NASCAR Cup Series

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How much better is the pole than where you think you’d qualify? “Probably six or eight spots, I believe. It definitely bodes well for us and our Interstate Batteries Camry. I thought we had a decent car in practice. The way it felt, it felt good. It didn’t show the speeds on the speed charts. As the practice went on and guys were making their second and thirds of runs, they were coming back to us in lap times. Our car was really consistent over the runs and we were running the same lap times. Other guys started really fast and they were coming to us a little bit. Hard to tell. Certainly better for us to not have to go out there and bust a fast lap. Speeds were way high here this morning. With the cooler temperatures, it seemed like it was going to be way fast. Excited to have the number one spot going into Sunday. Great opportunity to start the Round of 12 and get rocking.”

A rain shower over Dover International Speedway has washed out qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) Gander Outdoors 400, the 30th race of the 2018 season and the first race in the Round of 12, the second segment of the 10-race Cup Series Playoffs.

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Dover International Speedway and discussed last weekend’s race at the Charlotte Roval, his outlook for the Round of 12 in the Playoffs, his thoughts on the 2019 rules package and many other topics. Full Transcript:

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – THE NEW RULES PACKAGE CAME OUT. CAN SLOWER BE BETTER? “Yeah, I think so. I think it can be. I think there’s a lot of unknowns. We don’t know how it’s gonna be yet, but I think there’s a lot of opportunity for it to be better as well. I think the halfway test that we’ve kind of had is the All-Star Race and what we’ve seen in the XFINITY Series so far with a package that’s close to it. Your foot is in the gas pipe a lot more, but at the same time you’re able to make a lot of moves with the draft and change a lot of different lines. The All-Star Race was a lot of fun, but obviously that’s an All-Star Race, so I think we need to have a little asterisk next to it and say it was the All-Star Race and everyone is racing for all-or-nothing and have that attitude, but I think at the same time this package, at a lot of race tracks I think it will be better and at some race tracks it may be similar to where we’re at, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S FOR PROS CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Dover International Speedway and discussed last weekend’s race at the Charlotte Roval, the importance of wins, his thoughts on the 2019 Cup Series rules package and many other topics. Full Transcript:

Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano are two of Ford’s seven drivers competing in the Round of 12 opener this weekend at Dover. Both drivers came into the infield media center before practice to talk about advancing and their hopes for this weekend.

For the better part of Thursday morning, Dover International Speedway was taken over by the No. 78 Toyota Camry modified by Falci Adaptive Motorsports, Furniture Row, and DireenTech Inc. A select group of spinal cord-injured guests had the opportunity to not only ride in the two-seat Toyota, but also drive the car using special technology. It was a morning filled with adrenaline, excitement, and tears. Regan Smith, NASCAR driver, gave rides to spinal cord-injured guests to start the day and pressed the pedal to the metal of the No. 78 Toyota Camry.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will be in action at Dover International Speedway while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is off. The Monster Energy Series heads to the first race of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs, while the Xfinity Series Playoffs enters the final race of the Round of 12.

Chevrolet leads all other manufacturers with 39 victories at Dover International Speedway. A win by a Team Chevy driver this weekend would add Dover to the elite list of tracks where Chevrolet has over 40 victories, a feat no other manufacturer competing in NASCAR’s top division can claim. Those tracks include: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Daytona International Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Richard Childress Racing at Dover International Speedway ... RCR has earned four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins at Dover International Speedway, most recently in September 2006 when Jeff Burton drove the No. 31 Chevrolet to Victory Lane. Three additional victories came with Dale Earnhardt behind the wheel, including both events at the Monster Mile in 1989 as well as the spring race in 1993. RCR has also earned one pole award, 24 top-five and 56 top-10 finishes in 169 combined starts at the high-banked, one-mile oval. Childress, a former driver in NASCAR's top division, contributed three of those top 10s from 1976-1980.