NASCAR Cup Series

Sometimes the news is good like it was at Talladega last week. Entertaining races and I loved the Cup guys manning the microphones for the Xfinity race. They were laid back, funny, and in the case of Darrell Wallace, Jr., pretty darn articulate.

Toyota Tallies at Dover… The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) heads back to Dover International Speedway where Camry drivers have won three of the last four Delaware events. Toyota’s Kyle Busch reeled in Chase Elliott last October to take the victory on the one-mile concrete oval, while Martin Truex Jr. triumphed at the track in October 2016 and former Camry driver Matt Kenseth was victorious in spring 2016. Busch also won in a Camry at the track in 2008 and 2010. The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) will accompany the Cup Series in Dover, where Camry drivers have tallied 10 NXS victories, while Tundra drivers have eight wins in the Truck Series.

Matt DiBenedetto will be the first person to say that he hasn't had the best luck at Dover International Speedway. With an average starting position of 34th and average finish of 32nd over six starts at the 1-mile oval, the luck is bound to turn for him and the No.32 CorvetteParts.net team. DiBenedetto has always considered Dover to be one of his favorite racetracks, but bad luck has spoiled his efforts in the past.

Paul Menard, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion, talks about the upcoming Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this weekend at Dover International Speedway. The Wood Brothers Racing driver currently sits 19th in MENSC Driver Points heading into the AAA 400 Drive for Autism.

Dover Preview: The Series heads to Dover International Speedway for Sunday’s 400-lap race around the 24-degree banked ‘Monster Mile’. In 24 visits to the concrete oval, Hamlin has started from the pole position three times (tied for a career-best) and has qualified within the top-10 in his last eight consecutive starts. He finished eighth at Dover this time last year, even after sustaining major damage in a last-lap multi-car wreck.

Chase Elliott on if he looks forward to Dover because of his success at the track: “No, I hate doing that because when you think about one race too much you maybe put too much emphasis on it and you are getting your hopes up to potentially be let down. You just have to treat them all the same I think. Granted, it has been a good track for us and we’ve been fortunate to have some good runs at Dover over the past couple of years. Obviously, haven’t won a race there, but it’s been a solid track. Hopefully, it will continue to be solid for us and we can build off of what we had last year.”

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 that 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.

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1 - RACING AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY: "Racing at Dover (International Speedway) can be really similar to Bristol (Motor Speedway) at times," Allmendinger said. "Now, with Bristol using the VHT, it’s a little bit different. Over the last couple of years, and I think it depends on what kind of tire Goodyear brings, the groove has really started to widen out. There’s other times the track rubbers up and you can run the bottom."

Based on history the next seven races should be good news for Martin Truex Jr., who has suffered through a difficult stretch where issues not related to performance have plagued the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion.

Of all the arguments made in favor of the XFINITY Series being a members-only division or at least diminishing the participation of Cup drivers, this stretch of Dash 4 Cash events (Bristol, Richmond, Talladega, Dover) has shown some of the best racing of the 2018 XFINITY season, all of which have been run by series regulars.