Congratulations to Martin Truex Jr. for winning once again this past weekend in dominating fashion. At the end of the race there were only nine cars left on the lead lap and only two drivers were within seventeen seconds of him. He won both stages and the race to give him a bunch of playoff points to go with the win.
DRYDENE 400
This week the series heads to the Dover International Speedway for the running of the Drydene 400. I look for this one to be dominated once again by the Gibbs and Hendrick teams pretty much like we saw at Darlington last week. This is a high banked one-mile track nicknamed The Monster Mile is going to give racing similar to what we saw last weekend. The difference here is that both ends are configured the same and the track is a little shorter.
Martin Truex Jr.: I have to go with Martin to win once again seeing I believe this is going to be close to the same as last week. Martin has finished second here in each of his last three starts and won the race before that. Overall in his last ten starts here he has finished in the top five eight times with 2 wins. His poorest finish in his last fifteen races is fifteenth which he has finished in twice.
Kyle Larson: The driver who came the closest to Martin last week gets the nod to give him a run once again this weekend. Kyle won here the last time he ran back in the 2019 season and in twelve starts has only finished outside the top twelve once. This team might not be collecting as many playoff points as Truex, but I think they are going to continue getting better as we get closer to the start of the playoffs.
Kyle Busch: Kyle has been an on again off again type of driver at Dover. He has two wins here in his thirty-two starts, but has also had some accidents and mechanical failures. He ran well last week and seems to be starting to get some consistency back on the track, but I think I’ll hold off on using him this week because he hasn’t been very consistent here throughout his whole career.
Kevin Harvick: This team hasn’t run as well as I thought they would yet this year. They seem to be missing a little something every race. Kevin might run up front for part of the race but they can never get the whole thing to work out for them. Now, he won the last race here last season and won both stages in doing so. He also completed that same feat back in the 2018 season and has finished in the top six in his last six starts at Dover.
Denny Hamlin: Denny picked up his first win at Dover in the first race run here last year. This team is another that hasn’t found victory lane yet this year, but he did finish fourth last week only a bit over seventeen seconds behind his teammate. I think this team will get a win before July, but it won’t be this weekend.
Joey Logano: Joey was in contention last week until he got caught speeding entering the pits for the final time late in the race under green flag conditions. However, he has been the model of consistency at Dover over the course of his career either. His best finish is third which he has done three times and he has finished in the top ten in over half of his twenty-four starts here.
Chase Elliott: Chase has one win and seven top five finishes in his ten career starts at Dover. This is another team that just can’t seem to get everything to fall their way so they can win a race. It must be a bit frustrating to be the reigning champion and see you teammates visit victory lane while you haven’t been there yet this year.
William Byron: William ran very well here in the second race last season coming away with a fourth place finish in that race. They have been much better this season, so there are high hopes on this team heading into the weekend. It still seems like the Hendrick and Gibbs teams have the best packages this year and that has to be considered when setting your lineup.
Cole Custer: This might be the week to take a chance on Cole. In the only two races he has run here he has finished tenth and eleventh. They have something figured out and those notes should help them get their setup close coming off the truck this week. If they are close at the beginning of the race they should be able to make the necessary adjustments during the race to stay competitive.
DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR INSERT TRACK NAME
Driver Group Game Group A
- Martin Truex Jr.
Driver Group Game Group B
- Kyle Larson
- William Byron
Driver Group Game Group C
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT INSERT TRACK NAME
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Kyle Larson
- Denny Hamlin
- Kevin Harvick
- Chase Elliott
Dark Horse: Cole Custer
Stay Away From: Ryan Newman
Big 18: William Byron
11 replies on “2021 Dover International Speedway, Drydene 400”
One driver between #3, #48, #1, #20 or #10
I would like to say the 10 but he hasn’t done very well this season yet. I would go with the 20 who has run well and was running well last week until he lost a tire late in the race.
Will Chris Buescher do as well this week as last week?
Another tough question. This track is going to be a little faster with it being a little bigger and both ends configured the same. I don’t know if the Roush teams have enough speed or consistency to take a chance on them until they prove they can be consistent.
How important is starting track position here?
It shouldn’t matter a whole lot with a competition caution early on in the race. It more of the half mile and 3/4 mile tracks where it comes into play more.
Thank you sir!!
What do you think about Kyle Busch this week starting him
He ran very well again last week, so he’s worth taking a shot with this week.
Advice here Jeff- I’m with you in Truex, he’s the hottest driver right now and superb at Dover. I have 5 starts left with him this year. I’m torn- go with the 19 while he’s hot or conserve picks for later in the year. Knowing my usage- do you still run him? If not, do you run the 11?
There have been too many times when I try to save a hot driver for later in the season and then they don’t run well. I go with him now. The object is to score as many points as you can and if he wins you do that.