Last Sunday, Carl Edwards ended a 31-race winless streak in the Sprint Cup as he captured his first win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600. As the series moves to Dover, Jimmie Johnson will be on the other end of a streak. The defending spring race winner at the Monster Mile, Johnson seeks to become just the fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver with 10 or more wins at a single track.
He will be at a disadvantage after being penalized Wednesday for receiving written warnings in two consecutive events. As a result, Johnson, along with Justin Allgaier will receive the last two choices in the pit selection process, respective to qualifying results.
MORE: Biffle's second-place finish could give him a boost | NASCAR odds and driver breakdown | Chase standings heading into Dover
Johnson’s teammate Jeff Gordon has posted some impressive numbers of his own at the track known as the world’s fastest one-mile concrete oval. In 44 starts at Dover, Gordon owns five wins, 18 top five (40.9 percent) and 25 top 10 finishes (56.8 percent).
In the past two months, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has three wins plus Denny Hamlin’s victory in the All-Star Race. The only JGR driver not to make it to victory lane is Kyle Busch, who missed the first 11 races with a broken leg. Busch hopes to join his teammates in the Chase, but because of his time off he will have to win and finish in the top 30 in points.
Busch is 169 points behind 30th-place Tony Stewart, meaning he will have to get a win and average 16th place or higher each week, depending on laps led and the three bonus points for wins, to make the Chase. He will have a good shot at another top 16 finish on Sunday. In 20 starts at Dover, he has two wins, nine top fives (45.0 percent) and 13 top 10s (65.0 percent).
The weekend's triple-header from Dover includes Friday’s Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 200; Saturday’s Xfinity Series Buckle Up 200 presented by Click It or Ticket; and Sunday’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks.
The weekend schedule; all times Eastern:
Thursday
2 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series final practice
Friday
10 a.m.: Xfinity practice, Fox Sports 1
11 a.m.: Sprint Cup practice, Fox Sports 1
12:45: Camping World Truck Series qualifying, Fox Sports 1
2 p.m.: Xfinity Series final practice, Fox Sports 1
3:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup qualifying, Fox Sports 1
5:30 p.m.: Camping World Series Lucas Oil 200, Fox Sports 1
Saturday
10 a.m.: Sprint Cup practice, Fox Sports 2
11:15 a.m.: Xfinity Series qualifying, Fox Sports 2
1 p.m.: Sprint Cup final practice, Fox Sports 2
2:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Buckle Up 200 presented by Click It or Ticket, Fox
Sunday
1 p.m.: Sprint Cup FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks, Fox Sports 1
Sprint Cup: 2014 FedEx 400 recap
Last spring, Johnson was dominant at Dover, leading 274 laps to claim his second straight victory at the track. Brad Keselowski finished second, followed by Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, and Hamlin,
Johnson's last encounter came on a restart with five laps to go when Keselowski charged past second-place Kenseth to push for the lead. Johnson held him off and then pulled away for his second win of the season.
The race was red-flagged for 20 minutes on Lap 161 when a portion of the track came apart in Turn 2 and had to be repaired. Jamie McMurray’s car hit a chunk of concrete from the track, damaging the front of his car.
2014 FedEx 400 results
(starting position in parentheses)
1. (4) Johnson, Chevrolet, 400 laps, 148.3 rating, 48 points, $331,626.
2. (1) Keselowski, Ford, 400, 111.8, 43, $245,113.
3. (21) Kenseth, Toyota, 400, 114.5, 42, $218,416.
4. (10) Bowyer, Toyota, 400, 100.7, 41, $177,396.
5. (7) Hamlin, Toyota, 400, 103, 39, $136,880.
6. (16) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 400, 87.6, 38, $144,878.
7. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 400, 93.5, 37, $154,828.
8. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 400, 100, 36, $146,036.
9. (13) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 400, 104.3, 35, $115,595.
10. (15) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 400, 92.7, 34, $133,559.
11. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 400, 85.5, 33, $132,530.
12. (25) Aric Almirola, Ford, 400, 87.8, 32, $140,496.
13. (19) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 400, 76.7, 31, $135,999.
14. (29) Edwards, Ford, 400, 75.7, 30, $117,510.
15. (6) Gordon, Chevrolet, 400, 109.5, 29, $145,446.
16. (27) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 400, 68.6, 28, $126,630.
17. (8) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 399, 105.5, 28, $137,418.
18. (24) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 399, 75.4, 26, $98,960.
19. (17) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 399, 83.9, 25, $114,035.
20. (23) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 398, 74, 24, $144,021.
21. (11) A J Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 397, 65.5, 23, $115,268.
22. (18) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 396, 53.2, 22, $104,460.
23. (28) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 396, 56.7, 21, $103,810.
24. (38) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 396, 49.9, 20, $111,318.
25. (22) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 395, 60.1, 19, $117,243.
26. (30) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 395, 46, 18, $113,493.
27. (31) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 394, 49.1, 17, $93,185.
28. (33) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 390, 45.7, 16, $92,635.
29. (32) David Gilliland, Ford, 388, 45.7, 15, $109,532.
30. (43) Blake Koch, Ford, 388, 30.8, 0, $90,835.
31. (14) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 387, 64.4, 13, $97,185.
32. (41) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 387, 34.4, 12, $89,010.
33. (42) Dave Blaney, Ford, 383, 30.4, 11, $88,860.
34. (36) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 382, 32, 0, $88,660.
35. (39) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 378, 52.1, 9, $88,435.
36. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 350, 37.1, 8, $96,335.
37. (40) David Stremme, Chevrolet, overheating, 297, 37.7, 7, $88,151.
38. (12) Greg Biffle, Ford, 292, 62.5, 6, $127,110.
39. (37) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, engine, 232, 30, 0, $78,535.
40. (35) Alex Bowman, Toyota, accident, 208, 30.6, 4, $74,535.
41. (26) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, accident, 131, 47.1, 3, $106,360.
42. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 125, 93, 3, $120,176.
43. (9) Brian Vickers, Toyota, engine, 73, 50.1, 1, $95,110.
Race statistics
Average speed of race winner: 117.724 mph
Time of race: 3 hours, 23 minutes, 52 seconds
Margin of victory: 0.885 seconds
Caution flags: eight for 41 laps
Lead changes: 18 among 6 drivers
Recent winners at Dover (spring)
2014: Johnson
2013: Stewart
2012: Johnson
2011: Kenseth
2010: Kyle Busch
Recent winners at Dover (fall)
2014: Gordon
2013: Johnson
2012: Keselowski
2011: Kurt Busch
2010: Johnson
Top five drivers at Dover since 2010 (10 races)
Johnson (four wins, eight top 10s, one pole, 5.5 average finish)
Gordon (one win, four top 10s, 8.9 average finish)
Kyle Busch (one win, eight 10s, 11.4 average finish)
Kenseth (one win, seven top 10s, 12.0 average finish)
Keselowski (one win, four top 10s, 13.2 average finish)
News and notes
— Stewart has had a rough season with just one top 10 finish in 12 starts, but luckily for him he is heading to one of his better tracks. Dover is where “Smoke” has earned three wins, including his last victory (June 2, 2013).
— Through 12 races, Truex ranks second in the standings behind three top five and 11 top 10 finishes, but is not one of the Sprint Cup Series’ nine winners. Heading to his home track, Truex hopes to return to victory lane at the speedway where he captured his first Cup win (June 4, 2007).
— With a win on Sunday, JGR will double its win count from last season (two).
— History lesson: In a career that spanned parts of six decades, car owner Junie Donlavey captured his first win in the 1981 Mason-Dixon 500 at Dover as Jody Ridley took the No. 90 to victory lane.
Xfinity Series: Buckle Up 200
Last spring, Kyle Busch took the checkered, his second win of the weekend. He led 124 of 200 laps for his 66th career victory in NASCAR's second-tier series. Trevor Bayne was second, followed by Logano, Kenseth and Chase Elliott.
This time around, NASCAR Xfinity drivers Ty Dillon, Regan Smith, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Daniel Suarez will compete for $100,000 on Saturday in the “Dash 4 Cash” program. After qualifying last weekend at Charlotte, the drivers will compete this weekend at Dover for one of four $100,000 payouts throughout the season. The best finisher among the four will take home the cash and also become eligible to win $1 million at the end of the season.
Dillon is just four points behind Chris Buescher in the Xfinity points standings after posting his eighth top 10 finish of the season at Charlotte. Both drivers have fared well at Dover. Dillon has three top 10s in four starts and an average finish of 12.3. Buescher has made two starts at Dover with an average finish of 7.5.
Erik Jones will celebrate his 19th birthday Saturday in the No. 54 JGR car. He can become the first driver in series history to win on his birthday.
Camping World Truck Series: Lucas Oil 200
As mentioned above, Kyle Busch won the first race of the 2014 Dover triple-header. He led 150 of 200 laps in capturing his fourth win in as many 2014 Truck Series starts. Ryan Blaney finished second, followed by Johnny Sauter, Brandon Jones and Joey Coulter.
Remarkably, Erik Jones has never competed in more than four consecutive Truck races without a win until now. He will try to turn around his luck Friday in his fifth race. Jones ranks second in the points standings, trailing two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton by 16 points.