“Pull Those Belts Tight!”- The “Monster Mile” Edition
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 by Jim Mc Coy
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.”
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2 Responses to ““Pull Those Belts Tight!”- The “Monster Mile” Edition”
I know he hasn’t been great here the last couple of years, but Stewart’s 9th place run here last year w/ the new car was a huge rebound for the 20 team at Dover, and they’ve really run much better than they normally do in the first four months of the season … I’ve got Stewart winning this weekend.
Bob B
Thanks for the facts about Dover. Real interesting numbers. Question is, why isn’t Dover as fast as say Atlanta or Talldega? Is it due to the banking or what?
Have always wondered about that.