Chevys seek return to victory lane
Since Dillon’s win in Daytona 500, Fords and Toyota have dominated
DOVER, Del. – The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season is almost one-third gone, and all indications are Chevrolet in general and one Chevrolet team in particular have unfinished business.
Chevrolet hasn’t won a race since Austin Dillon scored in the seasonopening Daytona 500. Ford has won five races and Toyota four since the opener in February.
Of the top 10 drivers in laps led through 10 races, only one — Kyle Larson in sixth place — drives a Chevrolet.
Entering Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway, the most surprising numbers in the Bowtie camp belong to perennial powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports, which is 0-for-40 with its four-driver team this year.
It isn’t necessarily surprising that relative newcomers Alex Bowman and William Byron haven’t scored a win 10 races into the schedule, but many observers assumed that Chase Elliott finally would cross the victory lane threshold by this point. Elliott has had potentially winning cars but has been diverted at the brink of victory.
And, of course, there’s the swarm of questions surrounding seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, whose failure to win a race since June — when he scored at Dover — continues to confuse and befuddle.
Johnson has three top-10 finishes, and Elliott has three top-fives, but the bigger rewards have remained elusive.
Johnson, now 14th in points, will attack his drought this weekend from a great starting point. Dover is one of his best tracks. In fact, his win total of 11 at the Monster Mile is only one fewer than the victories totaled by all other drivers in Sunday’s field.
To master Dover, as Johnson clearly has, is to learn the ins and outs of one of the sport’s fastest 1-mile tracks. Dover’s high banking keeps speeds boiling throughout the race, and drivers, most of whom seem to love the track, say the ride is very much like a roller coaster.
Negotiating the track’s fast turns and bumpy surface is one thing; managing tires and avoiding crashes is quite another. It usually takes the full package to win at Dover.
“Dover is really a tricky place,” Johnson said. “There are usually quite a few caution flags, so you have to find a balance between a ‘green’ track for the first 10 or 15 laps to a longer run where there is a lot of rubber laid down on the track on a longer green-flag run.
“Finding your balance is probably the most challenging thing at Dover. Corner entry is everything. Concrete tracks are poured in squares just like on an interstate, so there are a bunch of expansion joints around the track and it really shakes and rattles the car. It’s bumpy, and there are bumps in Turns One and Three.
“So if your car isn’t bottoming out and your splitter isn’t hitting, you are usually OK and it’s just part of the ride at Dover.”
Laps click off quickly at Dover. Martin Truex Jr. won the pole for last fall’s race at the track with a speed of 160.664 mph — very fast for a 1-mile track.
“Dover is the racetrack where you feel the sensation of speed more than anything,” said Kevin Harvick, three times a winner this year.
“It’s a place where you drop off into the corner and slam into a lot of banking and then, as you come out of the corner, it’s like jumping out of a hole and up onto the straightaway.
“It’s a really fun place to race. You feel that sensation of speed, and you can be really aggressive.”
Joining Johnson (83 career Cup victories) on the list of key drivers yet to win this season are Denny Hamlin (31), Ryan Blaney (one), Kyle Larson (five), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (two), Kurt Busch (29) and Brad Keselowski (24).