The Race: AAA 400 Drive for Autism The Place: Dover International Speedway The Date: Sunday, May 6 The Time: 2 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 12:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 400 miles (400 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 120), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 240), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 500) Stopped At Three In A Row Although it was a valiant effort, Kyle Busch did not extend his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series three-race winning streak Sunday at Talladega, finishing 13th in a typically frantic day of restrictor-plate competition. However, the former champ has every reason to believe he can make it four wins out of five as the series heads to Dover International Speedway (Sunday, May 6, 2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) this weekend. Busch won the last race on Dover’s “Monster Mile” and only one other driver (Jimmie Johnson, 17) has more top-five finishes at the track than Busch (12). Interesting, Busch has six DNFs at Dover – twice his number of wins, yet still has those impressive top-fives (12) and top-10 (16) finishes. Busch has finished either first or second in the last three fall races here and won the Busch Pole Award for this spring race last year. His 13th-place finish at Talladega on Sunday was only the second double-digit result for him in 10 races so far this season. It halted a seven-race streak of top-three finishes for Busch, who insists he’s absolutely optimistic about his chances in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota this weekend. “It’s definitely a fast racetrack,’’ Busch said. “It’s a fun racetrack, too. It makes it interesting when you get to traffic, when you have to pass guys, when you’re kind of falling down into the hole and jumping back up out of the hole to the straightaways. “It’s a good place to race. It’s a competitive racetrack and, when the rubber gets laid down, it definitely changes the whole atmosphere and the whole way you run around that place.” Dover Domination Jimmie Johnson may be the most excited driver to arrive in the state of Delaware this week for the AAA 400 Drive for Autism (Sunday, May 6, 2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It is, after all, the venue where the seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion and defending race winner last hoisted a trophy. And he’s more than ready – and prepared – to do so again. Johnson’s statistics at the track are tops in the series. He is an 11-time winner and his driver rating (118) far exceeds anyone else in the field. Next closest are Chase Elliott (107.6) and Kyle Busch (105.8). He is tops in six of the eight statistical loop data categories since 2005 including: driving rating, average running position (7.716), laps led (2,710 since 2005, 3,105 overall), laps run in the top-15 (8,935 laps or 85.8 percent), fastest laps run (1,369) and green flag speed (145.215 mph). And how about this? Johnson’s 11 wins puts him one victory shy of equaling all the other wins in total produced previously from everyone else in Sunday’s field (12). Getting his 84th career victory this week in the No. 48 Lowe’s For Pros Chevrolet would tie him with NASCAR Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison on the all-time list. Back on Track Joey Logano’s victory at Talladega over the weekend means Ford has now won nine of the last 11 restrictor-plate races. But for Logano, the victory was perhaps as gratifying personally since it ended it a year-long winless streak and cut down leader Kyle Busch’s championship points-lead advantage over him from 56 to 30 points. Of the eight Ford drivers ranked among the top 16 in points, however, only three have wins at Dover: Logano’s Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski (1) and Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick (1) and Kurt Busch (1). The victory at Talladega will surely add to Logano’s confidence this weekend. He has top-10 finishes in nine of the 10 races this season – a 19th-place at Phoenix the lone outlier. And a ninth place at Bristol is the only other time Logano has finished worse than sixth all season. His last top-10 finish in the spring race at Dover was eighth place in 2014. Home Track Advantage Martin Truex Jr. is hoping the stop at what the New Jersey native considers his “home track” will right the early season ship for the reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion. Truex has wrecked out of three of the last four races and dropped to seventh in the championship after leading the standings following his March win in California. Dover has been a good place for Truex, however. He scored his first Monster Energy Series victory there in June, 2007, and won again driving the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota in October, 2016. The tough Dover miler is one of three venues where he has multiple wins (add in Charlotte and Chicago). He also has started on the Busch Pole there three times, including the last time the Cup series raced at Dover in October. Overall Truex has an impressive top-11 finish in his last eight races. New Man Newman Ryan Newman has quietly been positioning himself in Playoff contention this season and, historically speaking, Dover International Speedway is a place presenting him with opportunity to make a dramatic move upward in the standings. Newman has seven top-five and 14 top-10 finishes at Dover, and from 2003-04 won three of the four races at the Monster Mile. He swept the 2003 races and won the following fall. He has only two DNFs in 32 starts, which is impressive considering the tight nature of the racing here. And only two drivers in the field this week, (Jimmie Johnson, 17 and Kyle Busch, 12) have more top-five finishes. Newman has top-10 finishes in two of the last three races this season in the Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet. Good Vibes Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. has good reason to look forward to Dover race weekend. It has proven to be one of his best racing venues. From the very start of his career. As an up-and-coming racer, Wallace, 24, won from the pole position at Dover in the 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race. He won his first pole position in NASCAR’s national series in 2012 at the age of 18, starting first and finishing 12th in a limited four-race NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. He finished second in the Xfinity Series race at Dover in 2016. He is coming off another rookie confidence-builder in Talladega over the weekend, leading laps (five) for only the second time this season and finishing 16th. Wallace is currently ranked 22nd in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings. The Race: OneMain Financial 200 The Place: Dover International Speedway The Date: Saturday, May 5 The Time: 1:30 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 1 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 200 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200) Dover Is Set For A Monster Of A Good Xfinity Dash 4 Cash Finale The 2018 version of the highly successful NASCAR Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash program is reaching its crescendo this weekend at the famous Dover International Speedway in the OneMain Financial 200 on Saturday, May 5 (at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Four drivers qualified at Talladega for a chance to compete for the $100,000 bonus one last time this season – JR Motorsport’s Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones and RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg. Sieg was named as the fourth qualifier after Spencer Gallagher was disqualified due to a penalty announced after Talladega. Elliott Sadler has been the most successful at banking the big checks this season, as he has brought home the last two Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonuses (Richmond and Talladega). Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ryan Preece is the only other driver to score the big Dash 4 Cash bonus this season when he won at Bristol a few weeks back. Sadler’s been at the top of his game lately, in nine starts this season he has posted seven top fives (series-most) and nine top 10s (series-most). He has made 20 starts at Dover and has finished in the top 10 in 10 of his last 12 starts. No stranger to winning the Dash 4 Cash is Justin Allgaier, who took home the big checks twice last season (Phoenix and Richmond) and this year is looking to make it two seasons in a row with at least one $100,00 bonus. “Qualifying for the Dash 4 Cash is super important. Hats off to Xfinity and Comcast for all they do for the series,” said Allgaier. Justin Allgaier jumped from fifth to third in the points following his comeback run at Talladega on the final restart after running out of gas in the closing laps. He has now posted five top fives and six top 10s this season. In 14 series starts at the Monster Mile, he has posted four top fives and seven top 10s; including a runner-up finish last fall. Brandon Jones wrestled a runner-up finish from his competition in Talladega to qualify for this weekend’s Dash 4 Cash, his series career-best. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is eighth in the championship standings and in nine starts he has posted five top 10s. He has four starts at Dover with a best finish of 17th in 2016. RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg finished sixth at Talladega to qualify for the Dash 4 Cash this weekend at Dover. Sieg is 15th in the series standings after posting one top 10 and an average finish of 19.7. Sieg has made eight series starts at Dover posting best finish of 13th in 2014; he finished 16th in this race last season. All four Dash 4 Cash qualifiers this weekend are solid competitors this season and currently in the top 10 in series championship standings. Amongst the four Dash 4 Cash qualifiers this weekend, Elliott Sadler (11.8) has the best average finish, followed by Justin Allgaier (12.7), Ryan Sieg (16.1) and Brandon Jones (27.5). 10th Different Winner Could Happen At Dover Nine races into the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season there have been nine different winners, which has everyone’s attention turned to Dover international Speedway this weekend to see if the streak can stay alive and give the series its 10th different winner in as many races. If a 10th different winner should occur this weekend, the 2018 season will tie 1987 for the second longest different winner streak to start the season in series history. Currently at nine different winners, the 2018 season is the third longest different winners streak to start a NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Since the series’ inception in 1982, the NASCAR Xfinity Series has had nine different winners in the first nine races just three times – 1987, 1988 and 2018. The record for the highest number of different winners to start a NASCAR Xfinity Series season is 13 back in 1988; followed by 1987 with 10 different winners, then 2018 with nine. The 1988 and 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series seasons are tied for the series-most different winners for the entire season with 18 each. This season’s winners include Tyler Reddick (Daytona), Kevin Harvick (Atlanta), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas), Brad Keselowski (Phoenix), Joey Logano (California), Ryan Blaney (Texas), Ryan Preece (Bristol), Christopher Bell (Richmond) and Spencer Gallagher (Talladega). Elliott Sadler’s Championship Focus Has Broadened JR Motorsports has reclaimed the top three in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver championship standings, led by Elliott Sadler in the standings lead, Tyler Reddick in second (-40) and Justin Allgaier in third (-47). Sadler’s championship focus is apparent. While many drivers have proclaimed they enjoy thinking on a micro level going from week-to-week, Sadler having finished runner-up in his last two seasons has taken a more macro approach to this year, focusing on the entire season, the Playoffs and what he can gain from it. “You know what we learned last year was that being the regular season champion pays a lot of dividends in the Playoffs because you get 15 (Playoff) points,” said Sadler. “So, we are 40 points ahead and we all know that will be taken away, but if we can continue to lead the points through the summer months and get some Playoff points for being the regular season champion, that’s 15 points that’s in our piggy bank for the Playoffs. And to us we found out last year, that’s going to come in handy,” said Sadler. “We definitely want to win races, but we understand being regular season champion is worth a lot, definitely.” Sadler’s consistency this season is unmatched. In nine starts he has finished in the top 10 all nine times. He heads to Dover having made 20 series starts on the concrete track, posting three top fives, 13 top 10s and an average finish of 11.8. He finished seventh in this race last season. Odds Favor A New Dover Winner Of the drivers entered this weekend there are only three former Monster Mile winners, making the odds in the favor of us seeing a new driver pull into Dover’s Victory Lane this weekend. The three former winners entered this weekend are Joe Nemechek (2003 Dover win), Jeff Green (2001 Dover win) and Morgan Shepherd (1986 Dover win). The Race: JEGS 200 The Place: Dover International Speedway The Date: Friday, May 4 The Time: 5 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 4:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 200 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200) The Return The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is finally back after a four-week long break at Dover International Speedway for the JEGS 200 on Friday, May 4 (5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It’s been seven years since the series has come back to action after a long early season hiatus, like this one, to Dover. The last time was in 2011 when Kyle Busch raced to the finish for the win. Johnny Sauter won his first race at Dover last season in the No. 21 Allegiant Airlines Chevrolet, where he led the last 33 laps of the race. Aside from his one win at the track, he has four top fives and six top 10s. Of the 32 drivers who started the race last spring, only 18 of them finished due to crashes and various mechanical issues. This is Sauter’s 16th year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and at the finish of last season, he had the most season wins of his career with four. This season, he has already taken home one victory at the series opener at Daytona International Speedway. He started in the second position and led 35 laps. Sauter’s season has been a very good one so far – starting with his victory at Daytona, he then finished third at Atlanta Motor Speedway and second at Las Vegas. He finished 19th in the race at Martinsville. If Sauter can take home the victory at Dover for the second year in a row, he’ll have two reasons to rejoice as he celebrated his 40th birthday on Tuesday, May 1. Sauter is currently the driver standings with 181-points; followed by Grant Enfinger in the No. 98 CURB Records Ford with 152-points, and Brett Moffitt placing third in the standings in No. 16 AISIN Group Toyota with 150-points. Of the three, Enfinger is the only one without a win this season as Moffitt took home the victory in Atlanta where he started in the 10th position and led only 2 laps. Like Father, Like Son When you see two trucks on track sporting the name “Gilliland” on the back window, you won’t be imagining things. For the first time, veteran driver David Gilliland and his Sunoco Rookie of the Year-contending son Todd will face off against each other in a NASCAR national series race. Todd will be entered in just his second race of the 2018 campaign behind the wheel of the No. 4 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports when the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Dover this Friday. He isn’t eligible to compete on intermediate tracks or superspeedways until he reaches his 18th birthday on May 15. So, Todd had to sit on the sidelines and watch a cast of substitute drivers pilot his truck at Daytona, Atlanta and Las Vegas – and will again at Kansas before he’s in the seat for the remainder of the season starting at Charlotte. His dad drove it in the season-opener at Daytona before his truck owner, Kyle Busch, took over for Atlanta and Spencer Davis drove it in Las Vegas. It wasn’t easy for Todd to sit back and watch other drivers pilot his truck. “It’s been very hard. I’m a racer and all I want to do is race. Seeing other people jump in the truck you are going to be in the rest of the year is really tough, but you have to take every opportunity you have to learn and catch up to the guys who already have three more races worth of experience than I do.” In his first race of 2018, Todd drove to a 14th-place finish at Martinsville after starting 23rd. Todd competed in six Camping World Truck Series races in 2017, posting a pair of top fives and three top 10s. He had a best finish of third at New Hampshire and crossed the line fifth at Martinsville in the fall. David is racing the No. 54 Toyota for DGR-CROSLEY Racing – a team that was formed when David Gilliland Racing and CROSLEY Sports Group joined forces for the 2018 season. The organization, which fields late model, NASCAR K&N Pro Series, ARCA and Camping World Truck Series entries, is co-owned by David and Bo LeMastus. David has 11 series starts under his belt and won the pole this season at Daytona while driving his son’s No. 4 KBM entry. He’s taken the green flag 333 times in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, including in the 2018 Daytona 500. He has a trio of poles (all on superspeedways), four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in NASCAR’s premier series. Harrison Burton Looking For New Career-Best Finish Harrison Burton may have only been in one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race so far this season, but he will start up his engine again at Dover International Speedway this Friday (May 4, 5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).The 17-year-old’s first race of the 2018 season was at Martinsville where he finished eighth in the No. 51 DEX Imaging Toyota. Burton traveled to Dover in June 2017 for the first time where he started in the 10 position and finished in 13th. This is just the second of nine races Burton will be racing in this season with his expanded Camping World Truck Series schedule. Burton entered the 2018 season with seven starts under his belt. In his six starts during the 2017 season, he logged an average finish of 12.3 and earned his career-best fourth-place finish at Martinsville last October, which also happened to be his final start of the season. source – NASCAR communications
