Skip to content

In the Know – Dover

In The Know – dover 

This weekend we head to Dover Motor Speedway, affectionately nicknamed the Monster Mile. Dover’s nickname came from its propensity to chew up and spit out even the most seasoned veteran. So, who will tame the beast on Sunday?

The Details

NASCAR Cup Series Overview

●  Event:  Dover 400 (Round 11 of 36)
●  Time/Date:  3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 1
●  Location:  Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway
●  Layout:  1-mile, concrete oval
●  Laps/Miles:  400 laps/400 miles
●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 120 laps / Stage 2: 130 laps / Final Stage: 150 laps
●  TV/Radio:  FS1 / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

The BROADCAST

Who is ready for a monster weekend of racing? You can watch all the action from Dover on FS1.

SHR FAST FACTS

Kevin Harvick:
Harvick has three NASCAR Cup Series wins at Dover. In addition to the aforementioned victories in May 2018 and August 2020, Harvick won his first Dover race in October 2015. Harvick provided a prelude to that win by finishing second when the series raced at the 1-mile, concrete oval five months earlier for the FedEx 400.

No active driver has led more laps at Dover than Harvick. His 1,666 laps led are 453 more laps than next best Kyle Busch. That difference is more than an entire race distance at Dover. After Harvick and Busch, no other active driver has cracked the 1,000 laps-led mark at Dover. However, the all-time lap leader at Dover is seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson with a staggering 3,113 laps led.

Aric Almirola:
Although the statistics might not suggest it, Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang team have come oh so close to hoisting the trophy at Dover in the Cup Series. In the fall 2018 race there, he started 11th and gradually made his way into the lead by the final stage. He led a total of 64 laps before a late caution, but contact with the wall while racing aggressively in the closing laps ruined his victory bid and left him with a 13th-place finish. It was the first time the Tampa, Florida, native led laps on the concrete mile oval.

Chase Briscoe:
The dirt racer from Mitchell, Indiana, found his way victory lane at the Monster Mile in the second race of the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Saturday-Sunday doubleheader at the concrete oval. Briscoe started last in the Sunday race after going to a backup racecar and proceeded to lead three times for a race-high 107 laps en route to his sixth win of the season. He won the race by a commanding 2.463-second margin over second-place Ross Chastain.

In total, Briscoe has five starts in the Xfinity Series at Dover, his win in 2020 among his three top-five finishes and four top-10s. He also made one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at Dover in June 2017, finishing 12th after earning his first career NASCAR pole.

Cole Custer:
Sunday’s 400-mile race will be Custer’s 86th Cup Series start and his fourth at Dover. He’s riding a streak of back-to-back top-10 finishes at The Monster Mile after scoring an 11th-place finish in his Cup Series debut there. His most recent Dover outing was a 10th-place run last May, and was preceded by finishes of 11th and 10th during a Saturday-Sunday Dover doubleheader weekend in August 2020. Custer’s average Cup Series finish of 10.3 at Dover ranks best among tracks where he’s raced more than once.

Custer’s six outings at Dover in the NASCAR Xfinity Series collectively rank among his best in 104 career starts in that series from 2017 through 2019. His most recent, in October 2019, was his best. He qualified third in the No. 00 SHR Ford and led 31 laps en route to a victory by a one-second margin over runner-up Justin Allgaier. It was his fourth of four top-fives and fifth of five top-10s in his six Xfinity Series starts at Dover. In the May 2019 race, he qualified on the pole and led a race-high 155 of 200 laps before finishing fourth. That came on the heels of his runner-up finish in the October 2018 race, when he led 38 laps and crossed the finish line .525 of a second behind Christopher Bell. Custer finished fourth in his Dover Xfinity Series debut in May 2017 and eighth in the October 2017 race.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS

We’re bringing some monster schemes to Dover. Check out our fresh wraps for the weekend.

What Our Drivers are Saying:

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

So far this season, we’ve raced on every style of track NASCAR has to offer, with the exception of Dover – a high-banked, high-speed, 1-mile concrete oval. What are the challenges that you’ll face at Dover?
“Dover is just a unique animal of its own just because of the fact it has those elevation changes and it has a lot of speed. Dover is going to be one of the most difficult places we go to in order to just say, ‘OK, this is what we’ve got to do from a driving standpoint to really be up to speed.’ The corners are really long, you have a huge compression when you go down the hill and the car sets, then you get back on the throttle and it shoots you back up out of the hill. It’s a physically demanding racetrack and it’s a racetrack where you definitely get the biggest sensation of speed of anywhere we go because of the way it compresses you down into the banking and tosses you up out of it.”

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield/Weis Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

This is your last fulltime NASCAR Cup Series start at Dover. What are your feelings going into the weekend?
“I get asked what my favorite track is all the time during media days and meet-and-greets. My answer is always Dover and it shocks people. They would think Talladega or Daytona because I have had success there, but Dover is just a place I always love to race at. I got my first Truck Series win there and I always feel confident when we race there. It’s going to be bittersweet, but what will make it even sweeter is getting to victory lane again.” 

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Is Dover a track you’ve enjoyed in the past?
“Yeah, I’ve always loved going there. It’s really high-speed, high-commitment, high-reward, and those are the kind of places I enjoy running. So yeah, I’ve always enjoyed going there and I’d love to get another win there. It’s one of my favorite racetracks, especially when we can move around and run other lanes, and that’s the area I’m kind of curious to see how this NextGen car kind of plays into that. It’ll be a really fast track this weekend, so hopefully we’ll have a fast car and be able to take advantage of it.”

Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 41 Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

It seems drivers either love or hate Dover. What are your feelings toward the racetrack?
“I love Dover. You’ve got to be really aggressive and just go for it, or it’ll eat you up. But you also have to be very strategic with how you work the gas pedal and make your way through the corners. There’s a reason it’s called the Monster Mile. If you aren’t ready for it, and don’t pay attention to those details, it can be a handful.”

WATCH: PIT GUN BREAKDOWN

Curious about the new single lug nut on the Gen 7 car? No. 4 rear tire changer Daniel Smith breaks down the difference between last year’s pit gun and this year’s pit gun.

 

13 YEARS WITH HUNT BROTHERS PIZZA

The 2022 season marks the 13th year of partnership between Harvick and Hunt Brothers Pizza. The nation’s largest brand of made-to-order pizza in the convenience store industry has sponsored Harvick for years in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Hunt Brothers Pizza joined Harvick fulltime in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2019 and has been a mainstay in NASCAR’s premier division ever since. With more than 8,000 locations in 30 states, Hunt Brothers Pizza offers original and thin-crust pizzas available as a grab-and-go Hunk A Pizza®, perfect for today’s on-the-go lifestyle, or as a customizable whole pizza that is an exceptional value with All Toppings No Extra Charge®. Hunt Brothers Pizza is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and is family owned and operated. For additional information, visit www.HuntBrothersPizza.com or download the app.