Pit Stops : Dover Motor Speedway

• Thursday, April 25th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Several Cup drivers head to Dover hoping to score their first win of 2024

Going from the massive 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway high banks to this week’s Monster Mile at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway’s high banks is a huge change of venue, but not of spirit.

Certainly, that’s the case for defending race winner Martin Truex Jr., who has been close to a trophy several times this year but is still looking for his first victory of 2024 in Sunday’s Wurth 400 (2 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Dover is a special venue for the New Jersey native, who considers it his “home track.” It is where he earned his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2007 and his four wins are most among the fulltime competitors in Sunday’s field.

The historical significance is important for the 2017 series champion, but 10 races into the season, Truex wants to win now and thinks Dover is set up to be just the place. He is currently second in the standings, trailing leader Kyle Larson by 15 points, but Truex is the only driver ranked among the top six in the driver standings that hasn’t won a race yet.

“Just build on what we learned last year and so far this year,” said Truex, driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “And I think it’s important we qualify well, so hopefully we will do that. Generally, when you qualify well there, you get a good pit stall, and it sets you up for a smoother day. Staying out front all day long is very important and track position is very important since it’s hard to pass.”

Certainly, this will be a big weekend for several drivers wanting – and needing – to get on track with the All-Star break and summer stretch approaching.

Ford is still racing for its first win of the season. RFK Racing owner-driver Brad Keselowski is the only current Ford driver with a past NASCAR Cup Series win at Dover – his 2012 NASCAR Cup Series championship season. He brings two consecutive runner-up finishes (at Texas and Talladega, Ala.) to Dover. Two-time series champion Joey Logano, who drives a Ford Mustang for Team Penske, has four Xfinity Series wins at the Monster Mile.

Logano’s Penske teammate, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney is ranked seventh – highest among the Ford contingent. He won a Xfinity Series race at Dover in 2017.

Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch is another veteran racing for his first victory of 2024. The driver of the No. 8 RCR Chevrolet has won in all three of NASCAR’s premier series at Dover, including three times at the NASCAR Cup Series level.

This week marks the return to the grid for seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 11-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson, now an owner-driver racing part-time in the series.

Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones will miss this week’s race after suffering a compression fracture in his back in an accident at Talladega on Sunday. The team has announced that NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship contender Corey Heim will drive the No. 43 Toyota for Jones this week.

Current championship leader Larson brings impressive season statistics to Dover with a series best 531 laps led. His five stage wins is more than double that of any other driver. He’s won both Xfinity Series (2017) and NASCAR Cup Series (2019) races at the Monster Mile and would like to rebound from back-to-back 21st-place finishes in the season’s last two races.

Practice sessions will be held Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET, followed by a two-round Busch Light Qualifying session at 11:20 a.m. ET. – both televised live on FS1. Earning a front row start has been key at Dover, where the outside polesitter has produced more winners (20) than any other starting position.

• W?rth 400
• Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Kyle Busch
• Age: 38
• Team : No 8 - FICO Chevrolet
• Owner: Richard Childress
• Crew Chief: Randall Burnett
• Kyle Busch won the Pole Award for the W?rth 400 with a lap of 22196 seconds, 162191 mph
• This is his 34th pole in 689 NASCAR Cup Series races
• This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2024
• This is his second pole in 36 races at Dover Motor Speedway
• Ryan Blaney (second) posted his fifth top-10 start of 2024 and his seventh in 14 races at Dover Motor Speedway
• William Byron (third) posted his sixth top-10 start at Dover Motor Speedway It is his sixth in 11 races this season
• Josh Berry (12th) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Sunday, April 28th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Denny Hamlin grabs third Cup win of the season at Dover

Denny Hamlin essentially called his shot this week, saying on his popular weekly podcast that he absolutely expected to win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Wurth 400 at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway. And the veteran backed it up – holding off championship leader Kyle Larson by a slight .256-second to claim his third win of the season and 54th of his career – tying the legend Lee Petty on the all-time wins list.

Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took the lead from Larson during a late race pit stop cycle, beating him off pit road then leading the final 72 laps. He got the jump on Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on both of the final two restarts then managed an advantage that was more than 2-seconds at one point with Larson closing on him.

Larson got within two-tenths of a second of Hamlin as they negotiated traffic on the famous one-mile Dover track in the closing laps but was unable to get close enough to attempt a pass.

“You’d better win, if you’re going to open your mouth, that’s for sure,” Hamlin said of his bold prediction to win.

Hamlin, 43, immediately gave credit to his No. 11 JGR team.

“Just a great team, they just did a great job,” said Hamlin, who led a race best 136 of the 400 laps.

“All the guys on the wall right here, they made it happen,” he said motioning to his cheering team on pit wall. Thank you to them and to [crew chief] Chris Gabehart. The whole team just gave me a great car.

“I think the key moment, really was Kyle did an excellent job executing during the green flag pit cycle ad then we were able to get the lead there on that restart, then got the caution that allowed us to control the restart. That was really the key moment for us and certainly feels good winning here at Dover.”

Larson was understandably disappointed standing next to his car after the race and explained that contact between his car and the No. 19 car on a late race restart hurt his chances of being able to get going properly and challenge Hamlin.

“I knew when I got within three car-lengths, he was going to start moving around,” said Larson, who led 39 laps. “I couldn’t really do anything. I was trying all sorts of different angles and speeds, all that. Nothing could generate enough speed to get close enough I guess, to do anything. That was a bummer.

“A great day for our HendrickCars.com Chevy team. Started 21st, drove up to sixth in the first stage or fifth. Got a stage win. Another stage win sounds good. Good points day. We would have loved to get a win.”

It was actually Hamlin’s JGR teammate Truex – the defending race winner – who looked strongest in the field early on. He led 69 laps and won the opening stage, only to lose ground on a slow pit stop mid-race. His Toyota suffered some frontend damage from the restart incident that Larson referred to, but Truex held ground all day to finish third. He remains in second place in the championship standings, 15 points behind Larson.

“Feel like we let one get away today,” Truex said. “Had a really strong Bass Pro Camry. You can’t lose control of these races mid-stage like that. The track changes and you get behind. Man, just stinks. Overall, a good day, just keep working on it.”

Dover polesitter Kyle Busch finished fourth in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott was fifth.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Noah Gragson – coming off his best career finish (third) last week at Talladega, Ala. – finished sixth, his fourth top-10 of the year. Reigning champion, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney was seventh followed by Hendrick’s Alex Bowman, Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs. It marked the second consecutive top-10 for Hemric, equaling his best result of the year.

It was a rough outing for the series’ other three-race winners this season, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. The perennial race favorite was involved in a three-car accident with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and JGR’s Christopher Bell with 71 laps remaining. It marked the first DNF for Byron this season and the second consecutive DNF for both Wallace and Bell. Byron had an issue during a pit stop that left him mid-pack and that’s exactly where the incident happened.

“Just sucks,” Byron told the Performance Racing Network. “We had a good car early, but once we got in traffic, we were terrible.”

Also of note, Corey Heim finished 25th in his NASCAR Cup Series debut. The 21-year old substituted for the injured Erik Jones in the Legacy Motor Club No. 43 Toyota. His team co-owner, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson finished 28th in his third start of the season.

• Drivers Entered: 37
• Laps Scheduled: 400
• Margin of Victory: 0.256 Seconds
• Time of Race: 3 Hours 20 Minutes 57 Seconds
• Average Speed: 119.433
• Cautions: 5 for 42 laps
• Lead Changes: 12
• Green Flag Passes: 1,858 (5.2 passes per green flag lap)

• Wurth 400
• Race Winner: Denny Hamlin
• Age: 43
• Team : No 11 - Mavis Tire Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
• Crew Chief: Christopher Gabehart
• Denny Hamlin won the W?rth 400, his 54th victory in 661 NASCAR Cup Series races
• This is his third victory and fourth top-10 finish in 2024
• This is his second victory and 16th top-10 finish in 34 races at Dover Motor Speedway
• Kyle Larson (second) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 16 races at Dover Motor Speedway It is his fifth top-10 finish in 2024
• Martin Truex Jr (third) posted his 20th top-10 finish in 34 races at Dover Motor Speedway
• Josh Berry (14th) was the highest finishing rookie
• Kyle Larson leads the point standings by 15 points over Martin Truex Jr