2016 NASCAR Week 29 Preview: Dover

Citizen Soldier 400

Dover International Speedway

By Richard Tix

Well, well, well, here we are weeks later and I have been slacking a ton on NBTW. Since we last met (Chicagoland Preview) we have had many changes on the NASCAR scene. Personally, I have been a busy man.

Since my trip to Michigan (Pure Michigan 400) I have gone camping out of town (Labor Day), gone to Milwaukee to visit one of my best friends, gone to northern Minnesota on a Fishing trip (Lake Vermilion from Sat - Wed.), and gone to northern Minnesota on a mini vacation with my wife (Duluth/Two Harbors, MN). To shorten the last month: I have had some great camp fires, caught some nice Walleye, took in some fall color on the Superior Shores, and enjoyed one, maybe two nice cold refreshments. I hate missing on weekly content because I know I have a small but awesome following that comes here every week, but sometimes life gets in the way of NASCAR.

So, since MIS I haven't watch more then 25 laps of one single race, but I have tried to keep up to date on Twitter and other media outlets. So, what did I miss?

I missed Martin Truex Jr winning the first Chase race of 2016 at Chicagoland. I also missed that same car fail the LIS inspection by 0.01 and the Twitter blowup following. I actually missed two Truex wins (Darlington), but we will stick to just Chase stuff since I did do a few previews and reviews since then.

Last weekend I was on the road for most of Kevin Harvicks win at NHMS. It locked Harvick into the next round with Truex, but this round is really just formality to get on a roll and drop the bottom four drivers. What I mean is, these two were advancing anyways.

That does make two great races for Truex (lead 141 laps at NHMS and finished 7th). He is setting a good pace to make the final at Miami.

Its not a big surprise to see Chris Buescher, Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray, and Austin Dillon on the Chase chopping block this week, though it will be a shock if Kyle Larson drops down one spot and misses out on the next round. If you're going to miss a Chase round, I suggest the first round...

Lets get to the Good, Middle, and Bad this week. Again, thanks for following along and I do apologize for getting way behind this Fall. It has been a busy time and when that happens priorities take over.

**This section is just a quick look at some of Cup drivers latest finishes. This is not a tool for fantasy purposes and NBTW only is looking at end results. No deep statistic's are involved, but rather it is just a quick way to get ready for the race and get caught up on who has finished well at each track**

The Good

• Kyle Larson- Dover couldn't come at a better time for Larson. He is the first driver above the cut line by five points and has a good history here. In five starts Larson has two top 5's and four top 10's with an average finish of 6.2. 
• Jimmie Johnson- Not much needs to be said here. Ten career wins, 15 top 5's, and 20 top 10's should be enough evidence.
• Matt Kenseth- Kenseth won here earlier in the season and gets a chance to sweep. He has five top 10's in his last six starts at Dover.

The Middle

• Ryan Newman- Newman actually has three career wins here, but none since 2004. He has five top 20's in his last six races but only two of them are top 15's (both top 10's actually).

The Bad

• Austin Dillon- Opposite of Larson, Dillon shouldn't be too happy to see Dover up next. He has yet to find a top 10 in six starts here and only has one top 20. He will need to figure it out this weekend if he wants to advance.
• Denny Hamlin- In 21 career starts you would think a guy like Hamlin would have more then seven top 10's, but he doesn't at Dover. However, he sis finish 7th in the first stop here of 2016.
• Kurt Busch- Kurt has actually run pretty well this Chase, but things could stop at Dover. Even though he finished 5th earlier this year, the previous eight races he had a zero top 10's and one top 15. 

About the Track: Dover

Track Stats

• Richard Petty won the first 3 of 4 races at Dover, including the first two in 1969 and 1970
• The race has been won from the Pole 13 times.
• Kyle Petty won after starting 37th in 1995, the furthest back a Dover race has been won
• The most cautions was 16 in 1993, Rusty Wallace eventually won the race
• Current drivers with more then 1 Dover win (Jimmie Johnson-10, Ryan Newman-3, Tony Stewart-3, Kyle Busch-2, Matt Kenseth-3, and Greg Biffle 2)
• Current drivers with one Dover win (Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte (part time), Martin Truex Jr, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kevin Harvick, and Kurt Busch)
• Most career wins at Dover: Jimmie Johnson (10), Richard Petty (7), and Bobby Allison (7).
• Most career top 5s at Dover: Mark Martin (24) followed by Dale Earnhardt (19)
• Most career top 10's at Dover: Mark Martin (33), Richard Petty (26), and Ricky Rudd (26)
• Most career pole awards at Dover: David Pearson (6), Rusty Wallace (5), and Mark Martin (5)
• Most career starts at Dover is Ricky Rudd with 56.

Track Info

• Surface: 1995-Present: Concrete
• Was Asphalt from 1969-1994
• Length: 1 mile
• Banking
• Turns: 24 degrees
• Straight: 9 degrees