NASCAR Cup Series

Dover International Speedway is one of Aric Almirola's favorite tracks. A back injury forced Almirola to watch the race at Dover earlier this year from afar. Almirola will lean on his team for notes from substitute driver Regan Smith. Almirola and the team posted two Top-Five finishes in 2015 and a 16th place finish in 2016, so they hope to finish strong on Sunday.

Camry Out Front: Since the new 2018 Camry race car debuted this season, Toyota drivers have won 10 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) races this year as well as the All-Star Race, which was won by 2015 Cup champion Kyle Busch. Late in the summer, Camry drivers have raised the bar as the Playoffs approached and began, winning eight of the last 11 MENCS races, including the first two Playoff races moving Martin Truex Jr and Busch to the second round.

A recovery from a slow start in the playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway, coupled with a strong run from the start at New Hampshire have Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team in position to advance to the second round of the Monster Energy Cup playoffs.

The last time Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team ran at Dover International Speedway, a broken axle prevented them from an impressive top-10 finish. They will need to avoid the racing pitfalls this weekend during the Apache Warrior 400 to maintain or improve their position in the NASCAR Playoffs.

Martin Truex Jr. and his Furniture Row Racing team have displayed their mettle in the first two playoff starts, rallying from adversity in each race to finish first at Chicagoland Speedway and fifth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

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.

Stenhouse Jr. at Dover International Speedway - Stenhouse has 10 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Dover with an average starting position of 18.0 and average finishing position of 21.1.

Trevor Bayne will make his sixth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) start at Dover this weekend. In five previous starts, Bayne has earned a best finish of 10th in the spring 2016 event at the one-mile oval.

The first elimination race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set for Sunday afternoon at Dover International Speedway. Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick are currently in transfer positions while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kurt Busch are on the bubble. Here’s a look at Ford’s history at The Monster Mile.

Oh to wonder what he could have done differently. Those thoughts filled Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s mind on October 15, 2000, after his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Talladega Superspeedway. That fall afternoon, his father – Dale Earnhardt Sr. – drove from 18th place to 1st in the closing handful of laps to capture his 10th MENCS checkered flag at ‘Dega and the 76th and final victory of his career. “Little E,” on the other hand, was left to ponder whether a different move would have landed him in Gatorade Victory Lane instead.