By Roy J. Akers — www.skyviewsports.net
Joey Logano makes his 600th Cup start this weekend but Fords rarely are in the mix for a win at the Monster Mile. Chevy’s are and no one is in position to challenge HOFer Jimmie Johnson’s record 11 wins at the track. So, let’s go racing at one of NASCAR’s most demanding tracks.
Stage 1
Chase Elliott wins the pole after qualifying is rained out and takes the field to the green flag. Chase Briscoe takes lap one. SVG goes to the pits with a tire/front end issue, and Elliott takes the lead away from Briscoe on lap 14. A competition caution is called on lap 36 with Elliott leading Briscoe, and Christopher Bell. Race officials are checking for tire wear on the concrete surface. The race resumes on lap 43 with Elliott taking the flag and extending his lead to several car lengths.
On lap 69 of 400, Chase Elliott leads the race in the No. 9 Chevrolet. Elliott, who started from the pole, has led 56 laps and maintains an average running position of 1.19. His best lap time of 23.48 seconds came on lap three, with a speed of 153.322 mph. Elliott goes on to win the stage.
Stage 2 Top 7 after Stage 2
Multiple drivers made pit stops, including Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, and Noah Gragson. Chase Elliott experienced a setback when his car fell off the jack, resulting in a 15-second pit stop. Bell takes the lead, and several drivers take turns running out front. Bell, Hamlin, and Bowman are your top three. Twenty-one cars of 37 starting are operating on the lead lap.
Elliott, Bell, and Hamlin are 1-2-3 early in S2. By lap 165, Chase Elliott faces challenges with lapped traffic, allowing Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin to gradually reduce the gap to the leader. Green flag stops start on lap 187, and Bell beats Elliott off of pit road to take the race lead.
Final Stage
Starting the final Stage, Hendrick Motorsports drivers are 2-3-5-7. Bell takes the field to the green flag on lap 260 and loses it in a battle with Elliott and saves his machine, but brings the first race caution for cause. Chase Elliott leads the restart from the outside lane, with Denny Hamlin on the inside. Elliott secures the lead entering Turn 1. Alex Bowman challenges Hamlin on the outside for second place and successfully clears him in Turn 2.
Green flag pit stops bring race leader Elliott to pit lane on lap 327. Multiple drivers take a brief lead during the green flag pit cycle. Raindrops hit the race track on lap 337 with Bell in the lead. Very good racing luck for him. The pits open and Bell and Elliott take two right side tires. Denny Hamlin inherits the race lead with 60 to go. Hamlin-Bell-Ellliott are running 1-2-3 with 50 to go. Hamlin holds off Bell using Daniel Suarez as a pick with 36 laps to go. Ross Chastain blows a tire with 17 laps to go bringing out a caution. The rain hits the track and the pits are now open. Denny Hamlin Crew Chief Chris Gayle, tells the race leader to stay on the track.
After the track is dried after the rainstorm, multiple incidents extend the race and wipe out a Denny Hamlin driveway. Bell crashes out of the race among the leaders, ending his day. Ross Chastain triggers late caution with hard hit, leading to red flag. A drama filled late race series of crashes after the race was only 15 laps from ending before the race delayed the outcome. Ten different drivers led in the race. Elliott led 238 of 400 laps, but falls off late to finish 6th.
Checkered Flag
Denny Hamlin leads 67 laps, most of them late to win his Cup leading 4th race of the year. He did it with his own 23XI team driving OPEN at Dover. This race win is the 12th for JGRacing.
Q – You talked this was your worst racetrack for decades. Is there any racetrack you worked harder on to get better at than Dover?
DENNY HAMLIN: I just studied some of the greats here. I was very fortunate to have Martin Truex as a teammate. Jimmie Johnson, watching him win 10 times here. You learn from the greats and you change your game to match it, you have success like this.
The Leaders
Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Chase Elliott were a joy to watch. They raced clean throughout the race and let racing strategy and racing luck in the case of Bell to stay up front. Bell goes out due to spinning out, but two Toyota’s raced for the win in the second overtime. (Final running order below).
They Said It…
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Finished: 4th
“We had a good No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet today. It was just tough starting in the back, and we just kind of had to work slowly at it all day long. On the long runs here (at Dover Motor Speedway), you just have to be really patient, and that’s how we were today. It’s good to get a top-five finish and get back on the horse there. Hopefully we can string together some good runs now.”
Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – Finished: 20th
YOU ARE THE GUY THAT NOBODY THOUGHT WOULD GET OUT OF THE FIRST ROUND, NEVERMIND BEING IN THE FINAL ROUND TO RUN FOR A MILLION DOLLARS. HOW DOES THAT SIT WITH YOU?
“It feels good. You know, I have been the underdog for a long time now, just battling my way to try to get opportunity. Eventually you get comfortable in fighting from behind and people underestimating you. It’s hard to say that we lucked into it this far in, and I am proud of the way we have run. We haven’t been a dominating car, but we have been a pain to everyone around us. That is all we can do — put pressure on them and execute at the right time and that is what we have done. “
Tale of The Tape
Fantasy
Most of my teams were looking like they would earn between 225-270 points on Sunday. The Bell crash late in the race was a bummer. So was Chastain’s mistake. This team earns 224 points including the matchups. Larson was on the bench so I would not have to use him unless needed. He has four races left on this team. Best pick: Hamlin, Worst pick, Chastain. Bell still earned 38 points due to 19 stage points.
Leaderboard << click for all drivers
Factioid that may interest only me…
Bubba Wallace has a 99-race winless streak.
JGR has 12 wins at Dover. Jimmie Johnson has that all by himself.
Roy J. Akers covers NASCAR for www.skyviewsports.net
