Dover Re-cap - Pass the No-Doze

If Dover is Bristol’s big brother, then Dover was being a BIG SISSY Sunday!

One big wreck about 18 laps in, 3 drivers dominating the race and only 6 cars on the lead lap when the final lap came made this race about as boring as watching my dog drag his backside across the carpet.

Yes folks, 18 laps in and we are looking good, then all of the sudden an 11 car pile-up that changed the whole race with top contender’s hopes being flushed away. Top drivers involved were Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Dale Jr., Kasey Kahne and Clint Bowyer.

For those that claim that Dover is like a BEEFED UP Bristol, they are mistaken. Bristol delivers some great racing. The finish with only six drivers on the lead lap hardly had me on the edge of my seat, heck I was actually reclined back with my feet up. If this were a Bristol race, I would’ve been glued to the tv with remote in hand rewinding the good parts (thanks to DVR). You just can’t compare the two tracks!

Nascar is so strict on the teams with certain rules, making it hard for teams to get an edge against others. But if you are lucky enough to get out front, with the company of clean air, you can run away from the field. We have seen it so much this year, when one car gets out front and just runs away with it.

Race Notes:

Stewart called it a day on lap 315 when he reached a point where he could’nt make up anymore ground. No sense in just driving around if you can’t gain points.

For the first half of the race, Roush may have thought he was sitting pretty with the cars to beat. Even Kyle Busch said “My Camry wasn’t anywhere near as good as the Roush cars.” The truth is, at Dover, with the new aero package, the driver out in front is always favored over other drivers.

With about 40 laps to go, fans started making their way towards the exits, while Kyle was out front and looking like he had the win in the bag. Jr. Nation was not as interested knowing that Jr was out of the running. By the time the final lap rolled around, less than half the crowd remained.
This was the first time Toyota has swept all 3 races in one weekend. This also marked the final broadcast by FOX Sports for this season.

Race Rewind (Fast Forward) >>>>

Start- Biffle leads first lap

Lap 3- #96 into the wall, but saves it, no caution

Lap 4- Jimmie Johnson takes 2nd

Lap 8- Biffle has 2 second lead

Lap 12- Biffle leads by 2.66 over Johnson

Lap 15- Biffle up to 3 seconds

Lap 18- The BIG ONE (crash) off turn 2 after Sadler got into Gilliland. Inolved:

Sadler, Stewart, Hamlin, Harvick, Dale Jr, Riggs, Bowyer, Kahne, Menard, Elliot, and Labonte

RED FLAG

Biffle gets off pit road first

Lap 28- Kyle Busch is right on Biffle’s tail

Lap 34- Biffle leads Kyle by 1.10

Lap 38- Biffle is up to 1.75 over Kyle

Lap 42- Biffle gets up to 2.17 over Kyle

Lap 53- Biffle has led 51 laps

Lap 54- Top 4 Biffle, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards & Kurt Busch

Lap 56- Clean air payin’ off as Biffle is now 2.42 seconds over Kyle

Lap 58- Biggest Movers:

Burton +23

Waltrip +18

R Gordon +17

Mears +15

Montoya +15

Lap 63- Biffle is leading Kyle by 1.24

Raines stops high in the corner drawing 2nd caution. He is penalized for stopping on the track.

Biffle gets off pit road first again and there are 30 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 73- Restart

Waltrip wiggles, goes high , him and Nemechek make contact causing Nemechek to tag the wall for the 3rd caution.

Lap 80- Montoya almost into the wall with a little help from Gilliland but saves it.

Lap 84- Edwards battles Kurt Busch for 3rd palce and gets it.

Lap 90- Carl makes move past Kyle for 2nd place.

Lap 96- Biffle leads Edwards by 1.96

Lap 113- Biffle has led 111 laps

Lap 120- Edwards starts running Biffle down. The lead by Biffle is now only .19 seconds due to him running into lap cars

Lap 153- Almendinger has trouble bringing out the 4th caution. Johnson was too fast on pit road.

Lap 160- Restart

Lap 164- Biffle leads Edwards by .85 seconds.

Lap 165- Now only 16 cars are on the lead lap

Lap 171- Edwards passes Biffle. It’s the first green flag pass of the day.

Lap 177-Edwards is over 2.26 over Biffle

Lap 200- 1/2 way point, Edwards is leading Kyle by 1.31 and 16 cars are on the lead lap.

180 to go- Kyles gets closer to Edwards with the margin down to .65 seconds

176 to go- NO SPONSOR Kvapil is up to 11th position

174 to go- Now only 13 on the lead lap, Kvapil up to 10th

162 to go- Pit stops cycle through and Kyle is leading by 1.2 seconds over Edwards.

5th caution for debris in turn 2

153 to go- Restart, Kyle Busch gets a big jump

139 to go- Kyle is over Edwards by 1.10 and the same with 127 to go

123 to go- Kyle squeezes between two lap cars

120 to go- Kyle gets sideways a little, but keeps the car under control.

114 to go- Only 13 cars are on the lead lap

100 to go- Top 5 (Margins)

Kyle Busch- Leading

Carl Edwards- .055

Greg Biffle- 2.75

Matt Kenseth- 4.33

Jeff Gordon- 8.59

97 to go- Kyle threads the needle again between lap cars

87 to go- Edwards is gaining on Kyle behind .42 seconds

78 to go- After pits, Newman leads over Kyle, Edwards, Biffle and Kenseth

75 to go- Only 6 cars are on the lead lap

62 to go- Kyle is in the lead and 3.47 over Edwards

59 to go- Biggest Movers:

Burton- +29

Montoya- +23

R Gordon- +22

57 to go- Kyle is now 5 seconds over Edwards

45 to go- Kyle is 8.06 seconds over Edwards

28 to go- Edwards has gained some, closing in behind Kyle 5.99 seconds

18 to go- Kyle is 5.74 over Edwards

8 to go- Kyle is now 5.36 seconds ahead of Edwards

5 laps to go- Kyle still leads Edwards, now by 5.83

Final lap Kyle over Edwards by 5.20 with only 6 cars on the lead lap.

Well, if you didn’t fall asleep reading this the congrats to you. Hopefully, Pocono will prove to be more interesting, even though in recent past it has not featured great racing. With gas prices steadily going up, and the low turn outs of fans for the events, I hope Nascar makes some changes and fast!

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