After a last lap spin for Ross Chastain (from 2nd) at Texas, and a last lap Big One at Talladega last week which collected then-leader Michael McDowell, it hasn’t been a great time to be running up front at the end of the race…as odd as that sounds. Seemingly no one is safe from being relegated instantly to a poor finish, and naturally we find ourselves at Dover — the Monster Mile — a track that has already chewed up and spit out multiple cars in Practice. PRACTICE!! Not even active racing, just shaking out the cobwebs and seeing what they have. A slew of Toyota teammates had trouble last week trying to catch up at Talladega as well. If we’re having trouble just driving and not even COMPETING, what does today’s race have in store for us?
Here’s what to look for:
–Kyle Busch was our fastest on Saturday, his first Dover Pole since…last year! Seems like he’s got things in order, looking to right the wrongs of 2023’s race.
–Martin Truex Jr was our winner last year, and also has the most points of any active driver here over the last ten races. In addition to that, he’s got a 6.2 average finish. Pretty good stats, Martin! And…his brother won again yesterday…
–Kyle Larson has an 8.9 average finish here, and that includes his 32nd place finish last Spring. That was his worst result, all seven races prior to that were 12th or better. No Pole for Larson this week (so another driver will get to start out front this month), but awesome reveal of a Terry Labonte throwback!
–Chase Elliott has two Wins here in the last ten races, and has won as recently as 2022. He recently got off the schneid, can he keep it going today at one of NASCAR’s most challenging tracks?
–Corey LaJoie may not be somebody who is directly on your radar, but his finishes here have gotten better in strides. He first three attempts had him placing between 30th and 38th. His next three starts he finished 28th or 29th. His next two races were 23rd and 26th respectively. 2022 he brought it home 18th, and last year a career best 14th. LaJoie starts 25th today, two spots better than he did last year. (And anything’s gotta be better than how he finished Talladega, see above!)
Coverage of the race starts on FS1 at 2:00pm, green flag scheduled for 2:11pm.
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