Crunching The Numbers: Dover
After two weeks at home in Charlotte, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams pack up and head north to Dover, Delaware for a date with “The Monster Mile” at Dover International Speedway. For the first time since the season openers at Daytona in February, all three series will be at the same track for a rare tripleheader weekend.
Sprint Cup Series – Fed Ex 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks
The first of two visits for the Sprint Cup Series at Dover will feature the best drivers in the world talking on one of the toughest tracks on the circuit. The one mile concrete oval, which is one of the only two high banked concrete tracks on the schedule in addition to Bristol, is one of the reasons many have labeled this treacherous track as “Bristol on steroids”. This race, the 13th of the season, also marks the halfway point in the 26 race regular season, with 13 races remaining until the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup this fall.
| Driver | Races | Win | Top 5 | Top 10 | Pole | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| Carl Edwards | 17 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 532 | 15.0 | 8.3 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 22 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 3 | 2318 | 9.7 | 8.6 |
| Jeff Gordon | 40 | 4 | 15 | 22 | 4 | 2292 | 11.6 | 12.0 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.0 | 12.0 |
| Ryan Newman | 22 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 842 | 9.5 | 12.1 |
| Mark Martin | 53 | 4 | 24 | 32 | 5 | 1769 | 12.3 | 12.3 |
| Greg Biffle | 21 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 463 | 11.7 | 12.4 |
| Aric Almirola | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16.5 | 12.5 |
| Matt Kenseth | 28 | 2 | 13 | 18 | 1 | 746 | 16.1 | 12.6 |
| Clint Bowyer | 14 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 34 | 17.6 | 13.2 |
Who To Watch: The best driver statistically at Dover? That would be none other than Carl Edwards. With his one win, eight top fives, 12 top tens, 532 laps led, and an average finish of 8.3 in 17 races, it’s no surprise that Edwards has earned the nickname of “Concrete Carl” for his prowess on tracks with a concrete surface.
Right in Edwards tire tracks are the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. In 22 starts, Johnson has seven wins, 11 top fives, 16 top tens, three poles, 2318 laps led, and an average finish of 8.6. Gordon has 40 starts, with four wins, 15 top fives, 22 top tens, four poles, 2292 laps led, and an average finish of 12.0.
Others to keep an eye on include former Dover winners Ryan Newman, with three wins and an average finish of 12.1; Mark Martin, with four wins and an average finish of 12.3; Greg Biffle, with two wins and an average finish of 12.4; and Matt Kenseth, with two wins and an average finish of 12.6.
Nationwide Series – 5 Hour Energy 200
Another race weekend and another field full of Cup regulars in the Nationwide Series. This time the Nationwide regulars outnumber the Cup regulars in the top 10 statistically at Dover. Could a Nationwide regular take the checkers on Saturday for the third time this year? The statistics point to that being a good probability.
| Driver | Races | Win | Top 5 | Top 10 | Pole | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| Brian Vickers | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 105 | 6.6 | 6.2 |
| Joey Logano | 8 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 465 | 4.9 | 6.5 |
| Reed Sorenson | 11 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 12.1 | 7.2 |
| Austin Dillon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 8.0 |
| Ty Dillon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 8.0 |
| Kyle Busch | 15 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 853 | 10.2 | 11.6 |
| Parker Kligerman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Kasey Kahne | 13 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 66 | 10.2 | 12.1 |
| Brian Scott | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16.8 | 12.2 |
| Elliott Sadler | 10 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 12.7 | 13.0 |
Who To Watch: Brian Vickers heads up the list as the best statistically at Dover with one win, three top fives, four top tens, 105 laps led, and 6.2 average finish in five starts. The only Cup regular in the top five statistically at Dover, Joey Logano, has two wins, four top fives, five top tens, two poles, 465 laps led, and an average finish of 6.5 in eight starts. Reed Sorenson has six top fives, 10 top tens, seven laps led and an average finish of 7.2 in 11 starts. Next up are the Dillon brothers, Austin and Ty, who both have average finishes of 8.0 in a combined three starts.
The majority of the season has seen Kyle Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing team dominating and winning race after race. If anyone wants to make it to Victory Lane, they will have to go through Busch, who has three wins, seven top fives, 10 top tens, three poles, 853 laps led, and an average finish of 11.6 in 15 races. Joe Gibbs Racing has won four of the last six Nationwide Series races at Dover and with a win this weekend, Busch would become the series wins leader at Dover, setting yet another record in the process.
Camping World Truck Series – Lucas Oil 200
The Dover tripleheader weekend kicks off with the Camping World Truck Series hitting the track for their race on Friday afternoon. This race has been known to produce more first time winners and rookie winners than repeat winners. If this continues to hold true, we could see one of the series many young guns make their first trip to Victory Lane.
| Driver | Races | Win | Top 5 | Top 10 | Pole | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| Ty Dillon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Joey Coulter | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | 8.5 |
| David Starr | 11 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 17 | 15.1 | 9.1 |
| James Buescher | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 | 10.2 |
| Kyle Busch | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 711 | 4.1 | 10.9 |
| Ron Hornaday, Jr. | 8 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 275 | 5.8 | 11.1 |
| Justin Lofton | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 15.7 | 12.7 |
| Johnny Sauter | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 13.8 |
| Matt Crafton | 12 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 17.5 | 13.8 |
| Timothy Peters | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14.0 | 14.7 |
Who To Watch: Both Kyle Busch, who will be attempting the tripleheader by running in all three series, and Ron Hornaday, Jr. are the only winners of this race in the field for Friday’s race. Others to keep an eye on that have had good runs at the track, but no wins include: Ty Dillon, who finished sixth in his lone start at the track last year; Joey Coulter, who has an average finish of 8.5 in two starts; David Starr, with an average finish of 9.1 in 11 starts; and series champion James Buescher, who has an average finish of 10.2 in four starts.
Hot 20 over the past 10 – Charlotte, where NASCAR reviewed its Big Bang Theory
My sons enjoy a television program called “The Big Bang Theory.” They tell me it is pretty funny. NASCAR has its own version of the Big Bang Theory, but it is not near as amusing for those involved. At Charlotte last week, Kyle Busch drove into a dangling rope, and BANG, he needed repairs. Later, both he and Dale Earnhardt Jr had engines that went BANG on the same lap, and those parts were not going to get put back together.
That oil Junior left on the track was a tad slick, and BANG, so much for Greg Biffle. Jeff Gordon was just cruising along when Mark Martin cut down on Aric Amirola. BANG. All three were toast. Ricky Stenhouse Jr got too close to girlfriend Danica Patrick, and BANG. That was what Brad Keselowski heard when Cleopatra moved up to get out of Marc Antony’s way. Jimmie Johnson went for a skid and, BANG, so much for Matt Kenseth contending. Juan Pablo Montoya and Paul Menard also got caught up in that one. A lot of cars needed some Ford Mustang parts for repairs.
It could have been worse. Have you seen the video of that guy tossing his drink on the track after Johnson won the all-star race? BANG went his girlfriend. BANG, BANG, as she let Romeo know of her displeasure before storming off. I wonder if they are still together? If not, and you are looking for a gal who can toss one hell of a right…
My theory is that all of these big bangs have to hurt as we replace the results from Fontana with those from the Coca Cola World 600. Bang, and dang. Taking the big tumble include Dale Earnhardt Jr and Brad Keselowski, who both dropped six positions, and Jeff Gordon slid five. Big gainers would be Martin Truex Jr, Kurt Busch, and Ryan Newman, who could use a little good news about now.
By the way, you may have noticed that while we had 43 cars entered in Charlotte, only 33 took the green flag for the Indianapolis 500. Of course, the only reason the Coca Cola World 600 field was larger was due to its inclusion of almost sure bets to finish outside the Top Twenty.
I am talking about the entries driven by such luminaries as Reutimann (21st on Sunday), Mears (23rd), Labonte (24th), Wise (26th), Hill (27th), Yeley (28th), Patrick (29th), Blaney (30th), Stremme (32nd), Cassill (37th), Kvapil (40th), Nemechek (41st), McDowell (42nd), and Speed (43rd). Even in keeping Danica Patrick and Bobby Labonte for marketing concerns, they still could have run just 31 and we would have missed nothing.
I mean, Michael McDowell is a good driver in lousy equipment. In the last ten races, he has 39 points. That is one less than Michael Waltrip earned at Talladega, five ahead of Terry Labonte and 20 up on Kenny Schrader (who each have ran twice). I never was a fan of hamburger helper, as sometimes less is more. That way you wind up with more bang for your buck.
Johnson remains the king of the hill, but he has Carl Edwards right on his heels. Maybe it is a good thing Edwards is a point back as we all know just how much he hates ties.
| Name | Points | POS | LW | W | T5 | T10 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 355 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Carl Edwards | 354 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| Matt Kenseth | 348 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Kasey Kahne | 337 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Kevin Harvick | 329 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Clint Bowyer | 313 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Martin Truex, Jr. | 308 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Kyle Busch | 301 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Paul Menard | 299 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Jamie McMurray | 287 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 282 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Kurt Busch | 271 | 12 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Ryan Newman | 271 | 13 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Aric Almirola | 268 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Jeff Gordon | 260 | 15 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Greg Biffle | 258 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Joey Logano | 254 | 17 | 21 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Brad Keselowski | 253 | 18 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Tony Stewart | 252 | 19 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | 252 | 20 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
