Check out a short list of favorites for Sunday's Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway.

	Benson

Johnny Benson
The only Pontiac driver in the top 10 to this point; spent just one week among the top 10 in 2002 (after the season-opening Daytona 500); climbed up in his second straight week from ninth to sixth following an 11th-place finish at Atlanta; has three top-10 finishes at Darlington in 14 career starts, his last coming in this race in 2001 (seventh); struggled at Darlington last season, finishing 33rd in this event and 34th in the fall.

Jeff Burton
Fell five positions to ninth in the points race following a 33rd-place finish at Atlanta but maintained a spot in the top 10 a third consecutive week; will look to move back up this week given his success at Darlington; in 18 career starts, he has posted 12 top-10 finishes, including a victory sweep in 1999; was buoyed by eight consecutive top-five finishes between March 1997 and September 2000 at Darlington; finished 11th in this race last season and 10th in the fall.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
On the right track with his second top-five finish of the year at Atlanta on Sunday; cracked the top 10 from 18th as a result of his third-place performance after starting 37th; in six races at Darlington, his best starting position was 10th in March 2000, with the best finish a fourth last year in this race.

Bill Elliott
Veteran driver will make his 700th career start. "Darlington has been pretty good to me throughout the years. I like running there," he said. "I don't know that it makes it any more special that I'm making my 700th start there. Winning the ($1) million back in '85 was certainly one of the highlights of my career, but I've also had some good runs there recently."; seventh on the all-time start list in the Winston Cup (Richard Petty leads with 1,177 starts); "I feel very fortunate to be where I am today," he said. "I've seen a lot things throughout my career and I've won a few races along the way. I can't complain about anything. I'm not real big on making a lot out of things like this." In 28 years, Elliott has amassed 43 wins, 55 poles, 166 top-fives and 307 top-10s; this will be his 50th start at Darlington, where his five victories are second behind Jeff Gordon's six; also has five poles, 21 top-fives and 33 top-10s.

Jeff Gordon
His six victories at Darlington in 20 starts are most among active drivers; won this race in 1996; most recently, he won the Southern 500 last September; the runner-up finish to Bobby Labonte at Atlanta on Sunday moved him into the top 10 for the first time this season, jumping from 20th to eighth; has posted top-10 finishes in 13 of his last 15 starts at Darlington; one of five drivers to record top-10 finishes in both Darlington races last year, finishing ninth in this race and following up with a win in the fall.

Kevin Harvick
Maintained seventh place in the standings, even though he finished just 19th at Atlanta; also is one of four drivers to rank in the first 10 for all four weeks this season; ranked 32nd at this stage of the season last year; owns a pair of top-10 finishes in four career starts at Darlington; experienced highs and lows here last season. He finished third in this race - his personal best here -- but followed with a 40th-place finish in the second race.

	Jarrett

Dale Jarrett
Will reach a career milestone this weekend when he makes the 500th start of his NASCAR career; made his Winston Cup debut in 1984 at Martinsville Speedway when Emanuel Zervakis put him behind the wheel of a Winston Cup car; since then, Jarrett has won 31 races and a series championship; makes his 500th start at a track he considers special. "It's hard to believe it's been 500 races," he said. "There are a lot of them I can remember and a lot of them I can forget, too. Darlington is a pretty special place for that." Jarrett's record at Darlington speaks for itself as he has three wins, 11 top-fives and 13 top-10s. Despite Jarrett's passion for Darlington and its memories, it wasn't until the 1997 spring race that he finally conquered the track.

Jimmie Johnson
Held the third position in the points for the first three races of the season but slipped to fourth this week after a 32nd-place finish at Atlanta; remained one of four drivers to rank in the top 10 since the start of the season; has been in the top 10 for 37 consecutive races dating to last year's March race in Atlanta; has just two starts at Darlington but was one of five drivers to record top-10 finishes in both races at this track in 2002; started fifth in both events - finished sixth in this race and ninth in the fall.

Matt Kenseth
Thanks to Sunday's fourth-place finish at Atlanta, became the third driver in three weeks to capture the top position in the standings; ranked second last week - moved to No. 1 for the first time in his 116-race career; consistency has been the key as he has three top-five finishes in the first four races; finished eighth in last season's Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 but was 37th in the fall race at Darlington; has two top-10 finishes in seven career starts at Darlington.

Bobby Labonte
Continued his strong start this season by driving to his first win of the new campaign and sixth career win at Atlanta Motor Speedway; dominated the race, leading nine times for 172 laps and finished 1.274 seconds ahead of Jeff Gordon; the win gave him sole possession of second place on the track's all-time win list (Dale Earnhardt has nine); improved to fifth in points, just 108 behind Kenseth; teammate Tony Stewart won this race last year en route to his Winston Cup championship; has made 20 starts at Darlington and posted eight top-10 efforts, including a win in September 2000; was not among the top 10 here last season, finishing 21st in this event and 15th in the fall.

Ricky Rudd
Will make his 53rd consecutive start at Darlington; considers Darlington Raceway one of the toughest to negotiate and has one win there in 1991, seven top-five finishes and 24 top-10s; just missed another top-10 last year when he was 12th.

Tony Stewart
The reigning NASCAR Winston Cup champion finished fifth at Atlanta for his third top-10 finish of the season; moved from fifth to second in the points standings; one of four drivers to be ranked in the top 10 all four weeks; finished 36th in this race last season but owns five top-10 finishes in eight career starts at Darlington; among them was an eighth-place effort in the fall event last season and a personal-best of fourth on two occasions.

Michael Waltrip
Is the only driver to be ranked first for more than one week this season but dropped to third as a result of a 27th-place finish at Atlanta; despite the drop, he is one of only four drivers to be ranked in the top 10 all four weeks; was 15th in this race last season, his best effort at Darlington since finishing ninth in the autumn of 1997; top result at Darlington was third in this race in 1991.