We are a third of the way through the 2014 season and Jimmie Johnson just became the tenth driver to win a race this year. There are a few notable drivers who don’t have a win yet this season including, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, and Kasey Kahne just to name a few. Will NASCAR get six more winners in the next fourteen races to fill all of the Chase spots?
This week the series heads to Dover International Speedway which is one of my favorite tracks on the circuit. DIS is a one-mile concrete oval with twenty-four degrees of banking in the corners. Qualifying means a lot at this track as sixty-eight of the eighty-eight race winners have started in the top ten. You don’t want to start towards the back and get lapped early in the race because of an ill handling car.
FEDEX 400 BENEFITING AUTISM SPEAKS
Jimmie Johnson: Now that Jimmie has a win under his belt he might just win a bunch of races in the coming weeks. He has more wins than any other driver, eight, at this track and won the race here last fall. I am picking him to get his second straight win of the year this weekend.
Clint Bowyer: Clint is one of the drivers still looking for his first win of the season and Dover is a good place for him to get it. Clint has finished in the top ten in his last six starts at this track and would like nothing better than to have a great run and get himself qualified for the Chase this weekend. He will need to do a better job of qualifying to have a legitimate shot at heading to victory lane though.
Joey Logano: Joey has four straight top ten finishes at Dover. The big problem for him here is that he has lead only one lap in the ten races he has run at this track. He needs to have a dominant car right from the beginning of the race so that he can stay up front. As I said before, if you start in the back it doesn’t bode well for a good finishing position.
Jeff Gordon: Jeff still leads the point standings and has always been good at Dover. He has four career wins here and has finished in the top five in his last three starts at Dover. This team wants to get another win and improve on their lead as we get closer to the Chase. Jimmie is the only active driver to lead more laps at Dover than Jeff.
Kyle Busch: Kyle has two career wins here and has finished in the top ten in seven of his last eight starts. This is the type of track that Kyle loves to run on. The high banking in the corners gives him the option of passing high or low as he always has a great handling car at Dover.
Tony Stewart: Tony won this race last year, but he only lead a total of three laps in that race. Early in his career he was one of the dominant drivers at Dover each time he ran here. Lately he has struggle mightily here, only leading nine laps in his last eighteen starts. This team needs to shake things up a bit, because Tony has the same equipment that Kevin Harvick has and he should be able to run just as well every week.
Matt Kenseth: Matt has finished in the top ten in nineteen of thirty races he has run at Dover, including two wins. If he can stay out of trouble and avoid mechanical failures early in the race he will be in contention at the end of the race. There are still fourteen races before the start of the Chase, but this team would like to get their first win of the season as soon as possible.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin has had a fast car each and every week this season. Although he has never won a Sprint Cup race at Dover he has finished in the top ten in six of his last eight starts there. The way this team has been running all year I wouldn’t put it past Kevin to pick up his first career victory here this weekend.
Greg Biffle: Greg is another driver who is chomping at the bit to visit victory lane for the first time this season. He has won here before and always seems to have a good car during practices and qualifying. he just needs a little luck to stay out of harms way early in the race and make the right adjustments at the end to give him a shot at the checkered flag.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale finished second to Jimmie Johnson last September at Dover and has a win to his credit at this track. This team is looking to rebound from a mechanical failure last week in Charlotte. It is imperative that they qualify well this week and keep up on their adjustments as the track changes during the race. Do that, stay out of trouble early, and you have a shot at the win.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kyle Busch
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Joey Logano
- Greg Biffle
- Brad Keselowski
- Carl Edwards
Yahoo Driver Group C
- Kyle Larson
- Austin Dillon
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kyle Busch
- Jeff Gordon
- Clint Bowyer
- Joey Logano
Dark Horse: Brian Vickers
Stay Away From: Tony Stewart