FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: DOVER ADVANCE
A pair of doubleheaders highlights the NASCAR race weekend as the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR XFINITY Series both compete on Saturday and Sunday at Dover International Speedway. The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will kick off the action on Friday evening.
This Week’s Schedule:
Friday, August 21 – NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Series, 5 p.m. (FS1)
Saturday, August 22 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 12:30 p.m. (NBCSN)
Saturday, August 22 – NASCAR Cup Series, 4 p.m. (NBCSN)
Sunday, August 23 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 1:30 p.m. (NBCSN)
Sunday, August 23 – NASCAR Cup Series, 4 p.m. (NBCSN)
FORD ON THE BRINK OF 700TH CUP WIN
Kevin Harvick’s doubleheader sweep at Michigan gave Ford 699 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins. Ford’s first victory came on June 25, 1950 when Shirtless Jimmy Florian upset the field at Dayton Speedway, beating the likes of NASCAR Hall of Famers Lee Petty and Curtis Turner. Overall, there have been 85 drivers who have won at least one NASCAR Cup Series race in a Ford with NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett, who won Ford’s first series championship in 1965, being the all-time leader with 43.
FORD 1-2 IN CUP AND NXS STANDINGS
The regular season is winding down and multiple Ford drivers are competing for the championship and 15 playoff bonus points that goes to the winner. Currently, Ford holds down the top two positions in the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR XFINITY Series. Kevin Harvick leads the way and has a commanding 118-point lead over second-place Brad Keselowski in Cup while Austin Cindric has a 48-point NXS lead over Chase Briscoe. Overall, Ford currently has eight drivers in Cup playoff positions with three races remaining before the playoffs start.
DOMINANT RETURN
Since returning to action on May 17 at Darlington Raceway, Ford has dominated in the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR XFINITY Series, winning a combined 20 times in 34 starts (59%). Ford has registered 11 wins in Cup in 19 races (58%), while the NXS duo of Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric have combined to win nine times in 15 events (60%), including seven of the last eight.
CINDRIC STILL ROLLING
Austin Cindric is undoubtedly the hottest driver in all of NASCAR, having won five of the last six NASCAR XFINITY Series races. That has enabled him to go from fourth in the standings (61 points behind leader Chase Briscoe after Indianapolis) to first, where he now holds a 48-point lead over his fellow Ford driver. Cindric rattled off three straight oval wins, sweeping the doubleheader at Kentucky and then the weekend race at Texas, before winning the last two road course events at Road America and Daytona. He joins NASCAR Hall of Famer Sam Ard as the only two drivers to ever win 5-of-6 series events.
FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT DOVER
· Ford has 26 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins at Dover.
· Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick all have series wins at Dover.
· Richard Petty won the inaugural race at Dover while driving a Ford in 1969.
FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT DOVER
· Ford has 12 NASCAR XFINITY Series wins at Dover.
· Mark Martin won Ford’s first series event at Dover in 1987.
· Joey Logano won a series-record four straight Dover races from 2012-13.
FORD IN THE NASCAR RV & GANDER OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES AT DOVER
· Ford has four victories in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Dover.
· Kurt Busch won the debut event for the series at Dover in 2000.
· Johnny Sauter won last year’s Dover event to make the playoffs.
HARVICK CONTINUES 2018 ROLL AT DOVER
Ford dominated the AAA Ford Drive for Autism at the Monster Mile in May 2018, leading 374-of-400 laps, before Kevin Harvick came away with his fourth win of the season. Stewart-Haas teammate Clint Bowyer was the event’s runner-up and was leading when a scattered rain shower red-flagged the event for 41 minutes. Once back to green flag racing, Harvick, who led 201 laps, went to the point and never looked back, stretching out his lead to what became a win of over seven seconds.
ANOTHER FIRST FOR THE KING
Ford won the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover International Raceway in 1969 when Richard Petty drove to victory lane on July 6. That marked the only year in which The King drove a Ford and was the fourth of nine wins for him that season, and it came in dominating fashion as he led half of the 300 laps, including the final 109. It was a Ford day all-around as the Blue Oval led every lap in the race with Lee Roy Yarbrough (124) and David Pearson (26) combining to lead the ones Petty didn’t, and had nine of the top 11 finishers.
JUNIE GOES TO VICTORY LANE
Dover proved to be magical for the late Junie Donlavey, who won the only NASCAR Cup Series race of his career at Dover on May 17, 1981 in the Mason-Dixon 500 when driver Jody Ridley took the checkered flag. Ridley had a good car that day, but it was even more reliable and that proved the difference. Neil Bonnett was the dominant driver as he led 404 of the first 459 laps, but he blew an engine that ended his day. Cale Yarborough appeared to be the main beneficiary as he inherited the lead, but the same fate befell him 20 laps from the finish and sent him to the garage. That left Ridley to assume the top spot and he held on from there to register his first and only Cup win. It also ended up being Donlavey’s only trip to victory lane. The Richmond native made 863 starts and fielded strictly Ford products from 1965-2002 in NASCAR’s top series that featured names like LeeRoy Yarbrough, Fred Lorenzen, Harry Gant, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader and Dick Trickle.
FROM 500 TO 400
In 1997 Ford swept both Dover events, but it’s remembered for historical reasons because when Ricky Rudd won the spring event on June 1, 1997 it marked the speedway’s final 500-mile event. Rudd took advantage of being in the right place at the right time after leader Ernie Irvan was involved in an accident with 29 laps remaining. Rudd took over the lead and held off Mark Martin over the final few laps to lead a Ford sweep of the top four spots. Martin bounced back a few months later by winning the fall event, which marked the inaugural 400-mile race at the track. That started a streak that saw him win three straight fall events at the Monster Mile.
FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES DOVER WINNERS
1969 – Richard Petty
1978 – Bobby Allison (2)
1980 – Bobby Allison (1)
1981 – Jody Ridley and Neil Bonnett
1985 – Bill Elliott
1986 – Ricky Rudd (2)
1987 – Davey Allison and Ricky Rudd
1988 – Bill Elliott (Sweep)
1990 – Bill Elliott (2)
1994 – Rusty Wallace (Sweep)
1997 – Ricky Rudd and Mark Martin
1998 – Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin
1999 – Mark Martin (2)
2004 – Mark Martin (1)
2005 – Greg Biffle (1)
2006 – Matt Kenseth (1)
2007 – Carl Edwards (2)
2008 – Greg Biffle (2)
2011 – Matt Kenseth (1)
2018 – Kevin Harvick (1)
FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES DOVER WINNERS
1987 – Mark Martin (1)
2001 – Jeff Green (2)
2002 – Greg Biffle (1)
2004 – Greg Biffle (1)
2007 – Carl Edwards (1)
2011 – Carl Edwards (Sweep)
2013 – Joey Logano (Sweep)
2015 – Chris Buescher (1)
2017 – Ryan Blaney (2)
2019 – Cole Custer (2)
FORD NASCAR RV & GANDER OUTDOOR TRUCK SERIES DOVER WINNERS
2000 – Kurt Busch
2006 – Mark Martin
2015 – Tyler Reddick
2019 – Johnny Sauter
