Dominating Dover!
First, late breaking news...that's about as fresh as a flood in New Orleans.
Michael Waltrip and NAPA today announced they have entered into a partnership with Bill Davis Racing for the 2006 Nextel Cup Series season.
Bill Davis Racing hasn't visited Victory Lane since 2002. But with the addition of a second car and solid sponsorship next season, Michael Waltrip says he is optimistic the team can contend for a victory at Daytona International Speedway in February and eventually work its way into the top 10.
Uh...okay!
The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series heads back to the Dover International Speedway for the second and final time in 2005. The Monster Mile will provide plenty of fast and furious action as the second race of the Chase for the Championship kicks of Sunday at 12:30.
Yes, that means you have to wait that long till Bill Weber (NBC/TNT Anchor) can soothe your "need for speed" with his "cutting edge" commentary on a sport, he has proven so far this year...He knows nothing about!
Ryan Newman will head to Dover this week riding a wave of momentum after climbing from 10th to third with his first win in nearly a year in the Sylvania 300. That timely win, which ended stretch of six races where he finished no better than 12th, moved him within 40 points of Tony Stewart for the lead and 20 behind second-place Greg Biffle.
Now, Newman could be setting himself up for the sort of championship charge made by Busch last year as he arrives at a race where he is the two-time defending champion.
In seven Dover starts, Newman has four top-five and six top-10 finishes, including three victories. Newman led 325 of the 400 laps in the 2004 MBNA RacePoints 400 at Dover and swept the 2003 Cup races there. With an average finish of 6.71 at Dover, he is second only to Stewart among the top 10 drivers.
Factoid: Crew chief Matt Borland is taking chassis PRS-46, aka "Monster," to Dover. It earned its nickname after winning the 2004 fall race at Dover, and it finished fifth at Lowe's Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway this year.
Tony Stewart led six times for a race-high 173 laps at New Hampshire International Speedway before finishing second after Newman passed him with two laps to go. For his efforts he collected just five fewer points than the race winner. The finish widened his standings lead from five to 20 points. The finish was also his 13th straight top-10 finish, two more than Biffle for the series lead.
In 13 Nextel Cup starts at Dover, Stewart has finished out of the top 10 twice, an 11th in June 2002 and a 15th last June. He has two wins, nine top-fives, a sixth and a seventh there. His average Dover finish is fifth.
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Factoid: Stewart swept both 2000 Dover races on the way to becoming the winningest Cup driver that year with six. Eight others have swept both Dover races in one season.
Greg Biffle barely hung on to his second in the standings after falling 20 points off the pace following his fourth-place finish at last week's Sylvania 300. He did stage a rally coming from a starting spot of 26th to claim his fifth straight finish of sixth or better.
He’s tied with Tony Stewart for the circuit lead with five victories and is second with 11 top-fives. In the June race at Dover, Biffle led 150 laps on his way to his fourth win of the year. Besides his Nextel Cup victory, he has two Busch Series wins at Dover and a second-place finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. In six races at Dover, he has one win, one top-five, two top-10s and no poles. "Dover has always been a pretty good track for me," he said.
Factoid: Biffle's team is taking chassis RK-275 to Dover, the same car that won at California Speedway in February.
Jimmie Johnson finished eighth at the Sylvania 300 and dropped two spots and rolls into Dover 53 points off the pace. On the plus side the finish at New Hampshire was his first single-digit finish in five races since placing fifth at Watkins Glen last month, on the downside it might seem that Johnson is in the throes of his annual late-season stumble that has cost him series championships in each of the last two years He has won twice this season but not since the Coca-Cola 600 in May.
Johnson won the pole but finished fourth at the MBNA RacePoints 400 here this summer. He has completed 2,621 of 2,800 laps in his seven starts at Dover. He has an average starting spot of 8.9 and average finishing spot of 13.4 and owns two victories at Dover, both in 2002. Johnson said he has to alter his driving style for the Dover concrete surface. "Yes, a little bit because you really have to recognize when you are being abusive to the car and as a result to the tires."
Factoid: Johnson has an average starting spot of 12.7 in his career and an average finishing position of 12.8. He has finished on the lead lap 103 times.
Rusty Wallace will stage a “Last Call’ here this weekend. Wallace kicked off his pursuit of a second series title by finishing sixth in the Sylvania 300, which dropped him one spot to fourth in the standings, tied with Newman and 40 points behind Stewart. In his last 12 races, Wallace has eight top-10 finishes, including five top-fives and has been running at the finish in a series-high 40 consecutive events - not bad for someone retiring at the end of the season. He took this race back-to-back in the 1990s, winning in a Pontiac in 1993 and a Ford in 1994; ran fifth after starting 11th here in the MBNA RacePoints 400 in June.
When the Wallace biography is finally completed, it should contain a chapter on the special relationship he has enjoyed with Dover — three wins, 10 top-fives, 21 top-10s and five pole positions. He has about $2 million in career winnings on the Monster Mile.
Factoid: Wallace's affection for the Monster Mile goes much further than just what has occurred on the track the last 20 years. A longtime friend was Melvin Joseph, a Dover board member and vice president and director of auto racing who died suddenly in April.
Mark Martin is one of just two drivers eligible for the "Chase" who has yet to win this season, joining Rusty Wallace. Martin slipped one spot to seventh in the standings after a seventh-place finish last week at New Hampshire. That run ended stretch of four finishes outside the top 10 and he now has just one top-10 finish in his last 12 races.
Martin ran third after starting 12th in the MBNA RacePoints 400 here in June and that gives him a record of three top three’s in his last three starts at Dover — a win, a second and a third. This will be his 39th start at Dover, where he has won four times. Three of Martin's wins at Dover came in the fall. The four wins tie for the most at the track.
Factoid: Martin posted his first career Busch Series win at Dover in 1987. He has four poles at Dover and started in the top 10 in 23 of his first 29 races there. Martin also holds the race record of 132.719 miles per hour set in his 1997 win.
Matt Kenseth continued his amazing run up the points ladder with a third-place finish at the Sylvania 300. He was 20th after the Pepsi 400 in July and appeared to have no chance of making the Chase but has scored a remarkable six top-five finishes since - including a win at the Sharpie 500 - to climb to fifth, 50 points behind leader Tony Stewart.
The 2003 series champion managed just one top-10 finish in last year's Chase but has matched that total already and is one of the hottest drivers on the circuit.
In 13 Cup starts at Dover, Kenseth has finished in the top 10 seven times with one pole. His first Cup start came at Dover in September 1998 as a substitute for Bill Elliott. "We had a good run there in June (finishing seventh), and I think we'll be in good shape for this weekend," Kenseth said.
Factoid: Kenseth's team is bringing chassis RK-39 ( that car boasts a record of four top-10 finishes in five starts this season).
Jeremy Mayfield may have dropped one spot to eighth in the standings, 95 points back, with his 16th-place finish in the Sylvania 300 but he continues to avoid trouble and stay in the hunt with 20 finishes in the top 20 in his last 24 races. He has scored a win this year, at Michigan on August 21, which helped lift him into the Chase. Bad news for Mayfield though, he has just four top-fives all year, by far the fewest of any Chase contenders.
Mayfield has three poles, four top-fives and seven top-10s at Dover. He shattered the Monster Mile qualifying record in June 2004 with a speed of 161.522 mph and 22.288 seconds; the record had been 22.967 seconds at a speed of 156.747 mph. He won the pole in both races last year. His best Dover finish (second) was in the 2003 fall race.
Factoid: Mayfield ranks first in laps completed (99.4%) among drivers who have run in all the Cup races this year.
Kurt Busch has a mighty tall hill to climb the next nine weeks. He took a nosedive from fifth to 10th in the standings, 142 points back, after a crash in lap 3 when Scott Riggs wrecked his Ford Taurus last week at New Hampshire.
Busch’s misfortune is a reversal from last year, when he won the first Chase race at New Hampshire and rode the momentum to his first series title. Busch has three wins this season, including the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond two weeks ago.
Busch has started 13th or better in his last seven appearances at Dover, a streak that has resulted in three top-10 finishes, including fifth in this race a year ago.
"It's a track similar to Bristol, almost like a bigger brother to that track, being a mile in length at Dover vs. a half-mile in Bristol," Busch said of Dover. "But our success at Bristol hasn't translated as well to Dover."
Factoid: Busch's first start in NASCAR's premier series came at Dover on Sept. 24, 2000 that day he qualified 10th and finished 18th in the No. 97 John Deere Ford Taurus
No. 97 Ford for Roush Racing. He won the inaugural Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover that same weekend.
Carl Edwards seems to be slumping at the wrong time; he fell from eighth to ninth in the standings, 109 points down, after a 19th-place finish in the Sylvania 300. That finish adds to his nine finishes of 12th or worse in the last 12 races.
Edwards in his first full year on the Nextel Cup circuit, is one of five drivers from Roush Racing eligible to win the title but may become the team's first forgotten man should he continue to slide. He’s also in contention for the title on the Busch circuit, where he is fourth; last driver to win the Busch title and finish in the top 10 in the Nextel Cup was Kevin Harvick in 2001.
Edwards has four starts at Dover (two in the Truck Series and two in the Cup Series). His best Truck Series finish was 14th, and his best Cup finish was 16th last spring. In the Cup Series, Edwards has an average starting position of 11.5 and an average finish of 17th. "Handling is really important at Dover," he said.
Factoid: CNN will be the primary sponsor of Edwards' No. 60 Busch Series car at Dover.
Here's the real factoid.....All of the drivers are going to be "milk toast" nice to each other on Sunday....as a result of the few bad apples last Sunday!
My choice for a checkered flag this Sunday at "The Monster Mile"......look out for that #6 car!
Mark
Michael Waltrip and NAPA today announced they have entered into a partnership with Bill Davis Racing for the 2006 Nextel Cup Series season.
Bill Davis Racing hasn't visited Victory Lane since 2002. But with the addition of a second car and solid sponsorship next season, Michael Waltrip says he is optimistic the team can contend for a victory at Daytona International Speedway in February and eventually work its way into the top 10.
Uh...okay!
The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series heads back to the Dover International Speedway for the second and final time in 2005. The Monster Mile will provide plenty of fast and furious action as the second race of the Chase for the Championship kicks of Sunday at 12:30.
Yes, that means you have to wait that long till Bill Weber (NBC/TNT Anchor) can soothe your "need for speed" with his "cutting edge" commentary on a sport, he has proven so far this year...He knows nothing about!
Ryan Newman will head to Dover this week riding a wave of momentum after climbing from 10th to third with his first win in nearly a year in the Sylvania 300. That timely win, which ended stretch of six races where he finished no better than 12th, moved him within 40 points of Tony Stewart for the lead and 20 behind second-place Greg Biffle.
Now, Newman could be setting himself up for the sort of championship charge made by Busch last year as he arrives at a race where he is the two-time defending champion.
In seven Dover starts, Newman has four top-five and six top-10 finishes, including three victories. Newman led 325 of the 400 laps in the 2004 MBNA RacePoints 400 at Dover and swept the 2003 Cup races there. With an average finish of 6.71 at Dover, he is second only to Stewart among the top 10 drivers.
Factoid: Crew chief Matt Borland is taking chassis PRS-46, aka "Monster," to Dover. It earned its nickname after winning the 2004 fall race at Dover, and it finished fifth at Lowe's Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway this year.
Tony Stewart led six times for a race-high 173 laps at New Hampshire International Speedway before finishing second after Newman passed him with two laps to go. For his efforts he collected just five fewer points than the race winner. The finish widened his standings lead from five to 20 points. The finish was also his 13th straight top-10 finish, two more than Biffle for the series lead.
In 13 Nextel Cup starts at Dover, Stewart has finished out of the top 10 twice, an 11th in June 2002 and a 15th last June. He has two wins, nine top-fives, a sixth and a seventh there. His average Dover finish is fifth.
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Factoid: Stewart swept both 2000 Dover races on the way to becoming the winningest Cup driver that year with six. Eight others have swept both Dover races in one season.
Greg Biffle barely hung on to his second in the standings after falling 20 points off the pace following his fourth-place finish at last week's Sylvania 300. He did stage a rally coming from a starting spot of 26th to claim his fifth straight finish of sixth or better.
He’s tied with Tony Stewart for the circuit lead with five victories and is second with 11 top-fives. In the June race at Dover, Biffle led 150 laps on his way to his fourth win of the year. Besides his Nextel Cup victory, he has two Busch Series wins at Dover and a second-place finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. In six races at Dover, he has one win, one top-five, two top-10s and no poles. "Dover has always been a pretty good track for me," he said.
Factoid: Biffle's team is taking chassis RK-275 to Dover, the same car that won at California Speedway in February.
Jimmie Johnson finished eighth at the Sylvania 300 and dropped two spots and rolls into Dover 53 points off the pace. On the plus side the finish at New Hampshire was his first single-digit finish in five races since placing fifth at Watkins Glen last month, on the downside it might seem that Johnson is in the throes of his annual late-season stumble that has cost him series championships in each of the last two years He has won twice this season but not since the Coca-Cola 600 in May.
Johnson won the pole but finished fourth at the MBNA RacePoints 400 here this summer. He has completed 2,621 of 2,800 laps in his seven starts at Dover. He has an average starting spot of 8.9 and average finishing spot of 13.4 and owns two victories at Dover, both in 2002. Johnson said he has to alter his driving style for the Dover concrete surface. "Yes, a little bit because you really have to recognize when you are being abusive to the car and as a result to the tires."
Factoid: Johnson has an average starting spot of 12.7 in his career and an average finishing position of 12.8. He has finished on the lead lap 103 times.
Rusty Wallace will stage a “Last Call’ here this weekend. Wallace kicked off his pursuit of a second series title by finishing sixth in the Sylvania 300, which dropped him one spot to fourth in the standings, tied with Newman and 40 points behind Stewart. In his last 12 races, Wallace has eight top-10 finishes, including five top-fives and has been running at the finish in a series-high 40 consecutive events - not bad for someone retiring at the end of the season. He took this race back-to-back in the 1990s, winning in a Pontiac in 1993 and a Ford in 1994; ran fifth after starting 11th here in the MBNA RacePoints 400 in June.
When the Wallace biography is finally completed, it should contain a chapter on the special relationship he has enjoyed with Dover — three wins, 10 top-fives, 21 top-10s and five pole positions. He has about $2 million in career winnings on the Monster Mile.
Factoid: Wallace's affection for the Monster Mile goes much further than just what has occurred on the track the last 20 years. A longtime friend was Melvin Joseph, a Dover board member and vice president and director of auto racing who died suddenly in April.
Mark Martin is one of just two drivers eligible for the "Chase" who has yet to win this season, joining Rusty Wallace. Martin slipped one spot to seventh in the standings after a seventh-place finish last week at New Hampshire. That run ended stretch of four finishes outside the top 10 and he now has just one top-10 finish in his last 12 races.
Martin ran third after starting 12th in the MBNA RacePoints 400 here in June and that gives him a record of three top three’s in his last three starts at Dover — a win, a second and a third. This will be his 39th start at Dover, where he has won four times. Three of Martin's wins at Dover came in the fall. The four wins tie for the most at the track.
Factoid: Martin posted his first career Busch Series win at Dover in 1987. He has four poles at Dover and started in the top 10 in 23 of his first 29 races there. Martin also holds the race record of 132.719 miles per hour set in his 1997 win.
Matt Kenseth continued his amazing run up the points ladder with a third-place finish at the Sylvania 300. He was 20th after the Pepsi 400 in July and appeared to have no chance of making the Chase but has scored a remarkable six top-five finishes since - including a win at the Sharpie 500 - to climb to fifth, 50 points behind leader Tony Stewart.
The 2003 series champion managed just one top-10 finish in last year's Chase but has matched that total already and is one of the hottest drivers on the circuit.
In 13 Cup starts at Dover, Kenseth has finished in the top 10 seven times with one pole. His first Cup start came at Dover in September 1998 as a substitute for Bill Elliott. "We had a good run there in June (finishing seventh), and I think we'll be in good shape for this weekend," Kenseth said.
Factoid: Kenseth's team is bringing chassis RK-39 ( that car boasts a record of four top-10 finishes in five starts this season).
Jeremy Mayfield may have dropped one spot to eighth in the standings, 95 points back, with his 16th-place finish in the Sylvania 300 but he continues to avoid trouble and stay in the hunt with 20 finishes in the top 20 in his last 24 races. He has scored a win this year, at Michigan on August 21, which helped lift him into the Chase. Bad news for Mayfield though, he has just four top-fives all year, by far the fewest of any Chase contenders.
Mayfield has three poles, four top-fives and seven top-10s at Dover. He shattered the Monster Mile qualifying record in June 2004 with a speed of 161.522 mph and 22.288 seconds; the record had been 22.967 seconds at a speed of 156.747 mph. He won the pole in both races last year. His best Dover finish (second) was in the 2003 fall race.
Factoid: Mayfield ranks first in laps completed (99.4%) among drivers who have run in all the Cup races this year.
Kurt Busch has a mighty tall hill to climb the next nine weeks. He took a nosedive from fifth to 10th in the standings, 142 points back, after a crash in lap 3 when Scott Riggs wrecked his Ford Taurus last week at New Hampshire.
Busch’s misfortune is a reversal from last year, when he won the first Chase race at New Hampshire and rode the momentum to his first series title. Busch has three wins this season, including the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond two weeks ago.
Busch has started 13th or better in his last seven appearances at Dover, a streak that has resulted in three top-10 finishes, including fifth in this race a year ago.
"It's a track similar to Bristol, almost like a bigger brother to that track, being a mile in length at Dover vs. a half-mile in Bristol," Busch said of Dover. "But our success at Bristol hasn't translated as well to Dover."
Factoid: Busch's first start in NASCAR's premier series came at Dover on Sept. 24, 2000 that day he qualified 10th and finished 18th in the No. 97 John Deere Ford Taurus
No. 97 Ford for Roush Racing. He won the inaugural Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover that same weekend.
Carl Edwards seems to be slumping at the wrong time; he fell from eighth to ninth in the standings, 109 points down, after a 19th-place finish in the Sylvania 300. That finish adds to his nine finishes of 12th or worse in the last 12 races.
Edwards in his first full year on the Nextel Cup circuit, is one of five drivers from Roush Racing eligible to win the title but may become the team's first forgotten man should he continue to slide. He’s also in contention for the title on the Busch circuit, where he is fourth; last driver to win the Busch title and finish in the top 10 in the Nextel Cup was Kevin Harvick in 2001.
Edwards has four starts at Dover (two in the Truck Series and two in the Cup Series). His best Truck Series finish was 14th, and his best Cup finish was 16th last spring. In the Cup Series, Edwards has an average starting position of 11.5 and an average finish of 17th. "Handling is really important at Dover," he said.
Factoid: CNN will be the primary sponsor of Edwards' No. 60 Busch Series car at Dover.
Here's the real factoid.....All of the drivers are going to be "milk toast" nice to each other on Sunday....as a result of the few bad apples last Sunday!
My choice for a checkered flag this Sunday at "The Monster Mile"......look out for that #6 car!
Mark
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