In 12 starts at Dover, Tony Stewart has posted nine top-five finishes. Credit: Autostock

Monster names among the favorites at Dover

Note: Qualifying for Sunday's MBNA RacePoits 400 has been canceled because of rain. The starting lineup is set by owner points.

Victory Lane at Dover International Speedway has become an exclusive club. The last six drivers to visit that spot have won 16 of the past 19 races at the high-banked concrete track known as the Monster Mile.

It's almost as if success breeds success at Dover.

Inside the Numbers Jeff Gordon at Dover (Since 2000) Year Start Finish 2004 13 36   21 3 2003 9 2   6 5 2002 9 6   24 37 2001 2 1   23 4 2000 19 32   9 9 Averages 13.5 13.5 All time 9.8 10.8 • Races -- 24 • Wins -- 4 • Top 5s -- 12 • Top 10s -- 16 Jimmie Johnson at Dover Year Start Finish 2004 14 32   9 10 2003 5 38   4 8 2002 10 1   19 1 Averages 10.2 15.0 All time 10.2 15.0 • Races -- 6 • Wins -- 2 • Top 5s -- 2 • Top 10s -- 4

So it's no surprise that Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart are prohibitive favorites to keep their club off-limits to NASCAR's outsiders in Sunday's MBNA RacePoints 400.

All six ended up in the top 10 at the end of last fall's Dover race, won by Newman. That was after Martin, Stewart and Earnhardt finished 1-2-3 in the spring.

Martin has four wins at Dover, but none in the spring race until Kasey Kahne hit the wall while leading with 17 laps to go.

"That's a good place for us and our expectations are pretty high whenever we go there," Martin said. "We finished second in the second race up there, so it's a good race track for us and we typically have fairly high expectations."

Stewart would agree with that assessment. He has nine top-five finishes in 12 starts at Dover.

"I like to be aggressive at Dover," he said. "It's one of my better tracks and I feel like we run really, really well there.

"It's a track where [crew chief Greg Zipadelli] and I feel like we have a really good package that works pretty well for us. It allows me to be aggressive to where I can go out and lead a lot of laps and put pressure on the leaders when I'm not out front."

Dover comes at a perfect time for Earnhardt, who could use a confidence boost right now. After finishing 33rd in the Coca-Cola 500, Junior is now 15th in the standings.

"It's a place where we've won, so there's always that confidence there," Earnhardt said. "You always feel good going back to a place you've won.

"I'm a big fan of the place, enjoy going there, and hopefully we'll have a good car to run."

Gordon is licking his chops at the prospect of making a big run at points leader Johnson, starting at Dover. In addition to four wins and 16 top-10 finishes at the Monster Mile, Gordon has always been a contender at Pocono, Michigan and Sonoma -- the next three races on the schedule.

"I really like the upcoming schedule, the variety of tracks we'll be visiting," Gordon said. "I think it's fun and exciting, and each track poses unique challenges.

"Obviously, I love the road course events and we've had a lot of success on them. Pocono is unique, and Michigan and Dover are two of my favorite tracks."