Pick a bullet, any bullet. There are many storylines blossoming from Regan Smith’s surprise NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in Saturday night’s SHOWTIME Southern 500 at Darlington.
• With a career-first victory, Smith becomes the 179th driver to win at least one NSCS race.
• It’s the second win of 2011 by a single-car team. It just so happens that those victories came in two of NASCAR’s “Crown Jewel” events: the Daytona 500 (Wood Brothers and driver Trevor Bayne) and the SHOWTIME Southern 500 (Furniture Row Racing and Smith). An extension of that – the runner-up in each of those races was the points leader – Carl Edwards.
• Smith is now officially a contender for a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berth. After race No. 26 at Richmond, the top 10 in points will be locked into the Chase. Spots 11 and 12 will go to the two drivers outside the top 10 who have the most wins, provided they are in the top 20. Smith currently sits 27th in the standings, but only 29 points outside the top 20.
• Could the wins come in bunches? In the Daytona 500, Smith finished seventh, but had the best Driver Rating (116.3) that race. The second Daytona race is coming up shortly – July 2.
• At Dover International Speedway, Smith struggles. He has yet to crack the top 20 in any of his six starts. Then again, his finishes in the three Darlington starts prior to Saturday night’s win: 29th, 21st and 17th.
• Furniture Row Racing is based out of Denver, Colo., a rarity in a NASCAR world where most teams surround the Charlotte area – and hardly ever from west of the Mississippi. The team’s first win was also its first top-five finish.
• Any more surprises? A logical choice seems like Tommy Baldwin Racing, with driver Dave Blaney. Blaney just posted finishes of 13th (at Richmond) and 24th (at Darlington) – after starting 41st. And if not for a late-race spin at Talladega, Blaney may have won. He led 21 laps that event.
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