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Who is hot, who is not in Cup heading to Darlington

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500  - Qualifying

TALLADEGA, AL - APRIL 28: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, talks to Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Richmond Ford, on the grid during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 28, 2018 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

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It’s time to throwback this weekend with the NASCAR Cup Series competing at Darlington Raceway for Sunday’s Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN).

Here’s a look from Racing Insights at those drivers who are hot and those who are not heading into the next-to-last regular season race of the season.

HOT

Kevin Harvick

• Finished 10th at Bristol (2nd in Stage 1, 21st in Stage 2, 8 laps led)

• Won 7 of the last 23 races

• Won 12 stages in 2018 (had 6 in all of 2017)

• Finished in Top 5 in 8 of last 11 races

• Finished in Top 10 in 6 straight races and 10 of last 11

• 24 races in 2018: 20 finishes of 10th or better (including 7 wins) & 4 finishes of 19th or worse

• Finished 9th or better in 5 straight Darlington races, including win in 2014

• Finished in Top 5 in 4 of last 5 Darlington races

Chase Elliott

• Finished 3rd at Bristol (4th in Stage 1, 2nd in Stage 2, 112 laps led)

• Top-10 in the last five races of 2018

• Finished in Top 10 in 8 of last 11 races

Ryan Blaney

• Finished 7th at Bristol (1st in Stage 1, 5th in Stage 2, 121 laps led)

• Finished 7th or better in the last two races and 4 of last 6

• Finished 12th or better in 6 straight races

Erik Jones

• Finished 5th at Bristol (8th in Stage 1, 7th in Stage 2)

• Top 5 in 3 of last 4 races

• Top 10 in 7 of last 9 races

Joey Logano

• Finished 4th at Bristol (9th in Stage 1, 1st in Stage 2, 95 laps led)

• Finished in Top 10 in last two races and 4 of last 6

• Finished in Top 5 in 2 of last 3 Darlington races

Kurt Busch

• Won at Bristol (7th in Stage 1, 9th in Stage 2, 24 laps led)

• Ended 58-race winless streak

• Finished top 10 in 6 straight races (first time since 2004)

• Finished 6th or better in 2 of last 3 Darlington races, but 14th or worse in 5 of last 7

NOT

Jamie McMurray

• Finished 29th at Bristol (33rd in Stage 1, 33rd in Stage 2)

• Finished 12th or worse in 8 of last 9 races

• Finished 15th or worse in 19 of 24 races this season

• Finished 14th or worse in 5 of last 6 Darlington races

Brad Keselowski

• Finished 16th at Bristol (13th in Stage 1, 19th in Stage 2)

• Finished 16th or worse in 4 of last 5 races

• Finished outside Top 30 in 3 of last 7 races

• Finished top 10 in 2 of last 3 Darlington races, but 15th or worse in 4 of last 6

Austin Dillon

• Finished 13th at Bristol (16th in Stage 1, 18th in Stage 2)

• Finished 13th or worse in 5 of last 6 races

• Finished 12th or worse in 17 of last 19 races

• Finished outside Top 10 in 20 of 23 races since Daytona 500 win

Matt Kenseth

• Finished 13th or worse in 8 starts in 2018 (22.5 avg. finish)

• Finished 6th in 2 straight Darlington races and 6th or better in 5 of last 6 Darlington races

Aric Almirola

• Finished 31st at Bristol (5th in Stage 1, 4th in Stage 2, 2 laps led)

• Finished 22nd or worse in 3 of last 4 races (worst 4-race stretch of season)

• Never finished better than 11th in 6 career Darlington starts

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

• Finished 24th at Bristol (29th in Stage 1, 25th in Stage 2)

• Finished out of the top 10 in 13 of last 14 races and 14th or worse in 11 straight races

• Finished 14th or worse in 20 of 24 races in 2018

• Never finished better than 18th in 5 career Darlington starts

Paul Menard

• Finished 36th at Bristol (35th in Stage 1, 36th in Stage 2)

• Finished outside the top-10 in 9 straight races in 2018

• Never finished better than 13th in 11 career Darlington starts