Dover International Speedway
Race Re-Cap: Muscle On The Monster Mile
I’m honestly not sure that big wreck on lap 18 really did much to affect the outcome of today’s race. Today’s real contenders were nowhere near this mess as it seemed that before we even got here, the race at Dover was about the Roush-Fenway Racing team, the old guard at Hendrick Motorsports, and the ever-present Kyle Busch. He wrestled the Monster Mile and made it cry “Uncle.”
Did you ever have a premonition? I swear when they went to Elliott Sadler’s on-board camera, I was thinking “Watch- he’s gonna wreck.” Sure enough, ol’ “Rabbit Release” moves down on David Gilliland, goes sideways on the track- and next thing you know, a collection of racers- including top runners like Kevin Harvick, Junior, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Clint Bowyer are all wadded up. Could this change the outcome? Note the absence of Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Jamie Mc Murray from this mishap.
Did you catch Tony’s interview? Some fans were saying, “Wow, this is a different side of Tony. He’s taking responsibility for the mess. Why?” I think they missed the sarcasm. Basically, Tony was so much as saying that it’s his fault for being anywhere near Elliott Sadler. That’s the second time in the last few weeks the two have gotten together. I also got a kick out of Smoke’s “dune buggy” line. I appreciate his sense of humor about the whole thing.
By the time the smoke cleared, and Smoke was cleared, it was obvious that there was really only three serious contenders for the win at Dover. Greg Biffle put together another fine effort before mechanical problems set him back. Teammate Carl Edwards once again showed himself to be light on his wheels on concrete. The Roush Gang sure got it done today. Not only did Biffle and Edwards shine, but Matt Kenseth is becoming the 2008 edition of Lazarus as he seems to be bringing his Chase hopes back from the dead. Jamie Mc Murray is running like a guy who wants to stay with the team. But really, but late race, it was obvious that barring a catastrophe, there would be only one real serious contender.
Kyle Busch is just on one of those runs that drivers have from time to time. Don’t get me wrong, you have to be talented and have good equipment to do it, but it also helps to have Lady Luck in your corner. She’s got a real affinity for “Wild Thing” right now. But again, remember that “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.”
If you don’t like him, give him credit for this much: he spread the love around. Busch was quick to credit his crew for good stops, to Joe Gibbs for their top flight organization, and for all his fans and all NASCAR fans.
Maybe’s he’s learning something. Nobody likes a champion who is not gracious.
The way he’s going right now, I wouldn’t bet against him. All the ingredients are there to take it all in 2008. I still think Edwards, Junior, Jimmie and maybe even the old guard like Gordon, Smoke, JB or even Biffle may have something to say about that- right now, it’s “Rowdy’s World” and we’re living in it.
Other random thoughts…
Brian Vickers’ pit penalties sure screwed up a good opportunity to have an awesome finish….did you see Paul Menard weave through that big wreck? Dinging the inside barrier looked like a better altnernative than getting crumpled up in the middle of the crash….FOX reported their NASCAR ratings were up this year, so much for the death of NASCAR, huh?….Jeff Hammond made a good point and I must concede that I agree. Unlike free-agent-to-be Greg Biffle, who’s stated he’d prefer to stay at Roush, you don’t hear how Smoke want to stay at Gibbs. He may be gone- or he’s screwing with the media big-time…The speculation that Franchitti will give up NASCAR was something I foudn interesting. There seems to be a school of thought that this “stock car thing” is harder than it looks…According to Darrell Waltrip, even Sam Hornish is not sure a sure bet to stick around.
It’s all the drama that keeps us watching, and helps us endure a race like today.
Fearless Forecast: Empire Strikes Back
It just seems like certain TEAMS own certain race tracks. It’s kind of odd how it works that way. I mean you expect certain drivers to have a particularly good feel for certain surfaces and distances. Jeff Gordon does very well on the short tracks and road courses. Bobby Labonte has 6 of his 21 career wins at Atlanta. You may not be able to count on Michael Waltrip to win too many races, but he’s a darn good bet on super speedways, as well as his former teammate- Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kasey Kahne rules on the intermediates, as does fellow young gun Carl Edwards. Speaking of Edwards, he’s known as the “King of Concrete.”
Dover is a concrete track, a one miler with a short track feel, loads of banking and changing elevations, giving it a roller coaster ride effect. It’s interesting to know then, that while Edwards is ordinarily awesome on concrete tracks (Nashville, for example), Edwards is just well,, ordinary at Dover. His driver rating of just over 98 puts him at #8 among active drivers. His starting position of 14th is not something get all tingly over either. At the same time, this is a track where Roush-Fenway has a solid track record. For tomorrow’s race, Roush driver Greg Biffle is one the pole and Jamie Mc Murray is in the #5 spot. Biffle has the best driver rating here at 113, while another Roush veteran, Matt Kenseth is second with a rating of 111. Just about the only driver that’s an unknown quantity at Dover is David Ragan- who’s been on a roll lately.
Speaking of drivers on a roll, Kasey Kahne is coming on an all-star win and a trip to Victory Lane at the Coca-Cola 600. Kahnehas a poor track record at Dover, with a driver rating of 86. His starting position of 15th is nothing to write home about.
As far as driver ratings go, the top 5 at Dover are Biffle, Kenseth, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch. Something tells me “Rowdy” won’t be that great this week. Just a feeling.
Bringing up Johnson’s name reminds us that “Team Hendrick” is strong here too. You don’t see Jeff Gordon’s name on that top 5 list, but the veteran leads active drivers at Dover with 4 wins (Gordon is joined at the top by Bill Elliott and Mark Martin). Johnson has 3 wins here, and the newest addition to the HMS stable, Dale Jr. has one of his 17 career wins on this track (the MBNA Cal Ripken 400 in 2001).
In fact, I’m going to say that a Hendrick driver is going to pull off the win. A driver ready to bounce back. It’s tempting to go with Jeff Gordon, but I’m going to say that….
Jimmie Johnson will win tomorrow’s race.
The Lowe’s “48″ will start out of the #4 hole, and all the adjustments being made seem to be working for Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus. Johnson, a two-time defending champion is hungry after some less-than-satisfying recent runs. Johnson has a way of doing constructive things with that kind of hunger. Hendrick has only one victory in 2008 after owning the NASCAR schedule in 2007, but I think they’ll add another win tomorrow- whether it’s Johnson or Gordon.
I also look for other drivers to bounce back tomorrow. Kurt Busch ran some great laps last week and Matt Kenseth isn’t giving up. Never give up on Tony Stewart, who has two wins at DIS.
Now a sure sign of a Kahne resurgence would be a win here.
Other young guns that bear watching include the ubiquitous Kyle Busch, A.J. Allmendinger- who qualified in the 8th spot, and A.J.’s Red Bull teammate Brian Vickers. The North Carolinian qualified 6th and was wicked fast at Lowe’s before the infamous “wheel incident.” Ryan Newman’s looking good, in spite of all the complaint he’s recently logged in his Yahoo! blog.
Drivers seem to have a lot of fun at this track. It also seems that the shorter the distance with the new car, the better the racing.
I can’t wait.
“Pull Those Belts Tight!”- The “Monster Mile” Edition
Up Next: The Autism Speaks 400 presented by Best Buy, Dover International Speedway- Sunday June 1, 2008. Green flag start- 2 p.m. EDT, 11 a.m. PDT. Broadcast on FOX-TV network with Mike Joy, Larry Mc Reynolds and Darrell Waltrip. Radio broadcast- MRN, Sirius Satellite Network.
Track Facts- The first race ran at the Deleware track on July 6, 1969 as the Mason- Dixon 300. “The King”, Richard Petty won that race, the first of his 7 victories on the “Monster Mile.”
Dover International Speedway is a one mile track with 24 degrees of banking in the turns and 9 on the straights. With the banks and changing elevation on the track, drivers liken the ride on the concrete track to riding on a roller coaster. Another interesting fact: there are only 42 pit stalls for the 43 drivers. Two of them will have to be nice and share.
Track Records: Richard Petty and Bobby Allison are the all-time leading winners with 7 victories at Dover. Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin are the leading winners here among active drivers with 4 each in Cup competition.
Last year- Martin Truex Jr. and Carl Edwards won the Spring and Fall events respectively. For the New Jersey born Truex it was his first and so far, only career victory at the Cup level.
The qualifying record is held by Jeremy Mayfield, who did it in a Dodge for Ray Evernham on June 4, 2004 with a speed of 161.522 m.p.h., for a lap time of 22.288 sec. David Pearson, who won 105 NASCAR Cup races, holds the record for poles at Dover with 5. Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson started out front in the Spring and Fall of 2007.
Who’s the fastest at Dover? Mark “The Kid” Martin finished the MBNA 400 in a time of 3 hours and 50 seconds with an average of 132.719 m.p.h. on Sept. 21, 1997 driving a Roush Racing Ford.
The oldest race winner at “DIS” was Harry Gant won the race the age of 52 years, 4 months and 21 days on May 31, 1992. The youngest? Jeff Gordon at 24 years, 1 month and 13 days on Sept. 17, 1995. Ever hotice how these guys always show up on this one?
The yellow flag waved a record 16 times on Sept. 16, 1993. There were NO cautions waved at the June 6, 1971 edition of the Mason- Dixon 500.
When fans think of Dover, they think of crab cakes and concrete. Given his record of excellence on concrete tracks, be on the look-out for “Cousin Carl.” Because the surface is concrete, there will be no need to worry about changing track conditions like we had at Lowe’s. With it’s positioning in the Northeast United States, this is the closest thing to a home track for Martin Truex Jr. and Todd Bodine. Don’t think being close to home matters? “The Onion” (Bodine) has won 3 Nationwide races at Dover, Randy Lajoie 2 in the “second series.” Martin Truex has won a Cup race and 2 Nationwides at DIS.
Some other active winners here include- Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman have 3 wins at Dover, Tony Stewart has climbed the fence in Delaware twice. Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Bobby Labonte, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Petty, and Ken Schrader all have a single win at Dover.
We’ll be keeping all these things in mind as we prepare for the “Fearless Forecast” this Saturday. Hopefully, rain won’t be the factor it was last year, though I should warn you the long range forecasts call for a significant chance of rain Sunday. Thankfully, if that be the case, by virtue of being a radio sports guy I have to (oh darn) watch the race at work!
Like that little dog in the Disney movie that Cheech Marin did the voice for said: “If this is torture, chain me to the wall.”
NASCAR Terminology- A NASCAR For Dummies Primer
Fire extinguisher switch- Did you know that the cars had one of these? All you do is pull the switch and fire-suppressing chemicals are released into the driving compartment. How cool is that?
Axle- (Not to be confused with Axel, as in Rose)- Rotating shafts connecting the rear differential gears to the rear wheels.
Gears- Circular, wheel-shaped parts with teeth along the edges. The interlocking of these two mechanisms enables one to turn the other.
That’s all for now! Until we meet again, “Keep It Off The Walls.”
