NASCAR
Redemption at Dover For Chase Elliott in First Race of Round 2 of the Playoffs
Much like the opening race of the Playoffs in Las Vegas, Dover was defined by many Playoff contenders having issues. While in Round 1 drivers were fearing the Charlotte Roval, in Round 2 they are fearing Talladega. As a result, many strong drivers had problems while fighting for the win. After an overtime finish, Chase Elliott took the second win of his career at Dover.
Lack of Qualifying Leaves Many Uncertain about the Race
Usually scheduled for Friday, qualifying at Dover never got underway, due to inclement weather. This led to the starting lineup being set by points. All 12 Playoff drivers started the day up front. Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick would make up the front row. However, the limited on-track time had many drivers unsure about the opening race of Round 2.
Promising Day Turns to Tragedy for 48
Despite being eliminated from the championship fight last week, many thought Jimmie Johnson was a favorite to win at Dover. The Monster Mile is his best track, with 11 career wins on the concrete. However, their race went far from expectations before it even started. On the pace laps, the 48 had a catastrophic issue on the right front, as a ball joint failed. This forced the 7-time championship team behind the wall for the start of the race. The 48 would eventually come back on track, but 10 laps behind the leaders. On a day where this team could have scored their first win of 2018, they would finish a disappointing 36th.
Dominating Stage Results for the 4
Coming into the first race of Round 2 of the Playoffs, Kevin Harvick had 1 mission, to gather bonus points. After starting the day on pole, Harvick appeared to be in max-points mode from the start. He would have a commanding lead after just 28 laps. Harvick had the dominant car by a wide margin, as he lapped all the way up to 14th place. Due to no cautions in Stage 1, Harvick won the opening stage of Round 2.
In spite of not having the lead at the start of Stage 2, it was status quo for the 4. Harvick would clear for the lead by turn 2, and never looked back. Since Stage 2 also had no cautions, Harvick won it again. However, teammate Clint Bowyer was chasing him down late in Stage 2, due to Harvick being blocked by lapped traffic. Similarly to the spring Dover race, Harvick swept the stages and was looking to take a dominant win.
Great Start of Final Stage for SHR
Stage 3 would start with a rare occurrence for the NASCAR Cup Series. All 4 cars from Stewart-Haas Racing were running in the top 4 positions. To add to their dominance, all 3 Penske cars were right behind them. For a few laps, the top 7 were all Ford drivers still in the Playoffs. Dover appeared to be a statement race for Ford, as both Chevrolet and Toyota drivers were noticeably absent from the front of the pack. For this segment, the highest running Chevrolet was outside the top 10. This manufacturer supremacy would go unchallenged until pit stops with 79 laps to go.
Costly Pit Stop for Harvick
On what could have been his final pit stop on lap 319, the race was lost for Kevin Harvick. The 4 jack man lowered the Busch Ford before the rear tire changer was finished. As a result, the pit gun knocked the valve stem off of the left rear tire. This caused the tire on the 4 to go flat immediately. Harvick was forced back to pit road the next lap, losing valuable positions. Even though he led 286 laps, Harvick went all the way back to 15th, 1 lap behind the leaders. A timely debris caution would soon put Harvick back on the lead lap. But, he still had a lot of ground to make up with little time left in the race.
Harvick’s Loss Benefits Teammate
As Harvick lost the lead, his teammate Aric Almirola inherited the lead late in the race. The 10 Smithfield Ford looked to be on its way to the 1st win of 2018, in the opening race of Round 2 of the Playoffs. Almirola not only took the lead, he was pulling away from the field. At one point, the 10 had a 2 second lead over the field. Almirola was looking for his first win since July 2014 in Daytona, a span of nearly 150 races. For awhile, it looked like the 10 would win at Dover.
Great Day Gone Bad for SHR
Although the final stage at Dover started with all 4 SHR Fords in the top 4, that would quickly change. After coming to pit road for a tire issue, Clint Bowyer brought out a caution on lap 393. Unfortunately, this caution would lose the race for teammate Aric Almirola. The 10 lost the lead on pit road to Chase Elliott.
Almirola’s day went from bad to worse on the lap 397 restart, as he spun in turn 2 while running 4th. After brushing the outside wall, the 10 came down in front of the field. Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, and Ryan Blaney were all involved in this crash. Having 6 Playoff drivers in this crash would benefit Kyle Larson. The 42 gained 6 points by surviving this crash.
Overtime Battle Between Old Rivals
With half of the Playoff contenders out of the race for the win, the fight was between Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin. Chase was looking to advance onto Round 3 of the Playoffs. Meanwhile Denny was only looking for his first win of 2018. Chase was also on 40-lap old tires, while Denny had nearly brand-new tires. With a history between them, this restart could have been interesting.
When the green flag dropped again, Chase and Denny were door-to-door entering turn 1. However, Chase cleared the 11 for the lead in turn 2, and never looked back. Elliott scored his 2nd career win, both coming in 2018. With the Dover win, Elliott no longer has to worry about Talladega or Round 2 of the Playoffs. The 9 team is now the only team securely into Round 3.
Behind Elliott and Hamlin, the top 10 results from Dover were an interesting mix of Playoff and non-Playoff drivers. Joey Logano was 3rd, followed by Erik Jones, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Daniel Suarez.
Day of Redemption For Elliott
This win was incredibly significant for Chase Elliott, considering how this race ended up a year ago. In the closing laps last year, Elliott had a 4 second lead evaporate with just 2 laps left. Kyle Busch went on to win what would have been Elliott’s first career victory. Elliott was more than disappointed last year, as he was 2 miles away from the win.
Elliott cited last year’s loss in his victory lane interview, proving that Dover a year ago was a hard defeat. He said “To have this race slip away last year makes today that much more sweet.” Dover 2017 was 1 of 8 runner-up finishes Chase Elliott scored before finally winning his first Cup race earlier this year at Watkins Glen.
How to Watch the Next Race
Dover was marked by many of the Playoff contenders having some sort of issue throughout the day. This intensity was due to next week’s wildcard race at Talladega Superspeedway. The 1000Bulbs.com 500 will go green next Sunday, October 14, at 2 PM EST. Coverage will be on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Talladega will surely impact who transfers on past Round 2. This unpredictable race is a crap shoot no matter where it falls in the Playoffs, so be sure to catch every lap of action.
