Dover Race Review and Analysis
Racing on a Monday at the monster mile! The Nascar Cup Series made a trip to Dover Motor Speedway for the DuraMAX Drydene 400. Located in Dover, Delaware, this 1-mile concrete track displayed a unique race. Chase Elliott takes home the checkered flag after an intriguing Monday afternoon of racing. This is Elliott’s 14th career win and 1st of the 2022 season. Elliott is now the 9th driver to stamp his ticket into the Nascar playoffs. He joins Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, and William Byron as the only drivers locked in so far.
(Chase Elliott and His Team Post Race)
Coming into today, rain struck yesterday at lap 78 which was crushing for all race fans at the track. A lot of fans had to make the trip home after not even seeing a third of Sunday’s race. Tire issues and weather were both the main culprits of this past weekend. After trying to resume the race, the rain continued to hit the Delaware area. Forcing NASCAR’s hand to push this 400-mile race to today. Today’s race took place at 12:00pm ET and wrapped up around 3:10pm. Elliott after the final restart cruised his way to the checkered. The #9 car was not contested in the final 20 laps by the 2nd place car, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
This afternoon’s finish was much needed for Chase Elliott. The 2020 Nascar Cup Series champion, hasn’t won on an oval surface since his championship win back in 2020 at Phoenix. He crossed the checkered in a sigh of relief as things are very uncertain with this next-gen car. A few races with a bad finish could have you below the cutline. Luckily Elliott was the first driver in points when it came to not having a win.
Let’s rewind to stage 1, with Denny Hamlin. Hamlin won stage 1 picking up his 36th career stage win. Hamlin ran upfront for a large part of yesterday and some parts of today. Struggles came later in the race for the #11 machine as his right rear tire came off as he exited pit road. A fine and suspension are coming for Hamlin’s team as a result. Crew chief Chris Gabehart, the team’s jackman, and tire changer will all face suspensions. Later in the race, Hamlin received damage from Cody Ware which took him out of contention for the win. The stage 2 winner was Ryan Blaney. Blaney continues his success early this season with another solid race. After late race trouble for both, Hamlin came home 19th as Blaney finished 26th.
(Chase Elliott burning it down)
Drivers who had pleasant afternoons were Chase Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, and Kevin Harvick. Today’s winner Chase Elliott ran a clean and solid race as he took home the win. The #9 car led 73 laps which was the 3rd most of anyone today. Following Elliott was Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which is a major surprise. Normally the JTG Daugherty #47 car runs from 17th to 27th. Coming into today Stenhouse was 31st in points, a good finish was badly warranted. Today, they received that with a 2nd place finish. Chris Buescher was another driver looking for a good run at Dover. RFK Racing looked solid unloading for practice and qualifying and delivered during today’s race. Buescher finishes 8th as fellow co-owner and teammate Brad Keselowski finished 20th. Kevin Harvick was another notable driver throughout today. Harvick, who hasn’t won since the 2020 season, is looking for success in these upcoming races. With veteran favorite tracks coming up on the schedule, Dover was solid for Harvick. He finished 9th as he is the top finishing Stewart Haas Racing car. Kyle Busch dominated a large part of this afternoon as well. Busch led 103 laps with a finish of 7th. Erik Jones is an honorable mention with another top 10 for Petty GMS Racing.
In my opinion, today was alright. Dover Motor Speedway saw its largest crowd in several years yesterday before the rain. The rain affected this weekend majorly as a postponement highlighted Sunday. Personally, Nascar has to figure out its tire issues because there were too many today. Also, TV networks have the leverage when it comes to when a race starts. With rain threatening in the area, starting the race earlier made sense. Nascar didn’t do that, a 3:00pm start time once again happened. This forced yesterday’s race to be postponed and moved back to Monday, causing the majority of fans to miss the event due to work and school. Personally, I’d rate today’s race a 7 out of 10. The rain derailed this weekend in Dover. This week’s throwback Mother’s Day weekend in Darlington should be fun.
Leaving Dover behind we head to Darlington Raceway. Located in Darlington, South Carolina, this prestigious track always brings excitement. We head down south on Mother's Day for race number 12 of this 2022 season. Throwback paint schemes and a different theme will be on display. All three national series will make the trip down to Darlington. Truck Series practice and qualifying will be Friday afternoon, with the race kicking off at 7:30pm that night. Xfinity Series practice and qualifying will be Friday evening with the race on Saturday at 1:30pm. Cup Series practice and qualifying will be Saturday morning with the Goodyear 400 the next day. For racing in Darlington on Mother’s Day, tune in Sunday, May 8th at 3:30pm ET only on FS1.
( All images credited to https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/cup-series.)
For next week's race information please view the link down below:
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