Steeped in tradition, with the inaugural event taking place in the summer of love that was 1969, the upcoming edition of the Dover 400 (the AAA 400 Drive for Autism) represents the penultimate race of the Spring segment.
With a famously smooth, all-concrete surface and high-banked corners, Dover is certainly an intermediate track that favors brain and composure over brawn and bravado.
GROUP A
Since composure is such an important requirement, it came as no surprise when Jimmie Johnson won last season’s corresponding event, a result which represented his third victory lane appearance in the four most recent spring events at Dover.
However, by virtue of his inferior standing to current leader Kevin Harvick, he is relegated to the reserve berth on this occasion.
Since Harvick is winless in this event, many would consider this managerial suicide, but gambles are occasionally required to gain ground.
Though unusually popular among managers ahead of another Dover meet, it is not a landslide percentage by any means, meaning that this gamble is not significantly great even if Johnson is victorious yet again.
This weekend ultimately represents another golden opportunity for Harvick to break this losing streak and remain true to his power ranking. His current consistency levels also mark an improvement on those he demonstrated during the spring phase of last season’s Sprint Cup.
Jimmie Johnson approaches the weekend on the back of a 17th place finish in the previous round, but it is worth noting that Johnson had also suffered a disappointing result immediately prior to last year’s race.
Naturally, Kyle Busch is also a good alternative to consider, but he would be better utilized in as many summer races as the remaining starter berths allow.
GROUP B
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Having claimed an impressive win in Bristol several weeks ago, Carl Edwards would be the immediate pick for anyone that has not yet burned through their entire allocation of starts for him, since Dover possesses a number of similarities to Bristol.
Curiously, Kasey Kahne is proving a popular starter ahead of this weekend, with his fourth place finish in last season’s corresponding event undoubtedly being the reason for this surge.
GROUP C
Many managers will now be planning on how to manipulate Group C without any further opportunity to use Chase Elliott in a starter berth. Ryan Blaney now becomes the go-to driver in Group C, with Regan Smith now set to feature more prominently in the coming weeks.
Landon Cassill is also proving a popular alternative.
For the latest standings and statistics, visit Motorsport24.com
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