Since 2014, the NASCAR Hall of Fame has invited the most recent Cup Series champion to participate in its Voting Day process. This year, there will be two.
Reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson will cast his ballot when the voting panel convenes Wednesday afternoon in uptown Charlotte, helping to select the three honorees for the Hall’s Class of 2023. He’ll be joined on the panel by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, the series’ 2020 champion. The newly elected class will be announced at the Hall of Fame at 5 p.m. ET.
The inclusion of both Larson and Elliott came after COVID-19 interrupted the yearly balloting. The Class of 2021 was chosen through a virtual voting process just three months after the pandemic’s outbreak in 2020. COVID-19 concerns postponed those induction ceremonies until January this year and forced the cancelation of voting for a potential Class of 2022.
To ensure that Elliott also received the perk that was intended to come with his first Cup Series title, the Hall of Fame’s directors added him to the list for this year’s voting panel.
“Yeah, I just appreciate them remembering me, letting me do it,” Elliott said during the Cup Series’ recent trip to Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track. “So I’m excited. It’s a great honor to have, and I really think it’s one of the cooler honors that you have of being champion and that they let you be a part of.”
Jimmie Johnson was the first sitting Cup Series champion to have a hand in Hall of Fame Voting Day, adding his ballot for the Class of 2014 after claiming his sixth title. He rejoined the voting panel after securing his record-tying seventh championship in 2016. Kyle Busch is the only other driver to participate twice as defending Cup Series champ (2015, 2019).
Elliott and Larson are both newcomers as recent first-time champions, and both said they plan to study up on the accomplishments of this year’s 15 nominees, plus the lives of the five individuals who will be considered for the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.
“So I have a lot of homework to do and probably need to ask some questions to other panel members,” Elliott said, “because for me, you know, there’s a lot of names on the list that I’m not super familiar with their careers, and there’s some names that I am, just because I was old enough to watch them race. But just because I was old enough to watch them race doesn’t make them any more or less qualified to go in, just because of the time and the popularity of the sport shouldn’t be the only reason a guy gets voted in. So yeah, we’ll see, but I’m excited to be part of the process.”
Larson said he wasn’t aware he would be part of the process until he was notified last month, shortly after the nominees and the voting panel for the Class of 2023 were announced. Like Elliott, Larson said he plans to conduct his own research to be a better-informed voter when the ballots are handed out.
“Chase and I are both on it this year, so maybe get to bounce some notes off of each other, but either way, it’s just a cool honor and something that I look forward to,” Larson said. “I mean, there’s a lot of people I feel like I don’t even know about, so for me, I’ll do a lot of studying and it’d be cool to be a fan and trying to learn about some of the people’s histories and what they’ve done on the race track as well as off the race track that maybe deserves the right to get into the Hall of Fame.”
Hamlin’s latest bout with misfortune in his so-far surreal NASCAR Cup Series season left him with a 21st-place finish in Monday’s conclusion to the DuraMAX Drydene 400. It’s his sixth finish outside the top 20 in 11 races to date this year.
“I just can’t believe this, man,” Hamlin told his Joe Gibbs Racing team during the Stage 2 break as his crew repaired his No. 11 Toyota.
Hamlin led 55 of the 78 laps Sunday before rain pushed the 400-miler to a next-day finish. He added 12 more laps in front in taking the green-checkered flag at Lap 120 of 400, notching his second stage win of the season.
Hamlin’s advantage fizzled during the round of Stage 1 pit stops. His No. 11 Camry left pit road first, but did so without its left-front wheel, forcing him back to pit road for a replacement.
“A lug nut came out of the gun, and we did not know it until it was too late, obviously,” No. 11 crew chief Chris Gabehart told Hamlin over the radio after the incident. “It is what it is.”
Hamlin lined up 29th for the start of Stage 2. He had worked his way back up to fourth place near the stage’s end when collected by the spinning No. 51 Ford of Cody Ware, prompting a caution period on Lap 243.
Hamlin’s car sported a right-side gash that his crew taped up. He limped to the finish, one lap down.
“Everybody showed a lot of speed today,” Gabehart said on the No. 11 radio during the cool-down lap. “This is what we’re capable of. We’ve just gotta get hot when it matters. We know what we’ve got. Get ready to go at the next one.”
Hamlin has one victory this season, a triumph he posted April 3 at Richmond Raceway. But that remains his only top-10 finish, a nettlesome record that has him 23rd in the Cup Series points.
Hamlin actually gained a spot in the pecking order Monday, but further movement up the standings will likely come with a short-term shift in his No. 11 team’s personnel. The guidelines of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book require four-race suspensions for each the crew chief and two crew members (jack, tire changer). This week’s penalty report would formally confirm those suspensions.
Through the first 10 races of the Cup Series season, just about anything that could go wrong did go wrong for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Entering Dover, Stenhouse was mired in 31st place in the championship standings, the lowest he’s ever been at this point of the season. The goal for Dover was simply to score a top-15 finish, something the No. 47 team had done just once through the opening 10 races of 2022.
Fortunately for the single-car JTG Daugherty Racing team, Stenhouse is solid on concrete tracks, having standout runs in the past at Bristol Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway and Dover Motor Speedway.
“It’s always been fun coming to these tracks,” Stenhouse said. “The car is always on edge and you can push the front tires too far, overwork the rear tires. I feel like sliding around plays into my hands and not having a lot of grip.”
It sure looked like Stenhouse had a lot of grip in Monday’s DuraMAX Drydene 400, though. The speed started on Saturday, when the No. 47 Chevrolet laid down the 15th-quickest lap in qualifying, his second-best effort of the season. And he remained competitive from the drop of the flag, moving up to 12th by the end of the opening stage. The second stage was even better, as he charged the No. 47 car up to fifth, and would have fared better had a caution flag late in the stage not come out.
For the entire second half of the race, Stenhouse hovered around the top five. And when eventual race winner Chase Elliott took the lead on the final restart, it was the No. 47 Chevrolet that followed suit, passing Ross Chastain.
Over the final stint, Stenhouse remained second, coming up just shy of the victory.
“We needed it bad,” Stenhouse added after the race. “We’ve had good race cars and better race cars than what we’ve shown. It seems like all of our fast races we’ve had issues as far as getting crashed on the speedways, having some engine issues. It was a solid day to put all of this together.
“Our season, it feels worse than what it is because we’ve had three short tracks and have been really bad at those. We’re trying to come up with a new philosophy there, but we were excited to come to Dover.”
Brian Pattie, crew chief of the No. 47 car, saw the speed Stenhouse showed in practice on Saturday. But even with a perceived lack of time on the Chevrolet simulator, he said he was proud of the way his team executed the race.
In addition, the runner-up finish comes immediately after Stenhouse had finishes of 29th and 30th, respectively, at two of his better tracks in Bristol (dirt) and Talladega Superspeedway.
“This is what the team can do most of the time,” Pattie said. “We have good tracks, we have bad tracks just like everybody, but we need to perform better on our good ones and this is one of them. We don’t come here to suck.”
While Dover is Stenhouse’s best finish since also finishing runner-up at the inaugural Bristol Dirt Race last March (also run on a Monday), the result still carries a tad of disappointment to be the first bridesmaid. Without a doubt, he says it will take a win to make the playoffs — despite his Monday move up four positions in the championship standings, 93 points below the cutline.
“That’s why you’re a little frustrated finishing second, knowing that one spot could really flip your season completely upside-down in a good way,” he said. “We will still battle for that and Brian Pattie is calling races to try and get that win that we need.”
The Cup Series heads to Darlington next, where Stenhouse has a best finish of 12th in 12 starts. Last year, he had finishes of 17th and 20th on the track “Too Tough to Tame.”
NASCAR Cup Series standings leader Chase Elliott earned his first victory of the season in Monday’s weather-delayed DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.
Elliott led the final 53 laps of the 400-lapper and pulled away from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at the end in an action-packed race that was slowed 12 times for caution periods – including a red-flag weather delay on Sunday that forced the restart to Monday.
It’s the 14th career win for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and a historic fifth win for the organization in 2022. It is the first time in NASCAR history a team has had all four of its drivers win races in the opening 11 races of a season.
The 26-year-old Georgia native had to work at this one for sure, with 17 lead changes among 10 drivers dicing up the leaderboard.
“Just had some good circumstances finally,” the sport’s reigning Most Popular Driver said of his first oval track win since he won the 2020 series championship at Phoenix Raceway. “Just really appreciate [crew chief] Alan [Gustafson] and our entire team for just sticking with it.
“We had some tough races over the last four or five months and just great to get NAPA back to Victory Lane and great to get Hendrick Motorsports in Victory Lane. So proud. This means a lot in a lot of different ways. Just appreciate all the effort.’’
Tim Nwachukwu | Getty Images
“It’s been a fun day and we’re certainly going to enjoy this,’’ Elliott continued, after thanking the fans that came out for the Monday race conclusion. “Like I told them after the race, those guys, they’ve been deserving of one for a while so glad we could get across the line first. We’ll enjoy it for a few days and then go to work next week.’’
He wound up just one position away from victory, but runner-up Stenhouse was nearly as happy as the winner after the race. It marked only the second top-10 of the season – second top-20 – for the driver of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet and was his best showing since a runner-up finish on the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt back in March 2021.
Stenhouse finished fifth in Stage 2 and ran among the top 10 for the last 150 laps of the race, moving into second place behind Elliott with 51 laps remaining and pursuing Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet for the remainder of the race.
Last week’s race winner Ross Chastain finished third in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet but had some contact with three-time Dover winner Martin Truex Jr. on the final lap fighting for position. The two touched and Truex’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota spun around. He recovered to finish 12th, and the two drivers exchanged words afterward on pit lane.
Asked about the last-lap incident and the encounter after the checkered flag with Truex, Chastain smiled and said, “We were talking about where we were going fishing next week.’’
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was fourth followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, the race’s 2021 winner. Hendrick’s Kyle Larson was sixth followed by JGR driver Kyle Busch, who led the most laps (103) on the day and was a strong contender for the trophy before getting caught on pit road during a caution period.
Busch and Bowman – who were running first and second at the time – stopped on Lap 322 only to have a caution come out for AJ Allmendinger, whose No. 16 Chevy lost its wheel. The two drivers restarted toward the tail end of the lead lap and still managed to race forward to post top-10 finishes.
Dover pole-sitter Chris Buescher finished eighth – his third top-10 showing in the RFK Racing Ford on the year and first in six races. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Petty GMS Motorsports driver Erik Jones rounded out the top 10.
It was rough day for former Dover winner Denny Hamlin, who led 67 laps and won Stage 1, but had two major snafus derail what looked like a promising day.
While leading the race, Hamlin’s left-front tire came off as he exited pit road after a stop. It set him back to 29th place. He drove his JGR No. 11 Toyota all the way back into the top five only to be collected by a spinning No. 51 Ford driven by Cody Ware just after the race’s midpoint.
The damage to Hamlin’s Toyota took away any shot for the victory and he finished 21st. The perennial championship contender and three-time Daytona 500 winner has only one top-10 – a win at Richmond last month – on the season.
Elliott’s win gives him a 50-point lead on Ryan Blaney in the championship standings.
The Cup Series’ next race is the Goodyear 400, scheduled Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Darlington Raceway. All three national series will be in action during the annual NASCAR Throwback Weekend festivities.
The start of the 2022 season at Bowman Gray Stadium has carried extra significance for Tommy Neal as opposed to previous years.
Not only did the long-time veteran get to start alongside his grandson Riley Neal on the front row in his debut at the quarter-mile bullring, but he also had the privilege of following him across the line for his first career victory in the opening 20-lap Sportsman feature on Saturday evening.
Tommy felt plenty of apprehension when Riley told him he wanted to race at Bowman Gray full-time but admitted that only a handful of moments in his storied career rivaled seeing Riley add to the Neal family’s long history of success inside the Madhouse at just 14 years old.
“It was a great deal,” Tommy said. “[Riley] ran a great race by being consistent and that’s what it takes to win at Bowman Gray. He’s got good equipment and a lot of great people backing him, so I’m proud of what he’s doing.”
Racing has long been a proud tradition for the Neal family, as Tommy passed down the passion to his nephew and Riley’s father in Kevin, who Tommy has raised as his own son after his brother Terry Neal passed away.
With a career that includes two Sportsman and two Stadium Stock championships at Bowman Gray, Tommy did everything possible to emphasize the right qualities that would guarantee Kevin success at any track before later doing the same with Riley once he began his own career.
Riley has patiently listened to both Kevin and Tommy discuss the fundamentals of racing to him repeatedly when it comes to braking points and executing on restarts. He said the one factor that’s been permanently etched into his mind by the two is the importance of constantly providing feedback to his crew on what the car is doing.
That knowledge proved to be valuable for Riley when he began branching out to several different tracks in the southeast last year. Although he enjoyed traveling, Riley was eager to make a name for himself at Bowman Gray just like his father and grandfather.
Drawing for the outside pole in Bowman Gray’s season-opener with Tommy to his inside was a surreal experience for Riley. That moment for Riley did not compare to becoming the youngest winner in Bowman Gray history with an energetic crowd cheering him on and Tommy pressuring him during the closing stages.
“That was such an amazing feeling,” Riley said. “I got to overcome my papa, who was beating my back bumper off the whole race and dad didn’t even tell me who was behind me. I thought it was someone else only to find out it was my papa, so that was a pretty cool moment.”
Riley Neal celebrates in victory lane with his family at Bowman Gray Stadium on April 30, 2022 (Erick Messer Photography)
While Tommy knew Riley would eventually find victory lane, he expected Bowman Gray to be a great learning experience for his grandson during his rookie campaign.
Along with Riley facing other talented drivers in the Sportsman division like Michael Adams and Zack Ore, Tommy said that Bowman Gray’s tight layout is requiring Riley to adjust his driving style and use patience so he can sustain the early success he has enjoyed.
“Riley is doing really good,” Tommy said. “He already has a Street Stock championship at Caraway, but that’s a much easier place to race. You have room to move around at Caraway, but Bowman Gray is more close-knit, and you have to make decisions real fast. He’ll learn that as he goes on.”
Tommy said that the patience Riley already shows is a quality that separates him from other drivers in his age group. He added that having the same amount of patience when he was in his youth would have prevented him from making several on-track mistakes early in his career.
It has not taken long for Riley to get acclimated to the tight corners of Bowman Gray in his first three Sportsman starts. He maintained solid track position during the opening stages in the season-opener before a late accident relegated him to 18th.
Riley quickly overcame that disappointing outcome by leading wire-to-wire in the first Sportsman feature last weekend. Holding onto the top spot was far from easy, as he had to make sure his granddad did not exploit an opening that would deny him that first victory.
“We had a really tight car,” Riley said. “We didn’t anticipate the track getting as cold as it did and gripping up so much. I had to do everything to keep my car on the bottom just so no one could stick their nose in there.”
Tommy was trying to avoid turning Riley around as he battled his car, but he had no intention of making Riley’s first victory an easy one.
“I was going to make Riley earn that one a little bit,” Tommy said. “I wasn’t quite as rough on him as I would be on a few other people I race with that could take those hits. Riley had to make a mistake but that didn’t happen.”
Tommy Neal celebrates after winning the Sportsman race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on April 23, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Of everyone in attendance at Bowman Gray on Saturday, the most nervous person in the stands was Kevin, who was responsible for keeping Riley focused on the track as Tommy applied a relentless amount of pressure leading up to the checkered flag.
Kevin and Riley meticulously studied film and notes from their first race at Bowman Gray to ensure they were prepared for the two 20-lap sprints. Kevin knew Riley had a major advantage when he drew for the poll but was elated to see his son hold off his adopted father for the victory.
“I’m still on cloud nine right now,” Kevin said. “I can’t really sum everything up and haven’t realized what’s happened. The biggest thing was for Riley to keep his composure in the car and all four wheels straight. The 20-lappers can get rough, but you’ll run well if you keep the car straight.”
Now that his son has joined him and Tommy as a winner at Bowman Gray, Kevin is eager to find a ride of his own at some point during the 2022 season so that all three members of the Neal family can share the track together.
If a similar occasion to Saturday occurred with Kevin in second to Riley, he admitted that he would not be as conservative in his quest for the win. Kevin joked that Riley is going to get turned around at some point in a Bowman Gray race and said it would be appropriate if he was the first one to do it.
Despite this, Kevin remains committed to ensuring Riley’s car can win every weekend. While keeping Riley’s equipment up to par can be strenuous with Kevin and Adam Eaton being the sole members of the team, he said moments like Saturday night make that hard work all the more rewarding.
“This win means a lot to me,” Kevin said. “I expected a win to come this season, but I didn’t think it would happen this soon. The maturity of Riley as a driver and person has been great and we’ve got decent equipment to work with. It all added up on Saturday.”
Riley Neal (Erick Messer Photography)
Riley added that Saturday’s triumph only validated his capability of carrying on the family legacy at Bowman Gray and believes that his cars are strong enough to get at least a few more wins before the end of the year.
With track position being imperative at Bowman Gray, Riley knows that wins are often determined by luck from the post-qualifying draws and avoiding crashes. Riley anticipates plenty of challenging weekends ahead but is more ready than ever to embrace those obstacles and cement himself as a championship contender in the Sportsman division.
“They always say the first win is the hardest to get,” Riley said. “I have to get into a rhythm and hope to get some good draws. I want to finish up at the front but we’re going to take what we can get and see if we can start popping these wins off.”
For Tommy, he wants Riley to maintain the respect he has already developed with the other Sportsman veterans and resist the urge to move other drivers out of the way for positions no matter how far back he is in the field.
Tommy feels immense pride with just being able to share the track with Riley and is looking forward to watching Riley grow throughout the year and cherish the vibrant atmosphere that has always made Bowman Gray such a special place for him and his family.
“There’s no other feeling like racing at Bowman Gray Stadium,” Tommy said. “When I let Riley drive my car around after I won a race last year, he told me it was crazy to see so many people screaming and hollering, which got him hooked. Anything can happen at Bowman Gray but there’s no track around here like it.”
Tommy wants nothing more than to see himself and Riley end the year by finishing first and second in the Bowman Gray Sportsman standings regardless of which one ends up bringing home the title.
Even if that milestone does not occur, Tommy has every reason to believe that Riley will continue to carry on the proud tradition of efficiency he started at Bowman Gray over four decades ago.
Monday, May 2 Noon, NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway (resumes), FS1 (Canada: TSN5)
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Motormouths, Peacock
7 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway (re-air), FS1
On MRN:
Noon, NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway (resumes)
Tuesday, May 3 6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Wednesday, May 4 1:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2
4:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: A-GAME 200 at Dover Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Motormouths, Peacock
Thursday, May 5 6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Friday, May 6 3 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway, FS1
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition — Darlington, FS1
5 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway, FS1
6:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NCWTS at Darlington, FS1
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Dead on Tools 200 at Darlington Raceway, FS1
On MRN:
7 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Dead on Tools 200 at Darlington Raceway
Saturday, May 7 3 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Dead on Tools 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
5 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Darlington, FS2
7 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
8:30 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Dead on Tools 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway, FS1
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NXS at Darlington, FS1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Mahindra ROXOR 200 at Darlington Raceway, FS1 (Canada: TSN3)
On MRN:
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway
1 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Mahindra ROXOR 200 at Darlington Raceway
Sunday, May 8 1 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Mahindra ROXOR 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
6 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Mahindra ROXOR 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS2
9 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Mahindra ROXOR 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
11 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
2 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NCS at Darlington, FS1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, FS1 (Canada: TSN5)
On MRN:
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway
Mother Nature struck after 68 laps in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway, pushing the conclusion to the 400-miler to Monday.
The field ran 10 laps under caution prior to bringing the 36 cars to pit road for the red flag on Lap 78. Kyle Larson is the race leader, with Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. and William Byron rounding out the top five.
Though not even one-quarter of the race is complete, there were still some key takeaways on Sunday.
Editor’s note: The race will resume Monday at noon ET on FS1 (MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Denny Hamlin pacing the field
After starting second, it took Hamlin 19 laps to get the lead from Chris Buescher. But once the No. 11 car got out front, he set sail.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Hamlin went on to lead the next 55 laps, which is more than he’d led in the first 10 races of the season combined (49). Thus far in 2022, the No. 11 Toyota has just one top-10 finish, coming via his win at Richmond.
Throughout Hamlin’s career, he’s struggled at Dover, at one point being among his worst tracks on the schedule. In recent years, however, the Virginia native has eight top-10 finishes in the last 11 races at the Monster Mile, including his lone win at Dover in 2020.
When the race restarts on Monday, Hamlin will be listed eighth, having pitted for four tires under the caution for rain.
Chris Buescher staying up front after winning pole
After winning his first career NASCAR Busch Light Pole Award on Saturday, Buescher’s stock rose. That continued into the beginning of the race Sunday, as the No. 17 Ford paced the field for the opening 18 laps. In 233 Cup starts (including Sunday), it’s the second-most laps the Texan has ever led in a Cup race, trailing only Homestead-Miami from last year (57).
When Buescher lost the lead to Hamlin on Lap 19, he quickly dropped to fourth, behind Larson and Elliott, but stayed in the top five. Like the No. 11 car, the No. 17 team also brought the pole sitter to pit road under the caution for rain.
On Monday, Buescher will restart from 13th position, losing a few spots on pit road from the first pit stall. Buescher’s best Dover finish is 14th in 2020, though he won an Xfinity Series race at the Monster Mile in 2015. Keep an eye on him.
Big teams struggling early
Saturday’s group practice sessions were eventful, to say the least. Many drivers, including Byron and Tyler Reddick, went for wild rides.
Some of the series’ big teams continued to struggle in the opening stint of Sunday’s race. With a competition caution at Lap 40, Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Chase Briscoe and Cole Custer had already lost a lap to the leader. As the yellow flag flew, Austin Dillon was next to go one lap down, with Joey Logano and Byron just ahead of the No. 3 car.
During the competition caution, Logano came over the radio and said his No. 22 Ford was out of control and felt like he was going to wreck. Fortunately for Briscoe, he was the free pass recipient.
Making a strategy call to get track position, Byron will restart fifth on Monday, with Dillon and Logano mired down in 26th and 27th, respectively. Briscoe made his way up to 24th.
We’ll see if these drivers, and others, can turn it around on Monday.
The network announced during Sunday’s Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway that Richard Petty, Bobby Labonte and Bill Elliott will join the booth for next weekend’s Goodyear 400 (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Darlington Raceway. Petty is set to join the broadcast during Stage 1, Labonte will be a guest in Stage 2, and Elliott will slot alongside lead announcer Mike Joy and analyst Clint Bowyer in Stage 3.
FOX Sports announced the star-studded booth lineup during Stage 1 of the DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway (set to resume at noon ET on Monday on FS1).
All three are former Darlington winners. Elliott was a five-time winner at the historic 1.366-mile track, including three Southern 500 victories and a season sweep of its events in 1985. Petty won there three times, claiming the Southern 500 trophy as part of his 1967 sweep. Labonte has one Darlington win, securing the Southern 500 laurels in 2000.
Persistent rain has pushed Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway to a Monday finish.
The field had completed just 78 of the 400 scheduled laps in the DuraMAX Drydene 400 when afternoon rain pelted the 1-mile track. The race was red-flagged and cars were covered on pit road.
Track-drying efforts were hampered by continued showers, and NASCAR competition officials opted to postpone the remainder of the race. The event is set to resume Monday at noon ET, airing on FS1, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson was scored as the leader in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Teammate Chase Elliott was second with Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in third.
Stage 1 was scheduled to end at Lap 125 with Stage 2 set to conclude at Lap 250. The race would need to cross the halfway point to be considered official.
Denny Hamlin had led the most laps (55) before the stoppage, but his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was scored eighth after he made a pit stop just before the red flag. That handed the lead to Larson for five caution laps before the cars were stopped.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, who will re-start from the ninth position, is the defending race winner. The Hendrick team scored a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 2021 race – a four-driver team sweep accomplished only four times in series history.
Many within the NASCAR industry believed Dover would be the last true test for the Next Gen car, and Saturday’s practice session didn’t disappoint. With a handful of incidents, it brought back Fontana moments from two months ago. Throughout the day there were a few surprises, which could play a factor in which drivers you put in your lineup for Monday’s DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne (noon ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:
Starter 1: Kyle Larson
Starter 2: Chase Elliott
Starter 3: Alex Bowman
Starter 4: Denny Hamlin
Starter 5: Daniel Suárez
Garage pick: Kevin Harvick
NEXT IN LINE: Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace.
RISING: As you may remember, earlier this week I said to stay away from Denny Hamlin. But after a solid Saturday in Dover, the No. 11 team will start the race from second position. Of late, Hamlin has figured out how to get around Dover, so despite his struggles in 2022, I have him in my lineup.
For the first time in Chris Buescher’s NASCAR career, he’s won a pole award. Surprising? Sure, but the Texan has gotten around Dover well in the past, winning an Xfinity Series race at the “Monster Mile” in 2015. This is the first pole for RFK Racing on a non-superspeedway in nearly nine years (Texas-2, 2013).
If you want to go off the beaten path, Ryan Preece has been consistent throughout the weekend. Competing in his first Cup points-paying race of the season, his No. 15 Rick Ware Racing car will line up 13th for the race, and he was sixth in practice. Not too shabby for not sitting in a Cup car since The Clash in early February.
FALLING: It’s been a mediocre start to the 2022 season for Martin Truex Jr., but wherever he’s had success in the past he’s performed well with the Next Gen car. This weekend, eh, not the same thus far, as the No. 19 Toyota was 19th in practice and will start the race 18th. Last year at Dover, Truex struggled as well, dropping quickly from the pole. But knowing how to get around the “Monster Mile,” it wouldn’t be a shocker should he improve into Monday’s race.
Entering the weekend, William Byron was one of the pre-race favorites, but it didn’t take long for the No. 24 Chevrolet to get into the wall in practice, forcing the team to go to a backup car. With no laps in the car, don’t risk putting Byron on your team this week, despite his consistent speed all year long.
FEATURED MATCHUPS
Ross Chastain vs. Kyle Larson: Chastain enters Dover with a boatload of momentum, winning two of the last five Cup Series races. But don’t overthink this one: Larson is one of the best drivers in the field at Dover, with 10 top-10 finishes in 13 starts. And his first start at Dover with Hendrick Motorsports? He led a lofty 263 laps.
Alex Bowman vs. William Byron: Despite having to start from the rear in a backup car, one would think that Byron will contend for at the very least a top-10 position. However, Bowman is the defending winner at Dover and will start from sixth position. Go with the No. 48 Chevrolet in this teammate duel.
Kevin Harvick vs. Martin Truex Jr.: Not too long ago, Harvick and Truex were duking it out for victories at Dover. Though starting 11th, Harvick says he still thinks his car will perform well on Monday while Truex is mired back in 18th at the start. In a bit of a surprise, the No. 19 team struggled on Saturday. I’d give the slight nod to Harvick, as I have him in my garage.
Chase Elliott vs. Tyler Reddick: When talking to media on Saturday, Reddick was uncertain he will even make it through 400 miles at Dover due to the unpredictability of his No. 8 car in practice. After all, he spun multiple times. Meanwhile, Elliott was consistent and starts third. On top of that, HMS is the team to beat on Sunday.
