NASCAR Cup PR

Kyle Busch is not only pacing the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in victories (three) this season, but his 10-consecutive top-10 finishes through the opening 10 races has only been accomplished by four other drivers – Lee Petty (1955), James Hylton (1972), Cale Yarborough (1974), Morgan Shepherd (1990) – and hasn’t been done in 29 years. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who celebrates his 34th birthday on Thursday, has 12 consecutive top-10 finishes going back to the end of the 2018 season.

Another Top Ten… With a 10th place result in Talladega, Kyle Busch scored his 10th consecutive Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) top-10 finish to start the season. This season, Busch has scored three MENCS wins and six top-fives. His average finish is 4.5, and he continues to the lead the point standings.

Richard Childress Racing at Dover International Speedway ... RCR has earned four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins at Dover International Speedway, the last win was in September 2006 when Jeff Burton drove the No. 31 Chevrolet to Victory Lane.

After two short track races, with a mile-and-a-half race at Texas Motor Speedway sandwiched in between, followed by a run on the superspeedway at Talladega, Paul Menard and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team get to try something altogether different this weekend.

Dover Preview: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be heading to the concrete high banks of Dover International Speedway on Sunday, May 6. With a win, Denny will earn his first-career victory at Dover International Speedway, marking the team’s third win of the 2019 season.

Roush Fenway Racing heads north to the First State this weekend to tackle ‘The Monster Mile’ for the first time in 2019. Dating back to 1988, an RFR Ford has visited victory lane 17 times at the 1-mile track with 86 top-five and 140 top-10 finishes.

“Dover is one of those places that still takes your breath away on that first lap as you drop into Turn 1 because it's so fast. Now with the high horsepower and extra downforce, speeds are going to be even faster. I'm excited to race there this weekend. It's one of those places where you really feel challenged, both physically and mentally as a driver. I'm confident that Drew and the guys on the crew will be able to rally for a great finish.”

DIBENEDETTO BY THE NUMBERS: In eight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts at Dover, Matt DiBenedetto has an average start of 32.1 and an average finish of 31.1 and has completed 2,874 of 3,215 (89.4 percent) career laps at “The Monster Mile.” DiBenedetto’s best finishing position at Dover is 27th which he’s earned twice (October 2016 and October 2018).

Newman will make his 35th Cup start at Dover on Sunday. In 34 prior starts, Newman has an average finish of 14.3 with 14 top-10 and seven top-five finishes.

With a few early cautions at the start of the final stage, crew chief Brian Pattie told Stenhouse to stay out under one of the cautions for track position. The 2017 MENCS Playoff contender led the field to green and was able to pull away and lead for the next 24 laps before surrendering the lead to the No. 14 who had fresher tires.