Learn more about each driver who has made the postseason field
RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid
Breaking down the full field for the Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway:
1. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex dominated the first round of the Chase with two wins and a total of 360 laps led. The 78 team is a serious threat for the championship if its performance (and lack of bad luck/mistakes) continues. Grade: A+
2. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch earned his third top-10 finish in the Chase with a runner-up effort Sunday. Add in 102 laps led in Dover and the defending Sprint Cup Series champion is doing what’s necessary to get back to Homestead. Grade: A
3. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott continues to knock on the door by putting in quiet but solid runs. In a format that has proven consistency can carry a driver through each round, Elliott certainly looks like he can be this year’s beneficiary. Grade: A
4. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski started on the pole and led seven laps, but was hardly a factor. Still, he was near the top of the leaderboard at the end, and the 2012 champion is still in Chase contention. Grade: A
5. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Unlike last weekend when he finished second, Kenseth put in an unassuming day to grab his third consecutive top-nine finish. He’ll move on in the Chase with a chance at that elusive second title. Grade: A-
6. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano rounded out the Penske pair with a sixth-place finish after starting fifth. He’ll move on to the Round of 12, which he dominated in the Chase last year with three straight victories. Grade: A –
7. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson found himself in contention for a victory for the second time in three Chase races before a mistake on pit road cost him — again. This time it was by his crew. If Johnson is going to advance into the Round of 8 for the first time, the No. 48 team needs to get buttoned up. Grade: A-
8. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Problems for Kyle Larson aided his cause, but Dillon rose to the occasion to advance in the Chase. The No. 3 solidly improved throughout the day and scored its first top 10 in the Chase. Grade: A
9. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin has been only hot or cold at Dover — with little in between — and Sunday was just his eighth top-10 finish in 22 starts. Grade: A-
10. Jeff Gordon, No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. It took Gordon seven starts to earn a top 10 filling for Dale Earnhardt Jr this season. He also led seven laps during a cycle of green flag pit stops. Grade: A-
11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. The good news? Stenhouse steadily climbed the leaderboard on Sunday. The bad news? He hasn’t had a top-10 finish since Bristol in August. Grade: B+
12. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne was the worst of the Hendrick cars while finishing outside the top 10 for the first time in five races. Grade: B+
13. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart’s late-season slide continued with his seventh consecutive finish outside the top 10 — as well as his elimination from the Chase in his final season of full-time Sprint Cup driving. Grade: B
14. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards admittedly struggled in this first round of the Chase (with finishes of 15th, sixth and 14th) and has plenty of work to do if he’s going to keep up with his Toyota teammates from here on out. Grade: B
15. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. An unimpressive first round for Busch, who was the first car two laps down in Dover. Now it’s time to improve upon just two top-10 finishes in the last five races. Grade: B
16. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Through 29 races (30 straight if you go back to last season), Almirola has still not scored a top-10 finish. Grade: B-
17. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. After fighting for a spot in the Chase, Newman has been a non-story the last three weeks. He was up and down the leaderboard throughout the race, but wound up finishing around where he started (19th). Grade: B-
18. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Green flag pit stops helped Biffle lead seven laps. He ended the day the first car four laps down. Grade: B-
19. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Sunday was Allmendinger’s first top-20 finish at Dover since the spring 2012 race. Grade: B-
20. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne stayed out of trouble and now has two top-20 finishes in four career Dover starts. Grade: B-
21. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Scott earned a career-best Dover finish on Sunday in addition to picking up his first top-25 finish in six races. Grade: B-
22. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Pairing with crew chief Danny Stockman still has not brought the consistency or improvement Menard and company are looking for. Grade: C
23. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Buescher’s best Chase finish wasn’t enough to carry the him through to the next round as the Cinderella story came to an end in Dover. Grade: B-
24. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Bowyer was oh-so close, but his streak of consecutive 22nd-place finishes ended at four Sunday. Grade: C
25. Kyle Larson, No. 42, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Lightning did not strike twice for Larson at Dover (where he finished second in May), as his Chase came to an end following repeated miscues. A power problem led to a pit road penalty and Larson later hit the wall to end up six laps down. Grade: C
26. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears has little to add to his Dover notebook after duplicating his finish from May. Grade: C
27. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto earned his best Dover finish in four starts there. Grade: C
28. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick now has finished 25th or worse in four of her nine Dover starts. Grade: C-
29. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Cassill is now on a three-race streak of finishing 29th, nice. Grade: C-
30. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Ragan was eight laps back and remains 31st in points. Grade: C-
31. Regan Smith, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Smith was the first car nine laps down. Grade: C-
32. Ty Dillon, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing. Sunday was Dillon’s worst finish in his 10 Sprint Cup starts this season. Grade: C-
33. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett has not finished in the top 30 in the last four races. Grade: D
34. Timmy Hill, No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Hill finished 14 laps off the pace. Grade: D
35. Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Toyota, Premium Motorsports. Sorenson finished where he ran (35.33) throughout the event on Sunday. Grade: D
36. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 32 Ford, Go Fas Racing. Earnhardt finished 16 laps off the pace in his second Dover start. Grade: D
37. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Locked into the Round of 12 in the Chase after winning in New Hampshire, Harvick was unaffected by a broken track bar mount that led to him finishing 46 laps down. Grade: F
38. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney hit the wall hard off Turn 2 when he blew a tire on Lap 106. Grade: F
39. Josh Wise, No. 30 Chevrolet, The Motorsports Group. Wise earned his sixth DNF of the season following a blown engine. Grade: F
40. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. McMurray went from looking like he had a spot in the Round of 12 to missing the cut after his engine expired on Lap 194. Grade: F
Name: Jennifer
Current City: Temecula, California
Member since: 2008
Getting to know Jennifer
Q. Why did you join the Official NASCAR Fan Council?
“I wanted a chance to voice my opinion on this sport and to have an active role in giving fans a voice.”
Q. How did you first become interested in NASCAR?
“NASCAR is special for me because it brings families together each weekend.”
Q: Do you have any favorite NASCAR memories or traditions?
“My Dad and I are season ticket holders at Auto Club Speedway. For one weekend every year we get to spend quality time together enjoying the excitement all around the track. Listening to the Anthem being sung, watching the flyover and cheering or booing drivers brings a smile to my face and making memories with my Dad tops it all.”
Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?
Driver: “Jamie McMurray“
Tracks: “Auto Club Speedway“
Memorabilia: “My 2 signed McMurray cars”
Q: If you could go to any NASCAR race/track, where would you go?
“Bristol for sure!!”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
“I love to read and ride horses.”
Q: What’s your dream car?
“1957 Ford T-Bird.”
From all of us at NASCAR, we thank Jennifer for her continued support and look forward to hearing from her in 2016.
RELATED: Watch the live stream here | Dover results | Standings | Chase grid
NASCAR.com will live stream post-race inspection Tuesday from 8-11:30 a.m. ET at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.
Tune in for a three-hour view of the inspection floor of the 61,000-square-foot shop, bringing you behind the scenes as NASCAR officials tear down and inspect Sprint Cup Series vehicles following Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway.
The cars selected for further evaluation at the R&D Center this week are:
— The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of race winner Martin Truex Jr.
— The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of second-place finisher Kyle Busch.
— The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick.
— The No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet of Tony Stewart
— The No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Austin Dillon.
For more details about the inspection process, click here.
Four NASCAR teams will converge Tuesday and Wednesday for a Goodyear tire test at Martinsville Speedway, the lone short track left on the Sprint Cup Series schedule.
The four teams invited will help confirm the tire compound for the Oct. 30 Goody’s Fast Relief 500, the seventh event in the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. Those participating at the .526-mile track are:
Two tests remain on the Sprint Cup schedule for the rest of the year.
Another Goodyear tire test is scheduled at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 17, the day after the 1.5-mile track completes its second NASCAR weekend of the year. NASCAR is also scheduled to conduct an organizational test Oct. 18-19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, site of the season finales for all three national series as part of Ford Championship Weekend.
What channel is the NASCAR race on this week? We answer that and provide all the weekly NASCAR television listings here.
RELATED: Find NBCSN in your area
All times ET
Monday, October 3
1:30 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lane, FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7:30 p.m., NASCAR 120, NBCSN
Tuesday, October 4
5:30 p.m., Racing Roots, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Wednesday, October 5
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Thursday, October 6
Noon, NASCAR: The List “Memorable Moments” (re-air), NBCSN
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Series: Stafford Motor Speedway (taped), NBCSN
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, NBCSN
3 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, NBCSN
4 p.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series: Dover International Speedway (taped), NBCSN
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
5:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN
Friday, October 7
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, NBCSN CANCELED
4:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN CANCELED
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, NBCSN CANCELED
7:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN
8 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC, NBCSN POSTPONED TO SUNDAY
10:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Post-Race Show, NBCSN
Saturday, October 8
5 p.m., NASCAR America Saturday, NBCSN
Sunday, October 8
11 a.m., Pre-race show, NBCSN
Noon, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500, NBC
4:30 p.m. (approx.), NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC, NBCSN
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Oct. 3, 2016) — Richard Childress Racing (RCR) has enlisted NASCAR Digital Media (NDM) to oversee design and development of the organization’s new website, the companies announced today. The new rcrracing.com will soft launch in December followed by a full rollout in early 2017.
RCR undertook a rigorous search process, interviewing more than 10 agencies and web design firms before awarding the project to NDM. In doing so, RCR becomes the first race team to collaborate with the fast-growing NDM on a website build.
The fully customized site will feature an improved user experience and compelling, original content to enhance the overall digital experience for fans of RCR and its stable of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers.
“Our digital efforts have become a major focus for RCR and many of our partners over the past few years,” said Ben Schlosser, Chief Marketing Officer of RCR. “We needed a contemporary website which allows us to fully showcase engaging content for our fans and partners. RCR looked at a number of qualified digital providers and chose NDM because of their proven approach and the compelling opportunities to collaborate on content. We understand that NDM is discussing similar projects with other race teams and we’re proud to be the leader in the effort.”
NDM will build rcrracing.com to accommodate RCR’s growing number of fans across multiple devices, with a flexible design offering multiple ways to present content. The revamped site will feature driver-specific content, complete race and driver schedules, videos, photo galleries, race updates and more.
“As the NASCAR digital platform continues to expand, we’re making more of our capabilities available to partners,” said NASCAR Digital Media Vice President Colin Smith. “Richard Childress Racing drivers have loyal and passionate fan followings, and we’re uniquely positioned to help the team better engage those audiences across a constantly evolving digital landscape.”
NDM has led a myriad of successful digital initiatives since NASCAR reacquired its digital rights and launched a new platform in 2013. The flagship site, NASCAR.com, is the sport’s premier destination for fans and in 2016 the platform will eclipse one billion page views for the third consecutive year.
Through this partnership, RCR will have access to NDM’s content management system that allows developers to publish timely content across creatively designed layouts. The team will benefit from other tools to drive fan engagement, including data-driven insight from daily digital interactions with NASCAR fans, industry and sponsors.
The announcement represents another step in the continued growth and evolution of NDM, which plans to work with more race teams on website builds in the future. Earlier this year, NASCAR announced that NDM will bring all digital advertising sales and operations in house, beginning January 1, 2017.
RELATED: Results | Chase Grid | Who’s in, who’s out
DOVER, Del. — There was no talk of points, according to Austin Dillon, until there were 10 laps remaining in Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway.
By then the Richard Childress Racing driver was close enough to entertain thoughts of advancing to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup.
“They said I was 11 to the good,” Dillon, 26, said, “and that was about it. I didn’t want to listen to it really. I knew what we had to do.”
Dillon earned the 12th and final Chase spot, staving off elimination with an eighth-place finish on the 1-mile concrete oval. His first Chase appearance will now include his first advancement to the second round.
Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota) and Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet) were already locked in to the Round of 12 with victories at Chicagoland and New Hampshire, respectively.
Dillon was one of 14 hoping for either a trip to Victory Lane or the points necessary to advance.
In the end, the points did the trick.
Once the race was over and Dillon and the others had made their way to pit road, the former XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series champion quickly climbed from his car and rushed over to hug and exchange high-fives with crew members.
“We have been working hard as a team and I have been working hard as a driver to make myself better,” Dillon said. “This series is very tough and I think the biggest thing was not giving up. We could have given up in that second practice (on Saturday) when it was raining and drizzling.
“I got frustrated and just tried to calm myself down and believe in what we were doing as a team.”
The result?
“Man, we got it done,” he said.
He had been 14th at Chicago and 16th at New Hampshire, leaving his Chase future as cloudy as the skies that hung over DIS for much of the weekend.
But in a race that saw only four cautions — and none in the second half — he kept his wits, his team made no mistakes on pit road and now it’s on to the next round.
“It feels good,” he said. “It’s time to knock some more of these guys out, because we’ve got this opportunity. … I want to say that we’re going to be the underdog in this next round, so let’s go do it.”
In addition to Truex, Harvick and Dillon, others advancing are defending series champion Kyle Busch along with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards; Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski; Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports); and Kurt Busch (SHR).
Those failing to advance were three-time champion Tony Stewart (SHR), Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson as well as Front Row Motorsports wheelman Chris Buescher.
RELATED: Race results | Chase Grid
DOVER, Del. — The final margin was of little consequence. Tony Stewart would either be in or out after 400 miles at Dover International Speedway.
In, and he would be one those advancing to the Round of 12, the second elimination round in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Out, and he would have no chance to end his NASCAR Sprint Cup career as a four-time series champion.
Stewart was out.
Exiting his car, he was flanked by media as he made his way down pit road, through the garage, up the stairs and out of sight.
“I’m pretty excited about our day,” Stewart said. “We were much better than we were yesterday. Really proud of our team.
“We kept making (the car) better all day. That is good as we had.”
His 13th-place finish in Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 was fitting; the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet wasn’t a top-10 car. It was a top-15 and that was that. He didn’t challenge for the lead, but he didn’t have any problems staying ahead of a good portion of the field either.
It was the other fast few for which Stewart and his team had no answer. Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota) won handily, and Chase drivers took the top nine spots.
Not that some of those in the 16-driver Chase field didn’t have their problems — both Chip Ganassi Racing entries with drivers Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson were among the four not advancing as well as Stewart and Chris Buescher (Front Row Motorsports).
Stewart was a long shot to get in, outside the top 12 in points before the race went green and outside when the checkered flew.
Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) didn’t falter and stayed well enough ahead of Stewart to secure the final transfer spot.
RELATED: Stewart comments on Austin’s speed
“That’s all we had guys,” Stewart radioed his team after crossing the finish line.
“Much better than yesterday,” crew chief Mike Bugarewicz replied, referencing a limited practice session on the 1-mile concrete oval.
Stewart is the winner of 49 premier series races and it’s not unthinkable that he could return to Victory Lane at some point with seven races remaining.
He has the talent and the team to do that. But it wouldn’t be as a championship contender. For Stewart, that’s one Chase that’s ended.
DOVER, Del. — Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates entered Sunday’s race at Dover International Speedway with both drivers — Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson — seemingly on their way to advancing in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
They left with 25th- and 40th-place finishes and no drivers in the Chase.
And there certainly was plenty of disappointment.
“Horrible day for our organization,” McMurray said, as he stood in the garage midway through the event while his team worked feverishly to repair the No. 1 Chevrolet.
An electrical issue, believed to be the result of a valve train failure, began creating problems for the No. 1 team around Lap 73 of the 400-lap event in the form of a vibration. It returned about 70 laps later, as McMurray & Co. tried to keep the car on track as long as possible.
“You have wishful thinking at that point,” McMurray said. “No one wants to stay out and blow up, not to oil the track down. Also it’s hard to diagnose the problem if the motor’s blown up. Because you’re in a position this weekend where you just have to go for it and what you hope is you’ve got something as simple as a plug wire or a spark plug that you can replace and the motor’s not going to grenade. We came here and looked at it, and actually on the digital dash, we have a little diagnosis page and nothing is showing up, so we didn’t know what was wrong. We were just going to salvage as long as we could.”
Circumstances went from slightly hopeful to dismal, as McMurray reported being down one cylinder, then two, before his No. 1 Chevrolet ultimately blew its motor, smoke billowing to bring out the caution flag and end his day prematurely. McMurray’s teammate, Larson, finished the race, but a string of unfortunate events led to the No. 42 missing out on the next round of the Chase and handing the final spot to Austin Dillon.
“Nice Christmas present for Austin there, by both Ganassi cars,” Larson said on pit road after the race.
Larson’s monster-sized battle began at Lap 38 when his No. 42 Chevrolet lost power. After a stop on pit road, his car was able to get running again — but too many men over the wall forced Larson to serve a pass-through penalty that left him facing an uphill battle.
“I guess my whole stock car career kind of piled up into the first 50 laps there with bad luck,” Larson said. “We probably would have been all right if we didn’t have too many men over the wall because we only lost a lap getting the battery back going good and then I had to do the drive-through and lost another two laps.
“So, once you get down more than one lap really, you’re kind of screwed here. We just kept fighting — well, I mean, not really I guess fighting; there wasn’t much we could do.”
Larson’s early departure from the Chase particularly came as a surprise. Many picked the 24-year-old driver as a dark horse to win the championship this season after his first career win at Michigan. And both Larson and McMurray have shown promise and speed in recent weeks.
McMurray takes comfort in that.
“(It’s) very unfortunate and (I’m) disappointed but very proud of the organization,” McMurray said. “Where our cars started the year at and where we are right now, we made huge progress.
“If you race every single weekend, you know that the most frustrating part of the sport is to run bad. And the fact that we’ve run so well, we’ll just have things like that happen. So, nobody’s down — we’re frustrated, mad, that we’re still here watching the race but having good cars is what it’s really all about.”
His teammate echoed his sentiments.
“We have good speed with our race team and the Target Chevrolet is fast week in and week out,” Larson said. “So I can still run for a top-five in points. I think I can finish fifth at best. So we are going to try and do everything we can to do that or at least try and finish as high up as we can and get a couple of wins.
“I still have some really good tracks for me that are left in the Chase. So we are just going to dig deep and work hard and try and get ourselves some more wins.”
After the crowd cleared, Larson sat on the wall and talked with his crew members. It may be the end of his Chase run, but not his season.
Time to get to work.