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CUP: Chasers Set To Tackle Monster Mile
Carl Edwards has the best average finish at Dover International Speedway...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted September 22, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Carl Edwards brings a history of solid finishes to Dover. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Round No. 2 of the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup takes place Sunday afternoon on the treacherous Dover International Speedway “Monster Mile,” site of the AAA 400.

The one-mile, high-banked concrete oval is one of the toughest tracks in all of NASCAR, a place where there tends to be a lot of big wrecks, especially at the crowded exit of Turn 2.

“Dover is a cool race track,” said Kevin Harvick, the regular season points leader. “It's fast. But there can be a wreck off of Turn 2 that will swallow up 10 or 15 cars. We've been on both sides of that fence. We did run well there at the beginning of the year. Hopefully we can do the same thing when we go back. It's one of those race tracks that lets you know how fast you're going, not only when you're going around the race track, but if you happen to hit something. It's a fun race track but it can eat you up pretty fast.”

Here’s how the 12 contenders in the Chase measure up at Dover heading into the second race of NASCAR’s playoff round:

1. DENNY HAMLIN, Joe Gibbs Racing, 5230 points — This is Hamlin’s worst track in the Chase, or at least the one he dreads coming to most. Twice he’s finished fourth here, but he also has finishes of 36th, 38th, 38th and 43rd, giving him an average finish of 22.78 here.

2. CLINT BOWYER, Richard Childress Racing, (-35) — Last week’s winner has never cracked the top five at Dover, his best finish being eighth, which he’s managed three times. On the plus side of the ledger, he’s only had one finish of worse than 17th and he’s won two NASCAR Nationwide Series races here.

3. KEVIN HARVICK, Richard Childress Racing, (-45) — Dover isn’t a great track for the regular season points leader. In 19 prior starts at the Monster Mile, Harvick’s best two finishes were third in 2006 and fourth in 2003.

4. KYLE BUSCH, Joe Gibbs Racing, (-62) — A two-time Dover winner, Busch triumphed here in May and will be a definite threat to find victory lane again here. His last six races here have been feast or famine: two victories, a fifth and finishes of 23rd, 31st and 43rd.

5. JEFF GORDON, Hendrick Motorsports, (-75) — The four-time champion has four victories and 14 top-five finishes in 35 starts at Dover. He also has led 2,231 laps here. But Gordon hasn’t finished better than third here in more than seven years. And his best finish in his last seven starts was a fifth-place run in June 2008.

6. KURT BUSCH, Penske Racing, (-86) — While his little brother might love the Monster Mile, the elder Busch does not, having never finished better than fourth here. He scored a pair of fifth places last year. But before that, his results were 34th, 20, 29th and 42nd.

7. JIMMIE JOHNSON, Hendrick Motorsports, (-92) — The four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion has five race victories at Dover, including a sweep of both races last season. After stumbling out of the gate at New Hampshire, Johnson needs a better finish than he had here in the spring, when he was 16th.
Greg Biffle is a past winner at Dover. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

8. CARL EDWARDS, Roush Fenway Racing, (-95) — The Missouri native has a finishing average of 7.92 at Dover, far and away the best of anyone in the field. In fact, he’s the only driver in the field with a single-digit finishing average.

9. GREG BIFFLE, Roush Fenway Racing, (-108) — One of the masters of Dover is Biffle, who has two victories, six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes here in only 16 starts. Like his Roush Fenway Racing teammates, he’ll be looking to bounce back here.

10. JEFF BURTON, Richard Childress Racing, (-112) — Although his finishing average of 15.88 isn’t all that great, Burton has one victory and seven top-five finishes here and will be someone to keep an eye on for sure on Sunday.

11. TONY STEWART, Stewart-Haas Racing, (-124) — With two victories, 10 top-fives and 15 top-10s — not to mention 1,072 laps led — the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion is someone you can never count out at Dover.

12. MATT KENSETH, Roush Fenway Racing, (-136) — In the same number of Dover starts, the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup champ has exactly the same number of top-five and top-10 finishes as Stewart. He’ll need a good race to stay relevant in the Chase.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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