DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (ONE-MILE OVAL)
LOCATION: DOVER, DELAWARE
EVENT: NASCAR CUP SERIES (RACE 11 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 2 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, MAY 5 (FS1/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
Chase Elliott
No. 9 NAPA Brakes Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 23 Resides Dawsonville, Georgia
2019 Season
7th in standings
10 starts
1 win
1 pole position
2 top-five finishes
3 top-10 finishes
167 laps led
Career
123 starts
4 wins
5 pole positions
35 top-five finishes
62 top-10 finishes
1,410 laps led
Track Career
6 starts
1 win
0 pole positions
5 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
149 laps led
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 NAPA Brakes Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to the media on Friday, May 3, at 12:45 p.m. local time in the media center at Dover International Speedway.
‘DEGA, BABY: Chase Elliott brought home his fourth career NASCAR Cup Series win and first of the 2019 season last Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. En route to the Talladega victory, the 23-year-old driver collected his first stage win of the year and led a total of 45 laps in the 188-lap event. The win puts Elliott seventh in the driver points standings, 106 points out of first.
WINNING WAYS: In the last 25 races, Elliott ranks third for the most wins with four – behind only Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch, who both have five. Since capturing his first career NASCAR Cup Series win in Aug. 2018 at Watkins Glen, he is the only Chevrolet driver to have won a race. In those last 25 starts, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native has collected eight top-five finishes – including one runner-up result – 14 top-10s, 436 laps led and an average finishing position of 10.68. In the last five races of the 2019 season, Elliott has led a total of 167 laps, compared to zero in the first five events of the year.
GUSTAFSON STATS: On Sunday at Talladega, No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson collected his 24th win – ranked fifth among active crew chiefs for most wins – and first at a superspeedway. Now in his 15th season as a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief, the 43-year-old has accumulated 137 top-five finishes, 247 top-10s and 27 pole awards. His drivers average a starting position of 13.5 and finish of 14.7.
NAPA BRAKES CHEVROLET: This weekend, Elliott will pilot the No. 9 NAPA Brakes Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Dover International Speedway. On Monday, NAPA AUTO PARTS revealed the black-and-yellow machine on their newly relaunched Instagram account. The paint scheme coincides with NAPA AUTO PARTS’ May brakes promotion.
NAPA BRAKES PROMO: Elliott’s scheme will promote NAPA AUTO PARTS’ brakes special that will run throughout the month May. Customers can get up to $75 off a qualifying NAPA brake parts purchase of $250 at participating NAPA AUTO PARTS stores and NAPA AutoCare centers.
LAST TIME AT DOVER: Last fall at Dover International Speedway, Elliott conquered the “Monster Mile” to capture his second career Cup Series win and clinch a spot in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR playoffs. Starting the day in ninth, the driver of the No. 9 Chevy overcame an early uncontrolled tire violation and utilized a strategy call by Gustafson to stay on-track during a late caution to take the lead. He held that lead through multiple restarts to ultimately capture the victory in overtime.
‘MONSTER MILE’ STATS: Elliott has garnered five top-five finishes in six starts at Dover International Speedway, four of which were top-three finishes. Among those top-three finishes was his win last season and a runner-up result in 2017. His five top-five finishes rank Dover as one of his top-three tracks. Elliott averages a starting position of 10.8 and a finishing position of 4.3 at the one-mile oval and has led 149 laps – including a career race-high 138 laps led in Oct. 2017. Elliott finished in the top three in both of his rookie appearances at Dover in 2016 – something only Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Davey Allison have accomplished in their rookie seasons. Elliott also has four starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the Dover, Delaware, track and never finished outside the top 10 in either series.
GUSTAFSON AT DOVER: Gustafson will call his 29th “Monster Mile” Cup Series race from atop the pit box this weekend. In his previous 28 races calling the shots for five different drivers (Elliott, Busch, Casey Mears, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon) at Dover, he has collected two wins, with his most recent victory coming last season with Elliott. He also has 14 top-five finishes – five of which were runner-up results – 16 top-10s and 420 laps led at the track.
NEXT THREE: Looking ahead, the three upcoming tracks on the schedule – Dover, Kansas and Charlotte – are all tracks where Elliott and the No. 9 team have been successful. During the most recent visits to Dover and Kansas, the driver of the No. 9 captured wins that secured his spot in the Round of 8 in the 2018 playoffs. Elliott also garnered a runner-up finish, his career-best at the track, at Charlotte in October 2017 after leading 12 laps. Elliott has collected his second-most top-five finishes at Dover.
William Byron
No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver William Byron Hometown Charlotte, North Carolina
Age 21 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2019 Season
19th in standings
10 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
0 top-five finishes
1 top-10 finish
83 laps led
Career
46 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
0 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
144 laps led
Track Career
2 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
0 laps led
‘MONSTER MILE’ MERIT: Across his entire racing career, driver William Byron has made the trip to Dover International Speedway on six different occasions, his first being in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, where he started on the pole and led 57 laps before finishing in the ninth position. Graduating to the top three national tiers of NASCAR starting in 2016, Byron once again captured the top spot in qualifying at Dover, this time in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series, leading 80 laps and finishing 11th. The next season in the Xfinity Series, Byron would race at the concrete one-mile oval twice with the best of the two starts occurring in the fall when he qualified first, led 62 laps and finished third. Competing as a rookie in the Cup Series last year, Byron made two more starts at the track nicknamed the “Monster Mile,” with his best qualifying effort of 17th and finish of 14th both coming in the spring event.
AT IT AGAIN WITH AXALTA: With their corporate headquarters located less than two hours away from Dover International Speedway, Axalta Coating Systems will return as the primary sponsor of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for this weekend’s race at the “Monster Mile.” It will be the final time that the No. 24 unloads the iconic Axalta flames paint scheme until the halfway point of the Cup Series season at Daytona International Speedway in July.
KNAUS’ DOVER DOMINATION: In his sophomore Cup Series season, Byron has a valuable asset in No. 24 team crew chief Chad Knaus. In 36 races as a Cup Series crew chief at Dover, Knaus has an impressive 11 wins, 17 top-five finishes and 24 top-10s. Knaus also leads all active crew chiefs in overall career wins at 81. The next closest crew chief, Paul Wolfe, has 28 Cup Series wins.
BYRON’S DAY IN DEGA: After qualifying 25th for last weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, Byron had a strong run going throughout the 188-lap event, including finishing third in a one-two-three Hendrick Motorsports sweep of Stage 2. However, with a five-lap shootout to end the race, Byron initially got shuffled to the rear of the pack on the restart and was maneuvering his way back toward the front when he was involved in an on-track incident on the backstretch of the final lap, leaving him with a 21st-place finish.
DOVER VICTORY TOUR: Byron will visit Dover International Speedway a day early to participate in the NASCAR Foundation’s Speediatrics Fun Day Festival. The event showcases the importance of physical fitness and overall healthy living in youth. Byron will join approximately 150 youth from a local Dover YMCA after-school program to participate in various exercise routines and other fun activities. Later in the weekend, fans can check out Byron’s basketball skills when he joins the Harlem Globetrotters for their exhibition on Sunday, May 5, in the Dover Fanzone at 10:30 a.m. local time. Byron and a few fellow Cup Series drivers will join the Globetrotters to try their skills at some of the famous basketball team’s most famous tricks.
WATCH US WATCH NASCAR: During Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Dover, Byron will join Jeff Gordon and the FOX Sports crew for a portion of Comcast’s “Watch Us Watch NASCAR” program. Offering a unique entertainment experience of the race, fans can watch a second-screen experience of the race live on Xfinity’s Twitter account while interacting through social media. The Twitter Live broadcast begins on the @Xfinity Twitter account in conjunction with the beginning of FS1’s Xfinity Series broadcast on Saturday, May 4, at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Jimmie Johnson
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 43 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2019 Season
16th in standings
10 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
1 top-five finish
4 top-10 finishes
64 laps led
Career
625 starts
83 wins
36 pole positions
225 top-five finishes
356 top-10 finishes
18,767 laps led
Track Career
34 starts
11 wins
3 pole position
17 top-five finishes
24 top-10 finishes
3,105 laps led
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to the media on Friday, May 3, at 1:15 p.m. local time in the media center at Dover International Speedway.
JOHNSON’S CONCRETE PLAYGROUND: Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, is credited with 11 wins at Dover, which is the most all-time. Since 1972, it’s the second-most wins by a driver at a single track behind only NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip’s 12 at Bristol. In this race two years ago, Johnson scored his 83rd career win, leading just seven laps before scoring the victory in NASCAR’s version of overtime. Johnson has started on the pole position at the track three times in his career. He has completed 98 percent of all possible laps run in his career at the track, averaging a start of 10.9 and a finish of 9.9. His 3,105 laps led at Dover are the most all-time.
MEENDERING UNDERSTANDS THE ‘MONSTER,’ TOO: No. 48 team crew chief Kevin Meendering knows a thing or two about Dover. Over six starts as a NASCAR Xfinity Series crew chief for Elliott Sadler, Meendering earned one top-five finish and five top-10s. Only once did his team finish outside the top 10, taking the checkered flag 11th.
Q&A AT THE MONSTER: Johnson will participate in activities to commemorate Dover’s 50th anniversary by appearing at the Dover 50th Bash on Saturday, May 4, for a question-and-answer session at the Xfinity stage located in the Midway at 3:45 p.m. local time and again on Sunday, May 5, at 10:45 a.m. local time.
TALLADEGA IN THE REAR-VIEW: Johnson had a fast car last Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway but wasn’t able to mix it up with the rest of the field due to early misfortune. The driver of No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ran over debris on the track on Lap 26, which caused a right-front tire to blow and Johnson made contact with the wall. Johnson was able to continue on after extensive repairs on pit road, but was ultimately scored 33rd, 10 laps behind the leader at the finish.
ALL EYES ON 84: Johnson’s next trip to Victory Lane will be his 84th points-paying Cup Series win. He secured his 83rd in June 2017 at Dover, which is the most among all active drivers. An 84th win would tie NASCAR Hall of Famers Waltrip and Bobby Allison for fourth all-time.
Alex Bowman
No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Driver Alex Bowman Hometown Tucson, Arizona
Age 26 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2019 Season
15th in standings
10 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
1 top-five finishes
1 top-10 finishes
7 laps led
Career
127 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
4 top-five finishes
15 top-10 finishes
281 laps led
Track Career
6 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finish
0 top-10 finishes
26 laps led
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media on Friday, May 3, at 1:35 p.m. local time in the media center at Dover International Speedway.
TALLADEGA REWIND: The No. 88 Nationwide team had a great showing at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, bringing home a runner-up finish behind teammate Chase Elliott. Alex Bowman rolled off ninth for the 500-mile event last Sunday. The driver quickly began collaborating with his Chevrolet teammates in the draft working the inside and outside lanes. At the conclusion of Stage 1, Bowman was scored in the second position and earned nine valuable stage points. The Nationwide machine led the field from Lap 61 until Lap 68 and then settled into third as the top lane gained more momentum. Bowman would advance one position at the end of Stage 2 to finish second once again. During the final stage, Bowman and Elliott worked together in the draft. After the field took the white flag, a multiple-car incident on backstretch brought out the caution, freezing the field and earning Bowman a second-place finish.
CAREER BEST: Last Sunday’s runner-up result at Talladega marked Bowman’s career-best finish in the NASCAR Cup Series. His previous best result came at Pocono in 2018 when he finished third. The driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has four career top-five finishes in the Cup Series, which he earned at Talladega Superspeedway, Pocono Raceway, Charlotte Motor Speedway (road course) and Bristol Motor Speedway.
IVES AT DOVER: Crew chief Greg Ives will call the shots for the ninth time for the No. 88 team in Dover this weekend. The Michigan native has one top-five finish and three top-10s at the track. Ives’ drivers have an average start of 11.6 and an average finish of 16.0 at the track. The crew chief’s resume includes two top-five finishes and three top-10s at the venue in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Both top-five results came in 2014, when Ives led Elliott to two second-place starting positions and 19 laps led before taking the checkered flag inside the top five. Ives was a race engineer for the No. 48 team at Hendrick Motorsports from 2006 until 2012. During that time, he was a part of four wins, four pole awards and 10 top-10 finishes at Dover.
BOWMAN AT THE MONSTER MILE: Bowman will make his seventh start in the NASCAR Cup Series at Dover International Speedway this weekend. Last spring, the No. 88 Nationwide team finished 23rd at the track after starting 15th. The 26-year-old driver led 26 laps in the spring event last year at Delaware-based facility. The Tucson, Arizona, native has six start at the track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Bowman earned two top-five finishes at the one-mile track, both of which came with JR Motorsports in 2016. The driver led 33 laps in the spring event that year and crossed the line third. Bowman also ran an ARCA Series race at the track in 2011 and finished 23rd after suffering an engine failure after 132 laps.
PITCH TO WIN: Small Business Week runs from May 5-11 and recognizes businesses everywhere. Nationwide and Blue Vine are teaming up to give away up to $100,000 to one small business to help it grow. Starting on May 3 and running through the end of June, small business owners can visit www.pitchtowinbig.com to enter for a chance to win funds to achieve their business goals. Nationwide and Blue Vine will select the contest finalists, who will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Nationwide’s headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, to pitch business leaders in-person during a live “Pitch to Win” event. The winning pitch will win the $100,000 prize, with second place receiving $20,000 and third place taking home $10,000.
NATIONWIDE ON BOARD: The primary blue-and-white colors of Nationwide will be featured on the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in 20 NASCAR Cup Series events in 2019. Nationwide will adorn the hood of Bowman’s Chevrolet for this weekend’s event at Dover International Speedway, but with a new look. This weekend’s scheme will feature the Pitch To Win Big promotion that Nationwide and Blue Vine will launch in May. Last August, Hendrick Motorsports and Nationwide extended their primary partnership with Bowman and the No. 88 team for an additional two years beginning in 2019.
HOME-TRACK FEELS: Rear-tire changer for the No. 88 Nationwide team Devin DelRicco grew up approximately 86 miles from Dover International Speedway in Marlboro, Maryland. The 28-year-old visited the “Monster Mile” for the first time back in 2005 for the NASCAR Cup Series event. DelRicco has been with Hendrick Motorsports for five years and has two NASCAR Xfinity Series championships with JR Motorsports.
Hendrick Motorsports
DOVER DOMINANCE: Hendrick Motorsports holds many all-time records at Dover International Speedway. The organization currently leads all teams with 231 starts, 20 wins, 15 runner-up results, 65 top-five finishes, 105 top-10s and 6,689 laps led at the track. Hendrick Motorsports’ nine pole positions are the second-most at the track. Since 2009, Hendrick Motorsports has won in all but two seasons – 2011 and 2016 – at Dover.
TWENTY-PLUS CLUB: An organization has won 20 or more times at a single track just three times in NASCAR Cup Series history, and Hendrick Motorsports owns two of the three feats. The organization’s 20 wins at Dover rank third-most behind Junior Johnson and Associates’ 21 wins at Bristol in second. Hendrick Motorsports’ 24 wins at Martinsville are the most all-time by a team at a track.
SIX MAKE 20: Hendrick Motorsports’ 20 wins at Dover have come via six different drivers, which is the most at the track. Johnson leads the way for the organization with 11 victories, followed by Jeff Gordon with five and Elliott, Geoff Bodine, Ken Schrader and Ricky Rudd with one apiece.
OVERTIME PROS: Four Dover races have ended in overtime, and all four were won by Hendrick Motorsports drivers. Jimmie Johnson captured overtime wins at the track in 2005, 2015 and 2017, and Chase Elliott won last season in overtime at Dover.
FIRST-TIME WINNERS: Hendrick Motorsports holds the record for the most first-time Cup Series winners with nine. If William Byron or Alex Bowman win at Dover, it would extend the record to the 10th time a driver has recorded his first career Cup Series win while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.
ALL-STAR FAN VOTING: Fan voting for the NASCAR All-Star Race is now open with two teammates from Hendrick Motorsports on the ballot. Byron and Bowman are in the fan voting pool, providing one route to join their teammates Elliott and Johnson, who are locked in, in the All-Star Race field on May 18. Fans can cast their vote here, and votes shared on Twitter and Facebook count double.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 12 championships, 253 race victories, 218 pole positions, 1,049 top-five finishes and 1,796 top-10 finishes in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. Its teams have led more than 68,000 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
Chase Elliott on winning at Talladega:
“To have a win this early in the year I think is nice. And just because we won at Dover and Kansas last year doesn’t mean we’re going to go run well there, too. You know that. It’s going to be hit‑or‑miss. We’re going to go there, see what we have. We didn’t run well at Richmond, which was unfortunate. Had a good day at Talladega, need to ride that as best we can in Dover.”
No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson on racing at Dover:
“I’m looking forward to Dover. I don’t know if that’s just because I like the track, like to go there and race at it. Typically, besides the win, we have a pretty good track record there.”
William Byron on Bristol compared to Dover:
“The difference in Dover and Bristol, I think, is that at Dover you almost fall down into the banking and then you pick up the banking in the corners. Where at Bristol you’re driving into the banking and almost constantly turning around there like you’re in a bowl. The only real similarity in the two tracks is how the tires feel because of the concrete surface and how the tires wear and pressure builds. Otherwise, they’re pretty different places.”
Byron on restarts and tires at Dover:
“I think the first initial restarts in the race are pretty normal, but as the rubber builds the longer the race goes and then gets picked back up, the first two lanes are really, really grippy for a few laps. Outside that second lane there isn’t a lot of grip, though, because that’s where the rubber and dust build up and never gets picked back up. It’s a very interesting racetrack in how the rubber builds up but never really sticks except sometimes towards the very end of the race.”
Jimmie Johnson on racing at Dover:
“Last weekend at Talladega was just bad luck. We had a great car all weekend, so it’s a shame we didn’t get a chance to really race. I’m so proud of Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet for the one-two finish with Chase (Elliott) and Alex (Bowman). I’ve had Dover circled on the calendar for a while. It’s going to be different – lots of throttle and probably more like the 2015 rules package that we had there. I’ve loved that place since I raced in the ASA series. I’ve always run well there, so I’m excited to get there. Last time there we had a freak mechanical issue before we even started the race and didn’t have a chance to get into the mix. It’s the site of so many good memories for me, I can’t wait.”
Alex Bowman on last weekend’s finish at Talladega:
“I am happy for Chase (Elliott) and Hendrick Motorsports for getting the win in Talladega, but, dang, I wish it was our Nationwide car who was sitting in Victory Lane at the end of that one. We were so close last weekend, but that last caution just didn’t work in our favor. (No. 88 team crew chief) Greg (Ives) and the guys put a great superspeedway car together and we were good right off the truck. Getting 18 stage points was huge for the standings. That was my career-best finish in the Cup Series, so we are getting so close to that first win.”
Bowman on Dover International Speedway:
“Dover is tough, for sure. It is physically demanding on your body and your car throughout the 400 laps. There is a lot of elevation change getting into the corner. The track changes from run to run with how the rubber lays down. It is interesting how that works being a concrete track, but the track is just ever-changing.”
