
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