By Roy J. Akers — www.skyviewsports.net
After two consecutive races with left and right turns, many are looking forward to The Monster Mile of Dover. Some of the most successful drivers will speak to the media this weekend and discuss this concrete jungle of racing.
What they Said…
Chase Elliott is a top-five Dover machine
Here at Dover, you’ve had 14 starts and 10 of those you’ve had top-fives. What is it about this place that you like so much? And what is it about this track that you just tend to find that piece of consistency from start to finish in races?
“Yeah, that’s been a popular question throughout the day. I honestly don’t know why the track has suited me throughout my career. Kind of right from the rip, I enjoy coming up here. I ran a truck race here early on in my career, and a few Xfinity races when we raced up here twice a year at that time. So yeah, all those races were just enjoyable. The track is challenging. It’s one of those places that can certainly reach out and get you if you don’t watch it. I’ve always just tried to respect this place as best as I know how and hope that it shows me some respect back, and that’s kind of always been my approach.”
Tyler Reddick on racing Ty Gibbs in the bracket challenge
What updates do you want on the In-Season Challenge and your match-up with Ty Gibbs?
“The last three weeks I feel like we’ve raced around each other a bunch, so I don’t know if I’m going to need any. I feel like that will continue, especially – I don’t know where I saw the stat somewhere on X – I saw that I think 490 some laps that we’ve ran here, we’ve ran like 490 laps within two or three spots of each other, or something like that. It does feel like every time I’ve been at Dover since Ty (Gibbs) has been in the Cup Series, I can at least see him on the track when I’m making laps, and yeah, last year, I finished directly behind him – so I feel like that is going to continue. I feel like we are going to be around each other a lot this weekend. Hopefully, we will have some good hard racing.”
Kyle Busch on his Dover Record
Throughout your career here (at Dover Motor Speedway), you’ve had a bunch of wins, but you’ve also had a bunch of DNFs. Here at the Monster Mile, just how hard is it to stay out of trouble?
“That question started really rough, by the way (laughs). I mean, I would probably venture to say that I’ve had a bunch of wins at a lot of tracks and also a bunch of DNFs at a lot of tracks. So I think you have feast or famine just about everywhere.
You know, here at Dover, winning three times has certainly been the highlight, and we’ve had some really, really good runs as well, too, of being close to winning. I remember that time when I was so close with the 5 car and finishing second at Jimmie Johnson… right up his tailpipe and was told to leave him alone and let him win the race (laughs). So, you know, it’s just been a great track for me over the years. Same as Richmond, Bristol, a bunch of places. It’s a great place to race. It’s fun. It’s really challenging, but yet lends itself to really good drivers and really good cars.
Denny Hamlin on the success of JGR at Dover
What has made Joe Gibbs Racing so successful at Dover?
“I think good cars mean a fair amount of it, and the second is – I was really blessed to have Martin Truex as a teammate. He was exceptional at this race track, and really the gold standard. As Jimmie’s (Johnson) success started to tail off, he was the next guy in line that every time we came here, you were going to have to battle him for race wins. Early in my career, I was studying Jimmie. Late in my career, I was studying Martin – those two guys were the guys I changed my style too and it has been better.”
Josh Berry on Dover
YOU’VE WON HERE IN XFINITY AND MADE YOUR CUP DEBUT HERE. HOW DO YOU SAY YOUR CAREER HAS PROGRESSED SINCE THEN, AND WHAT CAN YOU TAKE FROM YOUR PREVIOUS RACES HERE THAT CAN HELP THIS WEEKEND? “Obviously, this is a place that I’ve had a lot of fun coming to, making my Cup debut. It’s always really special and I’ve had really good results here in the Xfinity Series. Obviously, getting that win and two second places with JRM, so this is a place I’ve always enjoyed coming to and I really love the racetrack. I’m excited to be here this weekend and hopefully we can continue that on with the 21 car.”
