Ever wonder what goes on in a driver meeting? We’re here to help.
This year, we’ll publish the actual rules video your favorite Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers will watch before climbing into their stock cars. Above is the video for the AAA 400 Drive for Autism (2 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Enjoy!
UPDATE: The Nos. 88, 42 cars of Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson, respectively, to the rear, car chiefs ejected and 30-minute hold in next race first practice for failing pre-race inspection three times. The No. 3 car of Austin Dillon will start at the rear for noncompliance splitter.
Kyle Larson won the Busch Pole Qualifying Award and will start in the top position in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism (2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Dover International Speedway. After three practice sessions for this race, we’ve dissected the numbers and 10-lap averages to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration as you go to make roster decisions for the 11th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of 2018.
Pat DeCola’s revised Fantasy Live lineup following practices and the lineup being set:
1: Kevin Harvick
2: Clint Bowyer
3: Ryan Blaney
4: Daniel Suarez
5: Aric Almirola
Garage: Chase Elliott
PLAY NOW: Set your Fantasy Live lineup | How the new Fantasy Live works
MORE: Fantasy analysis for Dover | Driver stats | Full lineup | 10-lap averages
Analysis: OK, so, I might be crazy. Or I might be onto something. Either way, we won’t know until we find out how Kyle Larson fares in Sunday’s 400-miler at Dover — because I’m not putting him in my lineup, garage, nothing.
Our in-house fantasy guru, RJ Kraft, (rightfully) built his lineup with the Chip Ganassi Racing driver as the cornerstone earlier this week in his Fantasy Fastlane piece, which made sense. Larson finished runner-up in this race the past two years and has led 85 or more laps in three of the past four Dover races — he even then went out and won the pole! Surely, he’s a no-brainer … and he would’ve been, until final practice.
Larson placed fourth in the session (after sporting a seventh-place showing in each of the first two sessions) and was asked afterward if he had a winning car. “I don’t know,” Larson replied, before explaining everything else wrong with his No. 42 Chevrolet. He was dejected and did not sound at all confident in his chances this weekend.
Larson’s deeper showings in final practice would indicate he’s right, too — the No. 42 didn’t rank in the top 10 in 10-, 15- or 20-lap averages for final practice.
It’s possible he’s playing coy, but I’ll take a driver’s word for it and not put stake in my precious lineup if he’s feeling iffy about his chances to win. I’d rather use Larson, whom I expect to heat up over the summer, when he’s feeling good about his car and on a hot streak.
Instead, I’m building around Kevin Harvick, whom RJ (again, rightfully) had been saving for the upcoming 1.5-mile races at Kansas and Charlotte.
For me, however, the No. 4 car has been too fast all weekend to ignore. Harvick will start alongside Larson on the front row, topped the best consecutive 20-lap averages in final practice and might get out front early and cruise as cars battle behind him. I like him to win at least Stage 1, too.
To go along with Harvick, I’m also starting two of his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates in Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola. Bowyer topped final practice 10- and 15-lap averages and his No. 14 might be every bit as fast as Harvick’s No. 4. Almirola, for his part, led final practice overall in terms of best lap and was in the top five in 10-, 15- and 20-lap averages. He’s also had past success at Dover, in less competitive rides.
Anchoring my lineup is the talented duo of Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez. Both placed in the top five of 20-lap averages in final practice (with Blaney second there and in 15-lap averages). My usage is low on both, so now’s the time to capitalize.
I have Chase Elliott in my garage. The Hendrick Motorsports driver hasn’t lit the world on fire this weekend, but this race shaped up to be a breakout moment for him heading into the weekend — based on his recent history there — so I like having the option to plug him in if he appears headed for a top five or even a win.
RJ also had Martin Truex Jr. in his original lineup — and I strongly considered adding the defending champ to at least my garage — but his No. 78 has looked less sporty as the weekend wore on. I’d rather save him for weekends where he’s dominant throughout, which can happen often.
At one point in Saturday’s Xfinity Series OneMain Financial 200, three JR Motorsports drivers — Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Tyler Reddick — were atop the running order.
The team owner, though, was not at Dover International Speedway to see this thrilling turn of events.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., new father, was back home with his daughter, Isla Rose, of course.
RELATED: Kelley Earnhardt Miller dishes on new dad, Dale Jr.
Still, Xfinity Racing couldn’t help but wonder if Dale Jr. was watching the excitement while kicking back on the couch, holding baby Isla.
.@DaleJr sitting on his couch holding baby Isla with a big grin on his face at @JRMotorsports is 1-2-3 at #XfinitySeries
Just a guess. pic.twitter.com/wWmvlH66hF
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) May 5, 2018
Never one to avoid a Twitter reply, Junior obliged with a real-time photo showing exactly that — and a peek at his new life that includes a different kind of bottle on the coffee table these days.
MORE: Dale Jr., Amy welcome baby into the world
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 5, 2018
DOVER, Del. – If eventual race winner Justin Allgaier hadn’t been his JR Motorsports teammate, runner-up finisher Elliott Sadler said the outcome of Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Dover International Speedway would have been “totally different.”
“Just (would have) bumped him going into Turn 3, that’s all,” said Sadler, who battled with Allgaier for the lead in the final laps. “It would have been a totally different outcome. I mean, I might have wrecked with him, but running for $100,000 in my sponsor’s race close to my sponsor’s headquarters with 7,000 people here watching … But Justin and I have way too much respect and work way too well as teammates.”
RELATED: Allgaier wins Dover, Dash 4 Cash
Racing for a win is motivation enough, but the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize that Allgaier and Sadler were also battling for tacks on an extra reason to cross the start-finish line first. Saturday’s event marked the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash event, with Allgaier taking home his first $100,000 check of the season above Elliott, Brandon Jones (10th place) and Ryan Sieg (17th place).
“You’ve got to make the most out of the opportunities you’re given,” Allgaier said. “And they always say that luck is an opportunity with preparation. And I know we’ve been prepared; we’ve been prepared all year as best we can, we just needed the opportunity. Today, I knew Elliott was going to be fast, I knew that Brandon (Jones) was really strong early in the race. I think that Ryan (Sieg) got a penalty there toward the end; he had a strong day going …
“I hated that the four of us couldn’t battle it out — all four of us — but just an absolutely epic race.”
The final-laps battle with Sadler was particularly spirited, as the two teammates raced each other competitively but with great respect. Sadler, whose runner-up result at the Monster Mile marked his 10th top-10 finish in the season’s 10 races, won Dash 4 Cash at Richmond and Talladega and was going for his third prize.
“To be able to beat Elliott, to come to the line and get the Dash 4 Cash was awesome,” Allgaier said. “He’s won two in a row though, so he can’t really be mad at me for winning one of them.”
MORE: Littlest Allgaier melts hearts after win
At a glance, Saturday’s win and prize would appear to be about the driver Allgaier, who held onto the lead for his first win of the season. But for the No. 7 wheelman, it’s about the team.
So that’s where the Dash 4 Cash money will go.
“This money goes back and goes into these race cars and makes sure these cars are even better than they are currently,” Allgaier said. “That’s a big deal to us, making sure that we can put ourselves in position … To have three (JR Motorsports) cars last year in the final four at Homestead I think that just shows the strengths of our team. We’ve come out of the box this year firing strong; we want to keep that up … It’s really easy for programs to go up and down, it’s like a roller coaster …
“This money obviously is huge. It goes a long way … especially in today’s day and age when budgets are as tight as they are, any extra dollar that comes through the door – whether that be from a sponsor or the Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash – it makes a big difference.”
Justin Allgaier lamented in Victory Lane that his wife, Ashley, and daughter, Harper, weren’t with him Saturday afternoon at Dover International Speedway. The consolation prize was a heart-tugging keepsake photo.
Ashley Allgaier captured 4-year-old Harper’s emotional reaction after watching her father roar to his first Xfinity win of the year in the OneMain Financial 200.
Justin Allgaier reiterated the downside of his family being at home in his post-race news conference, but said he expected that his return with Dover’s trademark Monster trophy would warmly welcomed.
“Still a cool trophy, and I’m assuming that when I get home, my daughter’s going to want this one, just because it’s pretty awesome, the Monster,” Allgaier said. “Yeah, Harper’s playroom is probably going to end up with this guy.”
Justin Allgaier surged to victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Dover International Speedway, holding off teammate Elliott Sadler in a fender-banging finish to pocket a $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus from the series sponsor.
Allgaier’s JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet led 104 of the 200 laps in the OneMain Financial 200. His first victory of the year was his first at the Delaware mile and the sixth of his career in the Xfinity Series.
RELATED: Race results | Full schedule for Dover
The win was especially lucrative for the 31-year-old driver, who made last-lap contact with race runner-up and JRM teammate Sadler, and outran Brandon Jones and Ryan Sieg as the highest finisher among the four eligible for the Dash 4 Cash payday.
Sadler, who claimed two of the four Dash 4 Cash bonuses in this year’s program, led 33 laps and finished .306 seconds behind Allgaier at the checkered flag. Sadler made gains on his teammate over the course of the 27-lap green flag stretch that capped the race, mounting a final challenge through Turns 3 and 4. Both of their cars slid off the corner alongside each other and glanced off the outside retaining wall before making the final spurt to the finish.
“Our team right now has just been amazing,” Allgaier said. “Coming down to the end of the race, I could see Elliott in my mirror. I knew when he was able to cool his tires down a little bit that he was able to make some runs. … Obviously, there was contact with Elliott and I, but he raced me so clean all day. We had great battles throughout the course of the race, and there was just nothing either one of us could do at that point. We both wanted to win.”
MORE: Keepsake photo for Allgaier family
Sadler said if the final lap had not been a contest among teammates, the outcome — or at least, his approach — might have unfolded differently.
“We really race each other hard, but we race each other fair,” Sadler said. “We have that kind of understanding. I think us two are the leaders of JR Motorsports and we have to lead by example. Our teams do such a good job of working with each other in the shop during the week, and I think that transcends onto the race track.”
Jones won his second career Xfinity pole, led 33 laps and recovered from a pit-road penalty to take 10th place. Sieg was also flagged for a speeding penalty on pit road and finished 17th.
Sadler won the first stage, and Allgaier claimed Stage 2. Sadler leaves the Dover event with a 33-point lead over Allgaier.
Daniel Hemric came home third, spending the last lap hoping to steal a victory if the JR Motorsports teammates happened to wreck each other. “I was just trying to get myself in the best possible position in case they did run out of race track — and they tried,” Hemric said.
Christopher Bell finished fourth after starting from the rear after his car failed to make it through pre-qualifying inspection in time to make a run in time trials. Tyler Reddick, who started from the back for the same reason, came home fifth, putting three JRM drivers in the top five.
Camping World Truck Series regular Johnny Sauter finished sixth in a substitute role for the suspended Spencer Gallagher in the GMS Racing No. 23 Chevrolet. It was his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race in four years.
The Xfinity Series’ next race is scheduled May 26 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Contributing: NASCAR Wire Service
DOVER, Del. — It only took one trip to the high banks of Dover International Speedway for Jimmie Johnson to fall in love with the Monster Mile.
To most, it’s one of the more monstrous of tracks. To Johnson, it was “heaven.”
“I remember (fellow competitor) Gary St. Amant looking at me and his eyes were like pancakes,” Johnson recalled Friday. “And he was like ‘We shouldn’t be here. This is too fast. This is crazy. Jumping into the turns and jumping off the turns.’
“And I’m like dude, I’m in heaven. This is awesome. So, since my first laps here in an ASA car, I fell in love with it.”
RELATED: Johnson: We’re victims of our own success
Thus began a 15-year love affair with the Delaware track that has produced 11 Miles the Monster winner trophies for Johnson. It also is coincidently the site of Johnson’s last win in the Monster Energy Series, marking nearly a year since the No. 48 has tabbed a win.
If there’s any place to snap a winless streak for Johnson & Co., it’s at the Monster Mile, where Johnson says he can “relax a little bit more” with his prowess. But he may have competitors within his own group, particularly with his teammate Chase Elliott, who nearly grabbed his first Monster Energy Series win at Dover last fall after leading 138 laps. His other teammates Alex Bowman and William Byron could also be in the mix to bring much-needed rain to Hendrick’s recent drought.
RELATED: Elliott on past success at Dover
Which will tame the Monster? Let’s take a look at each of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers’ outlooks and odds heading into Sunday’s race.
Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has the best driving rating (118.0) at the Monster Mile and has led more than 3,000 laps around the 1-mile oval. With his dirt background, Johnson knows better than anyone in the field how to get around the Monster’s slick curves; the key for him is the car, which he addressed as being “important” to winning at Dover. He surprisingly qualified just 19th, but given Johnson’s track prowess and the track constantly changing throughout the weekend, that shouldn’t be too much of a factor. If Johnson likes his car Sunday, his odds at snapping a losing streak increase dramatically.
A favorite to win Sunday? Yes.
Chase Elliott: Last year’s near-win wasn’t a fluke for the No. 9 driver; he’s finished every Monster Energy Series race that he’s run at Dover in the top five, giving him a wild average finish of 3.3. In his four events run, he’s also spent 93.5 percent of laps run in the top 15. A strong average starting position (sixth) on his side, Elliott should be able to get up front — and quickly. With the thought of avenging last year’s heartbreak, the young driver could turn a string of career runner-ups into his first-ever Monster Energy Series win by taming the Monster at Dover.
A favorite to win Sunday? Yes.
William Byron: This marks Byron’s first trip to Dover International Speedway in a Monster Energy Series car. He finished 18th at Bristol (the most similar track to Dover on the circuit) earlier this year and both of his Xfinity starts at the Monster Miles resulted in top-six finishes. The No. 24 has shown increased speed throughout the weekend; after qualifying 17th, he placed in the top 10 in final practices. He also ranked sixth on the 10-lap average chart in the pair of final practices, suggesting long-run speed. But Dover is tricky and tough for a rookie that doesn’t know how to quite get around the concrete surface in a Cup car.
A favorite to win Sunday? No.
Alex Bowman: Bowman nabbed a season-best fifth-place at Bristol earlier this year and has an average finish of 10.75 at tracks 1 mile or less in length. Sunday will be the 25-year-old’s first start at the Monster Mile behind the wheel of a Hendrick Motorsports-owned vehicle, so there are still plenty of unknowns. Despite the 15th-place starting position (second-best among his teammates), his team appeared to struggle a bit in final practice, ranking 23rd after 47 laps.
A favorite to win Sunday? No.
NASCAR announced this offseason that it will standardize at-track team rosters across all three national series in 2018, providing a structure for the number of personnel working on each vehicle during the course of a race weekend.
Official team rosters for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway (2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) have been unveiled.
Simply click the “print” icon above, next to the headline and social media icons, to get the full list.
RELATED: Overview of 2018 rules updates
Take a look at which drivers have the best 10-lap averages this weekend at Dover International Speedway in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. (Note: No drivers ran 10 consecutive laps in Friday’s opening practice.)
FINAL PRACTICE: Results
| Pos | Car | Driver | From Lap | To Lap | Avg Speed |
| 1 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | 1 | 10 | 155.880 |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | 1 | 10 | 155.584 |
| 3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 10 | 155.484 |
| 4 | 10 | Aric Almirola | 1 | 10 | 155.388 |
| 5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 2 | 11 | 155.378 |
| 6 | 24 | William Byron # | 1 | 10 | 155.263 |
| 7 | 9 | Chase Elliott | 1 | 10 | 155.143 |
| 8 | 41 | Kurt Busch | 1 | 10 | 155.063 |
| 9 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | 1 | 10 | 155.024 |
| 10 | 21 | Paul Menard | 1 | 10 | 154.895 |
| 11 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | 1 | 10 | 154.852 |
| 12 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | 2 | 11 | 154.841 |
| 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 1 | 10 | 154.782 |
| 14 | 42 | Kyle Larson | 1 | 10 | 154.571 |
| 15 | 20 | Erik Jones | 1 | 10 | 154.355 |
| 16 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 20 | 29 | 154.049 |
| 17 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | 1 | 10 | 154.025 |
| 18 | 22 | Joey Logano | 29 | 38 | 153.843 |
| 19 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1 | 10 | 153.805 |
| 20 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | 3 | 12 | 153.497 |
| 21 | 88 | Alex Bowman | 1 | 10 | 153.346 |
| 22 | 38 | David Ragan | 1 | 10 | 152.910 |
| 23 | 3 | Austin Dillon | 25 | 34 | 152.434 |
| 24 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | 1 | 10 | 152.058 |
| 25 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. # | 22 | 31 | 151.842 |
| 26 | 34 | Michael McDowell | 1 | 10 | 151.291 |
| 27 | 31 | Ryan Newman | 22 | 31 | 151.201 |
| 28 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | 17 | 26 | 151.143 |
| 29 | 13 | Ty Dillon | 20 | 29 | 150.763 |
| 30 | 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | 1 | 10 | 150.188 |
| 31 | 00 | Landon Cassill | 1 | 10 | 149.264 |
| 32 | 99 | * Derrike Cope | 13 | 22 | 143.531 |
PRACTICE 2: Results
| Pos | Car | Driver | From Lap | To Lap | Avg Speed |
| 1 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | 1 | 10 | 156.399 |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | 2 | 11 | 156.017 |
| 3 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 1 | 10 | 156.005 |
| 4 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1 | 10 | 155.845 |
| 5 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | 1 | 10 | 155.484 |
| 6 | 24 | William Byron # | 2 | 11 | 155.474 |
| 7 | 21 | Paul Menard | 1 | 10 | 155.431 |
| 8 | 9 | Chase Elliott | 1 | 10 | 155.391 |
| 9 | 88 | Alex Bowman | 1 | 10 | 155.080 |
| 10 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | 7 | 16 | 155.058 |
| 11 | 20 | Erik Jones | 3 | 12 | 154.965 |
| 12 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 4 | 13 | 154.861 |
| 13 | 41 | Kurt Busch | 31 | 40 | 154.729 |
| 14 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | 4 | 13 | 154.724 |
| 15 | 42 | Kyle Larson | 11 | 20 | 154.224 |
| 16 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | 21 | 30 | 153.828 |
| 17 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 20 | 29 | 153.777 |
| 18 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | 33 | 42 | 153.506 |
| 19 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. # | 6 | 15 | 153.211 |
| 20 | 3 | Austin Dillon | 25 | 34 | 152.937 |
| 21 | 31 | Ryan Newman | 19 | 28 | 152.794 |
| 22 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | 1 | 10 | 152.330 |
| 23 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | 18 | 27 | 152.312 |
| 24 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | 8 | 17 | 149.905 |
| 25 | 51 | Cody Ware (i) | 14 | 23 | 142.248 |
Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart.
* Required to qualify on time
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
# Indicates driver is running for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors
See where your favorite Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver will pit for Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
