Dover might be the most perplexing race in the Chase for the Championship.
And this is after watching two races marred by surprise winners, fuel-mileage gambles and a near-inversion of the Sprint Cup’s top 12 championship contenders.
Five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson is sitting tenth in the standings, his worse ever start (by that metric) to a playoff run in his eight Chase starts. Meanwhile, the once winless and much-scrutinized Tony Stewart somehow won the first two Chase races and now has a seven-point lead over Kevin Harvick.
And that’s just recapping the first two races and not even discussing the struggles of Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon.
And now, Dover.
Perplexing for several reasons, the first of which is that the Monster Mile is prone to fuel-mileage finishes much like those previously seen at Chicagoland and New Hampshire.
Second is that Dover is a one-mile circuit with none of the features of a traditional short track. This makes predicting how the course will run quite the challenge for 43 crew chiefs, 11 of which are still in the running for a Sprint Cup championship.
(See what we just did? Sorry Mike Ford but you’re toast.)
The Monster Mile will likely determine who’s serious about contending for a championship and which of the non-contenders are serious about spoiling the Chasers’ runs.
One of those possible spoilers, Martin Truex Jr., returned home and to the site of his only career Cup Series win with a pole and a lap time of 159.004 mph (22.641 seconds) just edging Kurt Busch (158.983 mph) for the top starting spot.
Paul Menard (158.667 mph) qualified third, followed by Chase drivers Carl Edwards (158.555 mph) and Kyle Busch (158.548 mph).
Chase leader Tony Stewart will start 28th. Kevin Harvick, second in the standings, seven points behind Stewart, starts 22nd.
A complete starting lineup can be found on the other side, just above the comments section.
Let’s rock!
***
Dover International Speedway
42nd Annual AAA 400
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Sat, October 01, 2011 @ 03:02 PM Eastern
Track Race Record: Mark Martin 09/21/97 03:00:50 132.719
| Row | Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 1 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | NAPA Auto Parts Toyota | 22.641 | 159.004 |
| 2 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Shell Pennzoil Dodge | 22.644 | 158.983 | |
| 2 | 3 | 27 | Paul Menard | Pittsburgh Paints / Menards Chevrolet | 22.689 | 158.667 |
| 4 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Aflac Ford | 22.705 | 158.555 | |
| 3 | 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 22.706 | 158.548 |
| 6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet | 22.712 | 158.507 | |
| 4 | 7 | 43 | A J Allmendinger | Best Buy Ford | 22.723 | 158.430 |
| 8 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | grilling.com / Kingsford Toyota | 22.738 | 158.325 | |
| 5 | 9 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Red Bull Toyota | 22.744 | 158.284 |
| 10 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 3M / Cubitron Ford | 22.761 | 158.165 | |
| 6 | 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Office Toyota | 22.801 | 157.888 |
| 12 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Stanley Ford | 22.826 | 157.715 | |
| 7 | 13 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Caterpillar Chevrolet | 22.829 | 157.694 |
| 14 | 00 | David Reutimann | Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota | 22.831 | 157.680 | |
| 8 | 15 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Miller Lite Dodge | 22.832 | 157.673 |
| 16 | 78 | Regan Smith | Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet | 22.832 | 157.673 | |
| 9 | 17 | 5 | Mark Martin | GoDaddy.com Chevrolet | 22.849 | 157.556 |
| 18 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Crown Royal Ford | 22.857 | 157.501 | |
| 10 | 19 | 6 | David Ragan | UPS Ford | 22.866 | 157.439 |
| 20 | 39 | Ryan Newman | US Army ROTC Chevrolet | 22.878 | 157.356 | |
| 11 | 21 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | National Guard / AMP Energy Chevrolet | 22.901 | 157.198 |
| 22 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Rheem Chasing the Cure Chevrolet | 22.905 | 157.171 | |
| 12 | 23 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | McDonald’s Chevrolet | 22.924 | 157.041 |
| 24 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Target Chevrolet | 22.935 | 156.965 | |
| 13 | 25 | 51 | Landon Cassill(i) | Phoenix Construction / Thank A Teacher | 22.956 | 156.822 |
| 26 | 37 | Josh Wise(i) | MaxQ Motorsports Ford | 22.960 | 156.794 | |
| 14 | 27 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet | 22.964 | 156.767 |
| 28 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Office Depot / Mobil 1 Chevrolet | 22.965 | 156.760 | |
| 15 | 29 | 46 | Scott Speed(i) | Red Line Oil / International Ford | 23.005 | 156.488 |
| 30 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Red Bull Toyota | 23.013 | 156.433 | |
| 16 | 31 | 30 | David Stremme | Inception Motorsports Chevrolet | 23.040 | 156.250 |
| 32 | 55 | Travis Kvapil(i) | Front Row Motorsports Ford | 23.043 | 156.230 | |
| 17 | 33 | 20 | Joey Logano | The Home Depot Toyota | 23.068 | 156.060 |
| 34 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet | 23.082 | 155.966 | |
| 18 | 35 | 66 | Michael McDowell | HP Racing Toyota | 23.097 | 155.864 |
| 36 | 34 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports Ford | 23.120 | 155.709 | |
| 19 | 37 | 71 | Andy Lally # | Interstate Moving Services Ford | 23.132 | 155.629 |
| 38 | 7 | Reed Sorenson(i) | SPEED Energy / MAPEI / Menards Dodge | 23.136 | 155.602 | |
| 20 | 39 | 13 | Casey Mears | GEICO Toyota | 23.158 | 155.454 |
| 40 | 32 | Mike Bliss(i) | Street King Ford | 23.170 | 155.373 | |
| 21 | 41 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Golden Corral Chevrolet | 23.227 | 154.992 |
| 42 | 87 | Joe Nemechek(i) | AM FM Energy Toyota | 23.263 | 154.752 | |
| 22 | 43 | 38 | J J Yeley | Drive Sober. Arrive Alive Ford | 23.273 | 154.686 |
Did Not Qualify: # 60 Mike Skinner(i).
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 16 0 Ford 13 0
