NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams are preparing for 400 laps of racing action in the AAA 400 Driver for Autism at Dover International Speedway on Sunday, May 15th. FOX Sports 1 begins their pre-race coverage at 11:30 am ET with a green flag around 1 pm ET and radio coverage is available on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
MonStar: No One Better at Dover than Jimmie Johnson
Last season, Jimmie Johnson notched his tenth career win at Dover International Speedway – aka the Monster Mile – to become just the fifth driver to visit Victory Lane at least ten times at a single track.
If he takes the checkered flag in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover, Johnson will join Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip as the only drivers to win 11 or more races at single track.
The No. 48 Chevrolet driver has dominated at the Monster Mile where he holds the track record for wins (ten) and leads all active drivers with a 120.1 driver rating and a 7.7 average running position. In 28 career starts at the one-mile track, Johnson owns 15 top-fives and 20 top-tens.
He is the defending winner of the AAA 400 Drive for Autism.
King Kyle:
Busch Beasts at Kansas for First Time, Closes in on Sweep of Active Tracks
Like King Kong in New York, can Kyle Busch be stopped?
The defending Sprint Cup Series champion became the first three-time winner this season when he toppled arch-nemesis Kansas Speedway for the first time on Saturday. Busch has been on a tear his last six starts, logging three wins and two runner-up finishes. In 11 races this season, he has finished worse than fourth only twice.
With his victory at Kansas, only two tracks remain where the 31-year-old Las Vegas native has never won – Charlotte and Pocono – the sites of the two races following Sunday’s showdown at Dover.
Busch’s nine top-five finishes this season lead the Sprint Cup and are four more than the next closest drivers’ output (Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson). He also paces the series with 679 laps led.
In 22 starts at Dover, Busch claims two wins, ten top-fives and 14 top-tens. His 105.8 Monster Mile driver rating ranks third in the Sprint Cup.
Concrete Colossus Carl Edwards Eyes First Dover Victory
Since he began competing in NASCAR’s national series in 2003, Carl Edwards has excelled on concrete racing surfaces. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver won the most recent race on concrete at Bristol and will attempt to follow it up with a victory at Dover.
Overall, Edwards boasts 16 national series wins on concrete: six at Bristol, four at Dover and six at Nashville. In all three national series, he ranks second on concrete in top-fives (44), and third in top-tens (59) and laps led (2,992).
In 23 career Sprint Cup starts at Dover, Edwards owns one win, eight top-fives and 12 top-tens. His 10.5 average finish at the Monster Mile ranks third in the Sprint Cup.
Click here for an infographic on Edwards’ concrete conquests
Mammoth of Mayetta: South Jerseyan Truex Tries to Topple Hometown Track
For the second time this season, Martin Truex Jr. failed to win a race he dominated.
Four weeks after he led the most laps at Texas, yet finished sixth, Truex paced the field for a race-high 172 go-arounds at Kansas before placing 14th. The No. 78 driver’s ‘loss’ was no fault of his own, the head bolt fell off his brake during a pit stop on lap 212, forcing him to pit for a second time.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Truex said. “Went around (turns) one and two and I was like, ‘Wheel loose.’ I kept telling myself that maybe it’s not me, maybe it’s just shaking because it has tape on it or something stupid. It was loose and I knew it right away. Frustrating, but that’s how it goes.
“We’re going to win races for sure – if we keep bringing cars like that, we’re going to win some. It’s frustrating when you’ve had it happen so many times in your career. I swear, you watch guys win races that don’t have the fastest car or on fuel mileage and all this stuff and it’s like, ‘damn.’ Someday I’m going to get on one of those or on the other side of one of them. Usually you can dominate and win, but it’s tough and it happens. It’s part of racing. We’ll just move on to Dover next week, which is another good track for our Furniture Row Racing team.”
Over the last two seasons, Truex has led the most laps in six races, but has only won one of them – a rate of 17 percent. Since 2011, 74 of the drivers who led the most laps in a race also won it – (38.7%, 191 races).
Truex, who hails from Mayetta, New Jersey, will try to close the deal this weekend at his home track – Dover International Speedway – the place he won his first race (06/04/07). In 20 starts at the Monster Mile, he has one win, one top five and nine top-tens.
Kevin Harvick – The Loopness Monster
Since his 2014 Sprint Cup Series championship season, Kevin Harvick has dominated NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics – measurements indicative of complete race performance.
In his last 83 races (beginning with the 2014 Daytona 500), Harvick ranks first in the Sprint Cup Series in laps led (5,002; Brad Keselowski is second with 2,804) and driver rating (113.6; Joey Logano is second at 104.1).
While Kyle Busch has been the dominant driver this season in terms of wins, Harvick leads the Sprint Cupin the majority of loop data statistics: average running position (6.1), driver rating (116.3) and fastest laps run (461). In addition, he ranks third in laps led (571). These numbers indicate the wins will start coming.
On the season, Harvick has one win, five top-fives and nine top-tens.
The No. 4 Chevrolet driver won at Dover for the first time in the Chase last fall after leading a race-high 355 laps.
Monsters University: Roaring Rookies Blaney and Elliott Ready for Dover Debut
Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott finished in the top-ten together for the second consecutive week with Kansas finishes of fifth and ninth, respectively.
Elliott, who claims three top-fives and seven top-tens in 11 starts this season, leads Blaney by 22 points in the rookie points standings. Blaney owns one top five and four top-tens this year.
Both NASCAR Next alumni are making their track debuts at Dover this weekend.
Elliott’s seven top-ten finishes in the first 11 races in his Sunoco Rookie season are the most since Jimmie Johnson accomplished the feat in 2002.
Dillon’s Dastardly In 2016
Austin Dillon’s breakout season continues.
The No. 3 Chevrolet driver finished sixth at Kanas for his career-high sixth top-ten result of the season. He also claims a career-best three top-fives.
A champion in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck and XFINITY Series, Dillon currently sits ninth on the Chase Grid, 54 points ahead of Ryan Newman on the cutoff line.
Newman’s Land: No. 33 Driver Looks to Continue Dover Success
Ryan Newman finished a season-best seventh at Kansas and looks to build some momentum with another strong showing at Dover. In 28 career starts at the one-mile oval, Newman has three wins (tied with Tony Stewart for second among active drivers), six top-fives and 13 top-tens. Newman’s three wins are his most at any track but New Hampshire, where he has the same amount.
Smoke Monster: Stewart Far from Lost in First Three Starts
The results have been solid in Tony Stewart’s first three starts since returning from his back injury.
He placed 19th at Richmond, sixth at Talladega (with Ty Dillon finishing the race) and 12th at Kansas.
The No. 14 Chevrolet driver continues his quest for Chase berth in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway where he won his last race on June 2, 2013 – 80 starts ago.
To make NASCAR’s playoffs, Stewart must win a race and finish the regular season in the top 30 in points. He’s currently 37th in the points – 59 markers behind 30th-place Regan Smith.
In 33 career starts at Dover, Stewart boasts three wins, 11 top-fives, 17 top-tens and an average finish of 13.5.
Gibbs Chasing Roush
If Joe Gibbs Racing wins its next race before Roush Fenway Racing does, it will tie RFR for the third-most victories in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series annals (135).
Dover Pre-Race Festivities Headlined by Celebrities
Trevor Jackson, Atlantic Records singer, songwriter, actor and dancer, will perform the national anthem before Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway. He most recently starred in the ABC drama ‘American Crime.’
Jason Jones, star of the hit TBS comedy ‘The Detour’ will serve as the grand marshal on Sunday. Jones first appeared on ‘The Daily Show’ in 2005, entertaining viewers with his many foreign trips for the production.