Dover 400 Race Preview

Dover International Speedway -- 09/21/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Thursday Sep 18 2008 1:21am

The last time the Cup series raced at Dover International Speedway was June 1 for the 13th race of the regular season.

The overall lap leader that day: Last week's Loudon winner, Greg Biffle (+800), who started on the pole at Dover.

Biffle couldn't quite hang on for the win, however. Kyle Busch (+400), who led 158 laps, finished 1st. Carl Edwards (+450) led 64 laps and finished 2nd, with Biffle coming in 3rd.

Most experts feel that the data from the spring race at Dover does not carry over well to the fall because of differences in the track and weather conditions. I'm sure a lot of Chase drivers hope that's true, since the spring race was marred by a multi-car crash very early on that affected several now-Chase contenders, including Clint Bowyer (+3000), Denny Hamlin (+1400), Tony Stewart (+1200), Kevin Harvick (+2500) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (+1200), who all finished 35th or worse - Stewart and Hamlin with DNFs.

As Kasey Kahne (+2000), also a victim of the wreck, recalls, "We’ve had some good runs at Dover, along with a few disappointments. We had our car handling pretty well in the spring race, but got caught up in an accident early on. The key is having a car that can still handle well 30 to 40 laps into a run, and staying out of trouble. Dover is an easy place to get in trouble and once you are in trouble, it's a place that can end your day in a hurry. It’s definitely one of the more mentally and physically demanding tracks that we go to."

Dover is a one-mile track with 24 degrees of banking in the corners and 9 degrees on the straightaways. Along with the concrete surface, one of the unusual things about the track is the very difficult pit road entrance, which has tripped up even the best of drivers in the past. Another odd feature is the fact that there are only 42 pit stalls for 43 cars, meaning two teams are forced to share a pit stall until someone leaves the race, freeing up a spot.

Drivers agree that Dover is a fun but challenging track and, as Kahne noted, one of the easier places to get caught up in someone else's mistake. For a mile-long race track, it generates a lot of speed and tends to be both physically and mentally demanding for the entire duration of the event. It's also an easy place to get lapped and, once that happens, it's very difficult to get back on the lead lap.

Among active drivers, Jeff Gordon (+1600) and Mark Martin (+3500), lead the series in Dover wins with four a piece. Ryan Newman (+5000) and Jimmie Johnson (+600) have three wins each, while Tony Stewart has two.

Single race winners on the Monster Mile include Matt Kenseth (+1200), Bobby Labonte, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr. (+2500), Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton (+2500), and Kyle Busch.

Manufacturers have been pretty evenly represented in Victory Lane over the past 10 races here, including one Toyota win, two for Dodge, and three a piece for Chevy and Ford.

Last year's fall race at Dover was won by Carl Edwards, who has developed quite a reputation for his skill on concrete tracks like this one - even garnering the nickname "Concrete Carl."

Edwards has the best average finish among active drivers with a 8.2 in eight starts, including a win, four top 5s and five top 10s. In his past four Dover races, Edwards has finishes of 2nd, 3rd, 1st and 2nd.

Following Edwards in the average finish category are Martin Truex, 9.6, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman, 10.3, and Jimmie Johnson, 11.5.

Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle are almost dead even in terms of the series-leading number of points each has accumulated at Dover over the last five races (summer and fall), including bonus points. Edwards' point total is 808, Biffle's 807.

A few other items of interest:

• Since the Chase began in 2004, no driver has won the September Chase race at Dover and gone on to win the championship.

• In addition, since the Chase began in 2004, the leader in the point standings has changed every year after Dover.

• The last time a driver won the September Dover race and the championship in the same season was Jeff Gordon in 1995.

• Among the 12 Chase drivers this year, Hamlin, Bowyer and Harvick are the only ones without a win at Dover.

• In terms of loop data, Greg Biffle has the best overall driver rating here with a 116.1.