NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Will Tame the Monster Mile at Dover?
Week 11 of 2022 will see the NASCAR Cup Series compete on the Monster Mile. Dover Motor Speedway is the next unique track ahead for the Next Gen car. Will we see a ninth different winner this season, or will a familiar face find victory lane? With Dover being such a fast, physical track, it does benefit experienced veterans over young upstart talents. Let’s take a look at a few drivers who could take home the Miles the Monster trophy.
Kevin Harvick
Perhaps the most consistent driver at Dover is three-time winner Kevin Harvick. Since finishing 17th in 2017, Harvick has not finished worse than sixth in the last seven Dover races. This run includes two of his three career wins here, most recently in 2020. Harvick also leads all drivers in Dover laps led, at 1,666. In short, Harvick could end his now 50+ race losing streak at Dover.
“Dover is a racetrack that everything about it is unique,” Harvick said. “The concrete, itself, all the way around the racetrack, is unique. Dover is a racetrack where you can get away with being aggressive every single lap. You have to drive the car as hard as it will go every single lap, and that’s hard to do there because there are all the little bumps that come with the concrete, the change of elevation as you go in and off the corners, and all the banking in the corners.
“It’s just a really, really fast racetrack,” Harvick went on. “It’s also a very physical racetrack just because of all the G’s and the bouncing and everything that comes with driving around Dover. It’s a racetrack where you have to have your hands gripping on the steering wheel and gritting your teeth all at the same time in order to go fast every single lap.
“When your car’s off, there’s just nowhere to hide there. You wind up going a lap down, probably two laps down, because you pit early and then the caution comes out. It’s a beast of a racetrack and there’s a reason they call it the Monster Mile because you can get yourself in trouble really quick.”
While Stewart-Haas Racing has seen a very up-and-down year so far in 2022, Harvick has had some bright moments. Coming off of a top-10 day in Talladega, the 4 hopes to improve to a contender again in Dover.
Kyle Larson
A season ago in Delaware, Kyle Larson had a dominant day end in second place. After leading a race-high 263 laps, teammate Alex Bowman beat Larson off of pit road late. The 5 would continue to follow the 48 across the finish line, being part of Hendrick Motorsport’s 1-2-3-4 finish. A year removed, can Larson recapture the magic at the Monster Mile?
“We had a great result last year in the Gen 6 car,” Larson said. “Finishing one-two-three-four I know meant a lot to Rick and all the men and women at Hendrick Motorsports. I’ve run well at Dover throughout my career and have led a lot of laps there. I hope that is the case again this weekend. I don’t know how this generation of car will race on the concrete, but I hope we’ll be using multiple lanes on Sunday.”
Aside from last year’s runner-up, Larson does have one prior Dover win (2019). Through 13 Dover starts, Larson also claims 10 top-10s, including three-straight top-threes. With this amazing consistency, the 5 could snag one that got away from him last season this time around.
Chase Elliott
Still the points leader, Chase Elliott has one past Dover victory, from fall 2019. Now with a 21-point gap over Ryan Blaney, driver 9 has to be seen as a favorite for the win. Across Elliott’s Dover career, the 2020 champion only has three finishes worse than fifth. Among those who have not won yet in 2022, Elliott tops the list of favorites for a Dover victory.
“All these places, as we go to them for the first time, I’m kind of like everybody else,” Elliott explained. “I’m just waiting to see how it goes. I never would have thought that Martinsville would have gone like it did. I think we were probably all surprised about that one. But nonetheless, I’m excited to get out there and hopefully it goes well.”
Despite the points lead, Elliott only claims one top five through 10 weeks of 2022. Elliott has been close to a few wins this year, but is a step behind in overall consistency. Dover could be a step in the right direction for this team, with a strong history on the concrete.
Kyle Busch
Driver 18 is another favorite heading into this weekend, as Kyle Busch claims three past Dover wins. In four of the last six Dover races, Busch has a top-10 finish. The two outliers are the two most recent races, Busch was 11th in 2020 and 27th in 2021. However, the Las Vegas native enters this weekend confident for another win on the year.
“I always enjoy Dover,” Busch said. “It’s a place you don’t want to be afraid of. You want to go out there and attack the place and give it everything you’ve got. It’s a really unique track. People say it reminds them of Bristol, but it really doesn’t for me. It’s a concrete surface and it’s relatively high banked and you carry a lot of speed into the corner there a lot longer than you do on the straightaway. It’s a place where handling characteristics take up most of your worries and make sure you are good in the corners, and I’ve just always loved going there.”
With the fog of sponsorship concerns still over the 18 team, the best thing Busch can do is continue his winning ways. At one of his best statistic venues, driver 18 should be a deciding factor in who walks away happy on Sunday.
Martin Truex Jr.
The 19 team of Martin Truex Jr. have been quietly great at Dover since their 2019 win. For three-straight Delaware trips, MTJ was second. This run would however only end last year with a 19th-place effort. With three past Miles the Monster trophies, Truex has to be thought of as a favorite to get a fourth win in the First State.
“It’s going to be a challenge for sure,” Truex said. “Dover is so different from anything we have raced so far and really different from anywhere that we go all year. So that practice is going to be very important. It’s a hard track to get right anyways but throw in the new car and limited track time, it’s going to be difficult. I love going there though, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Dover is subtly one of Truex’s best venues on the circuit. The New Jersey native has a top-10 in all but three trips to Delaware since 2014. With such an impressive streak, the 19 could be eyeing their first win of 2022 this weekend.
William Byron
While the current driver of the 24 may not have a Dover win, this is still one of William Byron’s favorite tracks. Byron has been consistent in Dover as of late, with back-to-back fourth-place efforts coming into this weekend. The Hendrick 24 crew has put a greater emphasis on short tracks this year, and Byron envisions that translating over to Dover.
“I’d say every week is a new week,” Byron said. “It really is. We look at our old notes for balance and things like that, but even that’s kind of changed. I think Dover’s going to be eye-opening to see how this car gets around, because you know it has way less downforce. Downforce is key at Dover. I’m very interested to see how that feels and how that plays out, because I don’t know what to expect.”
As one of the only two multi-race winners so far in 2022, William Byron could pull off a three-peat victory at Dover. The Monster Mile has been a Hendrick Motorsports playground of late, so the 24 could be a contender here again.
Dover could be a great race ahead for the Next Gen car, if multiple lanes develop on the concrete. Coverage of the Duramax Drydene 400 begins Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Now being the only trip to Dover, all drivers are even hungrier to take home the Miles the Monster trophy.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images for NASCAR
