Teams and drivers can now exhale with another wild race at Talladega on the books. Kyle Busch avoided Sunday’s disaster and found himself in the right place at the right time, taking his second win of the season. Busch led only three of the race’s 188 laps, but it was the most important. After ten races, the series heads east for one final race to cap off a busy April.
The drivers dealt with challenges at Talladega, but now they’re up against a new kind of opponent. Dover Motor Speedway has hosted more than 100 Cup races dating back to the first event in 1969, which was won by Richard Petty. Taking on the Monster Mile is no easy feat, and every driver will have to deal with an ordeal of some kind next Sunday.
Veterans will have a small advantage in this event, but there are no guarantees. Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr each have three wins on the highway, and Chase Elliott has two victories in the one-mile oval race. He is the defending race winner Hendrick Motorsports has won four of the last seven races at Dover.
Another veteran to watch next weekend is Denny Hamlin. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won at Dover in 2020 and has four poles on the track. His teammate Truex is the only other driver to have multiple poles on the highway. Harvick has the most starts (42), laps (1,666), and top tens (23) at Dover, and has finished inside the top ten in the last eight Dover races.
Race weekend schedule (EST)
Saturday 29th April
10:35 a.m. – Practice and rehab
Sunday 30th April
2:00 pm – Race
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