After a rough April, Truex buoyed by past Dover success

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Holly Cain

Dover, Del. — Martin Truex Jr. fully concedes that Dover International Speedway feels like home to him.

The reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion and New Jersey native scored his first career Cup victory in only his third start on the notoriously tough Dover miler, then won again in 2016. In the last eight races at the track he has seven top-10 finishes. The eighth? An 11th place. He’s led a combined 518 laps in the last six races and has led at least 100 laps three times during that span.

If that provides a dose of optimism for Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism (2 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Truex, 38, and his Furniture Row Racing team will certainly take it. He’s had a rough April, crashing out in three of the last four races including last Sunday at Talladega.

“First time I came here, I fell in love with the track and I think any time you like a place you tend to understand it better and are able to just figure it out just a little bit quicker,” Truex said of Dover.

“I guess coming up through the ranks figuring out the feel that I needed at this race track and what it took to be successful is something that I’ve carried through all the teams I’ve raced for and all the series I’ve raced in here. Been able to use that throughout the years to be successful and I feel like the numbers don’t even show really the success that we’ve had at this track.

“I’ve had so many really good races end in heartbreak here, and of course we’ve won a few along the way as well, so it’s not been stats-wise I guess — I don’t even know if it’s my best track — but definitely performance-wise I think it’s up there with one of our best.”

Dover is one of four tracks where Truex has multiple wins. And he’s won three pole positions here — second only to Ryan Newman’s four among active drivers. More than half of his 24 starts have resulted in top-10 finishes (13) and another telling statistic at this traditionally tough venue — Truex has only two DNFs in 12 years of Cup racing here.

His driver rating (97.2) is fifth best in the field — and that’s with two drivers — Chase Elliott (four) and Kyle Larson (eight) — ranked higher with only 12 starts between the two of them.

All that said, Truex smiled Friday when asked if he has Dover all figured out.

“It’s very challenging — one of the most challenging on the circuit just from a standpoint of how it can bite you, how hard you have to attack all the time and, you know, the consequences when you mess up are pretty bad here,” he acknowledged.

“It’s definitely a difficult track in that mindset. For me coming here initially, it took a while to get up the nerve to get to where I needed to make the car. It was like, ‘OK, I keep going and driving harder and harder and harder and the car still wants me to go faster,’ you know?”

Truex knows what he needs to do. He scored five top-five finishes in the first six races of the season, including his first win of the year (from the pole position at Fontana, Calif.) He led the points standings for the first time since hoisting the 2017 Monster Energy Cup following that California victory.

But the last four weeks, his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota team has suffered through uncharacteristically tough luck. He’s had three finishes of 26th or worse — including a 37th place finish at Texas Motor Speedway where he completed only 80 of the 334 laps.

He’s ranked ninth in the standings entering Sunday’s race, the lowest he’s been since a 12th place in the season-opening Daytona 500. He wasn’t ranked lower than seventh all last season after a 17th-place showing the 2016 Daytona 500, and he led the Cup standings for the final 19 weeks of the season en route to claiming his first championship.

“I think that I’d say our sport probably changes more week-to-week than it does year-to-year,” Truex said. “So we’ve had four tough races in a row right now and we’re ninth in points. … You’re only as good as your last race ,so they say, and right now I wouldn’t say we’re the hunted — I’d say we’re the hunters.”

Posted on May 4, 2018 by

DOVER, Del. – Kyle Larson’s blistering-fast 158.103-mph lap put him on the pole for Sunday’s AAA Drive for Autism 400 at Dover International Speedway — and also marked the first non-restrictor plate pole for Chevrolet this season.

At this point in the season last year, Larson had nabbed a pole and started first three times (with rain washing away qualifying efforts at 2017’s Martinsville and Bristol spring races).

“We’ve always qualified good here, have yet to get a pole and raced well here and have yet to get a win, so maybe we’ll get both out of the way this weekend,” Larson told FS1 after nabbing the top spot.

Chevrolet’s quest for speed has yet to be fully successful this year with drivers like Larson and seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson still searching for their first wins in the new Camaro ZL1. Through 10 races this season, only Austin Dillon’s Daytona 500 win featured a Chevrolet in Victory Lane.

But Dover is a place where the Chevrolets could flex their muscle; the “bowtie” has won seven of the last 10 races at the Monster Mile, with Johnson accounting for four of those wins and reaching Victory Lane in this race last season. Larson and fellow Chevrolet driver Chase Elliott, who will start sixth, also ranked 1-2 in the second round of qualifying.

Larson attributed his first pole of the season to the strides his team has made this season.

“Our team’s been working really hard to make our cars better and better,” he said. “Each race we’ve gone to, they’ve been excited about the race cars that they’ve brought to the track because they’ve been steps in the right direction of more downforce or whatever. So, it’s cool to see it really paying off with us getting the pole. It’s still a long weekend left; starting up front is a very important thing here, it can get tough to pass and all that. …

“Looking forward to practice tomorrow, get some laps in race trim and see what we got for Sunday.”

Posted on May 4, 2018May 4, 2018 by Reid Spencer

DOVER, Del. – In a sport where differences are often measured in thousandths, Kyle Larson was in firm control of Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying session at Dover International Speedway — after an adjustment between the first and second rounds at least.

Larson charged around the high-banked one-mile concrete track in 22.770 seconds (158.103 mph) to earn the pole position for Sunday’s AAA 400. Saving his fastest lap for the third and final round, Larson was the only driver to top 158 mph during the session.

RELATED: Qualifying results | At-track photos

Kevin Harvick, a three-time winner in 2018, earned the second position on the grid with a lap at 157.494 mph (22.858 seconds). Reigning series champion Martin Truex Jr. from Mayetta, New Jersey, qualified third at 157.432 mph at the venue he considers his home track.

Larson’s No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was too loose in the first round, drifted to the tight side in the second — though he was still able to lead the round at 157.432 mph. In the third round, however, the team found the sweet spot for Larson’s Camaro ZL1.

“I felt like I nailed that lap pretty good,” Larson said of his effort in the money round. “Everything from coming to the green to (Turns) 1 and 2 were really good. (Turns) 3 and 4, I maybe left a little bit out there. I got in there a little hot and up the track. I planned on kind of moving up the race track each round.

“The first round caught me of guard. I was really loose getting in, but they made great adjustments on the DC Solar Chevy throughout the next two rounds. The second round we were probably a little too tight, but they kind of found the happy medium there for the final round. So, I’m happy about that. We’ve always qualified good here. I had yet to get a pole. I’ve raced well here but have yet to get a win. Maybe we’ll get both out of the way this weekend.”

In fact, Larson has scored top-five finishes in four of his eight starts at the Monster Mile, including seconds in each of the last two spring races. His average finishing position is 7.9.

The Busch Pole Award is Larson’s first of the season, the fifth of his career and his first at a track shorter than two miles.

With a career average starting position of 16.7 at Dover, Harvick was happy to put his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford on the front row.

“We’re feeling good about qualifying well,” Harvick said. “That’s not been something that we’ve done 100-percent great here. We’ve qualified OK. It definitely goes a long way in helping get your day started.

“This is definitely a race track that can take a while to work your way up the field, so you don’t want to dig yourself a hole early on. They made the car better all three rounds. We ran our fastest lap at the end. I lost a lot of time in (Turns) 1 and 2. I got myself hung a little higher and longer than I needed to finish the corner. Still a good lap for us and I’m looking forward to race runs.”

Kyle Busch claimed the fourth position on the grid. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski will start from the fifth through eighth positions, respectively.

Jimmie Johnson, an 11-time winner at Dover who hopes to jump-start a heretofore lackluster season, will have to do so from the 19th starting spot.

Posted on May 4, 2018May 4, 2018 by Reid Spencer

Jamie McMurray is none the worse for wear after his car got airborne during practice last week at Talladega.

The impact from the nose of Ryan Newman’s car launched McMurray’s machine into the air. The car rolled six times and hit the inside catch fence on the backstretch before settling upright on the apron. The car landed upright, and McMurray emerged unhurt.

RELATED: Full schedule for Dover

In fact, he felt good enough to go on a 60-mile bike ride up North Carolina’s Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.

“It’s crazy to have a wreck that it that spectacular to watch and that many flips and tumbles and I really didn’t even have a bruise on my body,” McMurray said on Friday at Dover. “I got to look at the car on Monday, and it’s amazing how much the roll cage was smashed in, but then how everything around me was still perfect. I actually got our whole fab shop and the guys together on Tuesday when I was at the shop to thank everyone.”

Posted on May 4, 2018May 4, 2018 by Reid Spencer

Admittedly, the sample size is small, but Dover International speedway is one of Daniel Suarez’s best Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series tracks.

In his 2017 rookie season at NASCAR’s top level, Suarez qualified third and fifth and finished sixth and eighth in his two appearances at the Monster Mile. And he comes to Dover this week after consecutive results of 11th, 10th and 10th at Bristol, Richmond and Talladega, respectively.

After a sluggish start to the season, which included a crash in the Daytona 500 that knocked him out of the race on Lap 60, Suarez has climbed to 21st in the series standings over the last two weeks.

“Definitely, the first month and half of so of the season was a little rough,” Suarez said on Friday at Dover. “We had speed pretty much everywhere we were going. We just had a lot of inconsistency, and for whatever reason, we were not doing a good job putting ourselves in a good position by the end of the races — getting involved in different accidents or just not good positions.

“And I feel like I was putting maybe a little bit too much pressure on myself to try to do well. The last month or so, I’ve been just more relaxed and doing just this without expecting to be great, and things are coming our way again. The speed, like I said, has been there pretty much the entire year. It’s just the results and the consistency, but it seems like now we’re heading in the right direction.”

Suarez also believes qualifying for the Playoff is a distinct possibility.

“Playoff position? Oh, yeah, there’s plenty of time,” he said. “I feel like it’s still very early.”

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Reid Spencer

DOVER, Del. — No matter how much he’d like to, Joey Logano knows he’ll never be able to escape his spectacular past at Dover International Speedway.

Nine years ago, last Sunday’s Talladega winner was the victim of a crash that still is a focal point in video highlights of the track. Driving the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing at the time, Logano was turned into the outside wall and barrel-rolled five times down the high-banked concrete track, with his mangled car coming to rest on the apron.

“It is a spectacular moment here,” Logano acknowledged. “Unfortunately, when people think of Joey Logano and Dover, they think of that big crash. Even if I win, I still think people will think of that crash. That’s just what happens until someone else barrel-rolls.

“I hope that doesn’t happen to anybody. Oh, well. It was so long ago that it doesn’t bother me. It is what it is.”

It didn’t take the speedway long to incorporate Logano’s wreck into its marketing program.

“I always thought the funniest part was when I came back here the next race, and they had the race program with Miles the Monster, and it had Miles the Monster holding my car in his hand and when you moved the cover, the monster slammed my car into the ground.

“Thanks, Dover! We’re good now, though.”

Posted on May 4, 2018May 4, 2018 by Holly Cain

DOVER, Del. – If it were as simple as good vibes producing great results, Californian Jimmie Johnson would be a sure-bet to end a 33-race trophy drought at Dover this weekend.

MORE: Full schedule at Dover | Is Johnson king of the Monster Mile?

But it takes more than just positive energy. Yes, Johnson, 42, conceded, he is encouraged by a string of three consecutive top-12 finishes entering the weekend. And he always feels a sense of calm arriving at the notoriously tough “Monster Mile,” where he has been absolutely dominant over the course of his career. Eleven trophies will do that for you. He is one shy of having as many Dover wins as Sunday’s entire starting field – combined.

“With it being my best track and the love I have for this place, I’m always excited to come, but trying to get the No. 48 [Lowe’s for Pros] car back into Victory Lane, I can take a little pressure off myself here knowing that the rhythm-style and the way you drive this track and the set-up for the car,” Johnson said Friday.

“We’ll get it close, and history shows that. Hopefully we get it perfect and we can have the day that we really want to have and get back to Victory Lane. But it does take a little pressure off me knowing that this is my best track and knowing that this is my favorite track.”

MORE: Analyzing Jimmie’s Dover success | Who is Lydia Johnson’s favorite driver?

As he spoke Friday morning from the track, Johnson was his typically calm, optimistic and realistic self. And in the midst of everyone else’s “concerns” that he hasn’t won since the Dover spring race last year – the longest time in his career between wins – he also issued a good reminder for his fans and the race pundits to stay calm.

His historic tally of 11 wins at Dover, his seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championships – including an unprecedented five straight from 2006-2010 – are remarkable accomplishments.

And with 83 wins – nearly twice as many as the next closest active driver – Johnson is a single victory from tying NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip on the all-time list. That big number could come this week.

“I think I’m doomed, regardless, right now,” Johnson acknowledged, a bit tongue in cheek. He added, “I mean it doesn’t matter the track or the result unless it’s a win, and lots of wins.

“I think we have created an environment of very high expectations because of the success we’ve had and I think people forget how special our run has been and we certainly want to get back into those ways and have it happen again. But history shows it doesn’t happen very often. And we’re very fortunate to harness lightning for a long stretch of time.

“The encouraging news is we are making our cars better each and every week. I’m more of a realist in where we’re at and what we’re doing, and reflect back and think damn, we had it really good for a while and it was really special. But we’re a victim of our own success, and I hope to create the headlines that we want and the headlines being along the lines of, ‘Well, they should have won. It was Dover.’”

Posted on May 4, 2018May 4, 2018 by Staff Report

Paul Menard landed the top spot on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leaderboard in Friday morning’s opening practice at Dover International Speedway.

Menard wheeled the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford to a best lap of 159.830 mph on the 1-mile concrete layout.

Defending race winner Jimmie Johnson was second-fastest in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet, posting a 159.440-mph lap in the final minute of practice. Kevin Harvick was third-fastest in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford, with series points leader Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski completing the top five in first preparation for Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism (2 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Defending series champ Martin Truex Jr. claimed the sixth-fastest lap in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota.

A backlog of cars in opening inspection forced several teams to be late in joining the 50-minute session. Just one team served a 15-minute deduction in opening practice, the Premium Motorsports No. 15 Chevrolet of Ross Chastain.

Corey LaJoie’s TriStar Motorsports No. 72 Chevrolet slowed in a trail of smoke off Turn 2, forcing a red flag with roughly five minutes left in the session. The stoppage for clean-up of the fluid prompted series officials to extend practice, going back to green-flag conditions for an extra three minutes.

Busch Pole Qualifying for the Monster Energy Series is scheduled Friday at 3:20 p.m. ET (FS1).

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Staff Report

Hendrick Motorsports comes into Dover International Speedway’s race weekend with optimism, with Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott leading the charge of likely contenders.

But Johnson indicated Friday morning that his teammate may have a rooting section from a close-to-home source — his 4-year-old daughter, Lydia.

“Chase is a great guy and Lydia’s favorite driver, but it’s time for Dad to win,” Johnson said.

Whether that vote of confidence from the youngest of the Johnson clan means Elliott is her favorite besides her father remains untold. But family favoritism aside, both Hendrick teammates have statistical reasons for hope in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism (2 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM). Johnson is the defending race winner with 11 of his 83 career wins coming at the Monster Mile.

Elliott, meanwhile, has finished among the top five in all four of his career Monster Energy Series starts at Dover, including a runner-up result last October.

It seems a Victory Lane trip for either driver on Sunday would prompt some cheering from within the Johnson household.

Posted on May 4, 2018May 4, 2018 by Staff Report

Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race start time Dover International Speedway has been bumped up an hour with the threat of inclement weather looming.

The OneMain Financial 200 now has a start time of 12:30 p.m. ET. The race will be televised on FS1, with radio coverage on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and Motor Racing Network. The facility does not have lights, so there is no possibility of extending the race day well into the night if weather hits.

The remainder of Saturday’s schedule was also essentially moved up an hour earlier. Monster Energy Series practice now kicks off the day at 8:30 a.m. ET. The full list of updates can be found here.

RELATED: TV schedule for the week

Dover, a 1-mile concrete oval in Delaware, is site of the 11th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend of the year. The Monster Energy Series race, scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET start Sunday on FS1, is also unchanged for now.

The “Monster Mile” hosts a tripleheader this weekend, with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returning to action for the first time since late March. The Truck Series race remains on scheduled for 5 p.m. ET Friday night.

PHOTOS: Memorable Dover moments