Drydene 400 Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It’s common in some forms of motorsports to see one multi-car team completely dominate the competition. What about on a single race day when every car were at their peak? For Hendrick Motorsports, they’ve done it already in the 1997 Daytona 500 with a podium sweep. Everyone knows the story about Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven finishing in that order. They did it for Rick, who gave Gordon a phone call after winning his first of three Daytona 500s. However, HMS accomplished somethingRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Say this about Alex Bowman, the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet has got his timing right. The Hendrick Motorsports driver took the lead off pit road following his final pit stop with 97 of 400 race laps remaining, held off the field on two more race restarts and earned his second victory of the year in Sunday’s Drydene 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The win punctuated a historic Hendrick Motorsports day at the famed one-mile track, with theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Monster Mile. Bristol on steroids. No matter the nickname, Dover International Speedway lives up to the hype as being one of the most physically demanding racetracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. One of the only two concrete tracks currently in use by NASCAR’s top division, drivers have likened a lap around the one-mile oval to riding a rollercoaster, as they drop off the straightaways into the turns before rocketing back uphill on corner exit. By the time the checkered flag flies, it’s as ifRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent Contact under caution was the ‘highlight’ of the day for Clint Bowyer. The Drydene 400 was uncharacteristically quiet in regard to cautions at Dover International Speedway. With just one natural caution, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid drivers had little chance move up the running order. Bowyer’s No. 14 ITsaavy / Haas Ford Mustang started mid-pack. While several of his playoff competitors had trouble early, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver quietly moved forward. Bowyer didn’t break into the top-10 until the end of theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent Leavine Family Racing and Matt DiBenedetto continue to be the ‘little team that could.’ As the final stage of the Drydene 400 went caution-free at Dover International Speedway, DiBenedetto’s No. 95 Dumont Jets Toyota Camry restarted outside the top-10. While others made mistakes on pit road, the Mike Wheeler-led team had a mistake-free, disciplined run. DiBenedetto inched forward, passing both Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid drivers and those not in the playoffs. As green flag pit stops took place in the final stage,Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson celebrated his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in two years Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, taking the checkered flag in the Drydene 400 by a convincing 1.578-seconds over Martin Truex Jr. and securing himself and his Chip Ganassi Racing team their first ever berth in the upcoming Playoff Round of 8. Larson’s friend and polesitter Denny Hamlin finished fifth after leading a race best 218 laps. But perhaps the two golf buddies would agree, on this Sunday, Larson’s longRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It appeared that Denny Hamlin’s 500th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start was going to be a picture perfect afternoon. Instead, he settles for a rather underwhelming fifth-place in Sunday’s Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway after leading 218 of 400 laps. The pole sitter owned the competition that included a Stage 1 victory and having a commanding lead over his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex, Jr. Then a dream day turned awry in the closing laps of Stage 2. It began when Hamlin struggledRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer There won’t be a repeat victory for Chase Elliott at Dover International Speedway as a Lap 7 engine problem knocked him out of Sunday’s Drydene 400. An early exit has caused tremendous implications as all three Round of 12 races (Dover, Talladega and Kansas) are tracks Elliott has won. Due to his success, he was viewed as one of the heavy favorites to punch his ticket into the next round. Instead, a last-place result means he’ll be heading into both Talladega and Kansas in a must-winRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service It was a friendly golf wager made good on the race track. Denny Hamlin began marking his 500th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race start this weekend with a record pole-winning speed Saturday afternoon at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. And Hamlin earned his – and Toyota’s – second pole of the season by a mere .003-seconds over the very guy he made that all-in-fun wager with – Kyle Larson. “I got him, I got him,’’ Hamlin said smiling after qualifying for Sunday’s DrydeneRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Bowman focused on top performance at Dover Last weekend Alex Bowman earned headlines for his determined work behind the wheel of his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – rallying to a dramatic runner-up finish at the Charlotte ROVAL to earn a spot in the second round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, which begins with Sunday’s Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). But he’s also getting plenty of attention for an incident on pitRead More