Boy, oh Bowyer! The racing world is still buzzing about Sunday's dominating performance by Richard Childress Racing's second-year star Clint Bowyer, who won his first Cup race and first Chase race all in one day. Bowyer led 222 of 300 laps in Loudon and rocketed up eight spots in the standings from 12th to fourth, now just fifteen points out of first.

Though several Chase drivers moved up or down in the standings after Loudon, the top three drivers - Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Tony Stewart - held on to the top spots, though Gordon is now technically tied with Johnson at 5210 points overall.

This week the series moves to Dover International Speedway and the Monster Mile for the second race of the Chase and the second Car of Tomorrow race at that venue this year.

Fans will most likely remember the June race at Dover for three things: DEI sophomore driver Martin Truex Jr.'s first Nextel Cup win, Kurt Busch's run-in with Tony Stewart on pit road, and the sad announcement of the death of Bill France Jr. during the race. Unfortunately, many fans missed the race altogether because the planned Sunday, June 3rd, event was rain delayed until Monday, June 4th. Truex's first-ever Cup win came just one week after another first time win, that of Hendrick driver Casey Mears at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Though Hendrick was clearly the early season favorite in Car of Tomorrow races, winning the first five events in the boxy new vehicle, other Chevy teams have also performed well in COT events, particularly Joe Gibbs Racing and, to a lesser degree, Richard Childress Racing. In fact, over the course of 12 COT races, Gibbs driver Denny Hamlin leads all drivers in the laps-led category with 630, followed by Jeff Gordon with 567 and Tony Stewart with 493.

With 12 drivers in the Chase this year, it is more important than ever to avoid costly, careless mistakes. Dover has a tricky pit road entrance that has wreaked havoc with even the best of drivers over the years, and the fact that there are only 42 pit stalls for 43 cars means someone is going to have to double up. The track itself is a one-mile oval with pretty high banking in the corners and an unusual concrete surface that is not as vulnerable to temperature changes as asphalt.

Jeff Gordon leads all active full-time drivers in wins at Dover with four victories in 29 starts. But Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman each have three wins in far fewer starts than Gordon, just 11 a piece.

Denny Hamlin leads all drivers in the average finish stat with an 8.0 over three races, though he has yet to win at Dover. There are eight Chase contenders in the top-10 average finish category, including Hamlin, Truex, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Kyle Busch. Two non-Chase contenders, Ryan Newman and part-timer Mark Martin, round out the list of highest average finishers.

Chevy is probably a safe bet to win this Sunday, not only because of their dominance in Car of Tomorrow events, but also because Chevy's have won three of the last four Dover races going back to the fall of 2005, when Jimmie Johnson took the checkers. Jeff Burton won this race last September and as mentioned, Martin Truex was victorious in June. Matt Kenseth in a Ford won the June race a year ago.

Among non-Chase drivers, Ryan Newman is one of the top performers at Dover, having won three races here previously, including three out of four in 2003-2004. Greg Biffle won at Dover in 2005 and has five top-10 finishes in ten starts, but the 16 team's performance this year has been sub par.

Bobby Labonte might be a good long-shot pick with a record of one win, 11 top-5s and 14 top-10s in 30 starts. Labonte had back-to-back top-10 finishes a few weeks ago at Bristol and Michigan. Dale Earnhardt Jr. also has a respectable record at the track with one win, three top-5s and six top-10s in 15 starts.

Of course, the biggest variable in Sunday's race could be track position, since we've seen time and again how hard it is to pass in the Car of Tomorrow. Dover has a few narrow exits coming out of the corners, particularly in turns 2 and 4, which will also put passing at a premium. Drivers who qualify at or near the front might have the best chance of leading laps and being around for the checkers.