The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visited "The Monster Mile", Dover International Speedway today for the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks. Being race 13 on the schedule, this race marked the halfway point of the Sprint Cup Series "Race to the Chase". Located in Dover Delaware, "The Monster Mile" is a 1 mile track that features a concrete surface, 24 degrees of banking in the corners and 9 degree banked straight-aways. The track has tight quarters with walls very close on both side, and the "self cleaning" banking makes the track close up quickly when a car spins. The tracks mascot "Miles the Monster" sits just outside the track waiting to "claim his victims". Turns out he didn't have to wait long today.
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| Miles the Monster |
Mark Martin sat on the pole for the race, it was his 3rd pole of the year, his 5th at "The Monster Mile" and the 54th of his career, which is 8th on the all-time list. He drove his Aarons Dream machine past the edge of control, swinging it sideways to edge Jimmie Johnson for the pole by 0.005 seconds. Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Points leader Greg Biffle, Kyle, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin started 3rd through 10th.
The green flag flew and Johnson took the lead from Martin on the backstretch to lead lap one, but Martin came back a few laps later to reclaim the lead. On lap 9 chaos ensued. 3-time and defending Cup Series champion Tony Stewart had a poor qualifying effort of 29th and was attempting to pick his way through the field. He had stuck his fender under Landon Cassil entering turn 1, and when Cassil arched the corner he made contact with Stewart. Regan Smith was coming with a run on the inside and couldn't slow up fast enough. With Cassil, Stewart and Smith spinning the track was blocked, the crash collected Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Speed, David Gilliland, Dave Blaney, Joe Nemecheck, Michael McDowell, Casey Mears, Reed Sorenson, Steven Leicht and Travis Kvapil. With 13 mangled racecars blocking the exit of turn 2 and most of the backstretch the race was red flagged for about half an hour. During the red flag Smith in an interview with a FOX reporter said he took full responsibility for the incident, and said that he could not slow down to avoid Stewart starting the chain reaction. Stewart wound up finishing 26th 69 laps down. It was the biggest multi-car crash of the season and the first since Talladega.
Most of the leaders stayed on track and Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch were the top-5 on the restart. Johnson would snag the lead back from Martin at lap 30 and the two traded it back and forth through green flag pitstops between them, untill a caution at lap 111 when David Reutimann's engine expired. After pitstops Johnson, Martin, Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon restarted top 5. Johnson continued to lead through a lap 164 caution where Carl Edwards saw his good run hit the wall, but at lap 211 Gordon took the lead from Johnson, and Kyle Busch had taken his car to the garage with a blown engine just 6 laps prior. A lap 226 caution for debris on the frontstretch slowed the field and after pitstops it was Gordon, Johnson, Kenseth, Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the top 5. Harvick restarted 19th after almost missing his pitbox.
After the green flag it was apparent that Jeff Gordon's bad luck was going to continue, he let Johnson pass for the lead at lap 244 and by lap 251 he was on pit road to repair a loose wheel and came out about 20th 2 laps down. He would pass the leader to gain a lap back and eventually retake the lead from Johnson but a debris caution at lap 340 foiled his plans as he was trapped a lap down being on a diffferent pit strategy as the front runners. He would get a wave around and wind up finishing 13th.
After two more quick cautions at laps 345 and 363 for Kurt Busch and Jeff Burtons engines expiring the top 5 were Johnson, Harvick who battled hard to recover from the earlier pit road miscue, Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth and Bowyer. The restart set up a 30 lap dash for the checkered flag where Jimmie Johnson drove off to beat Kevin Harvick by 2.550 seconds. Johnson dominated leading 289 of 400 laps on his way to his 7th career Dover victory to tie Richard Petty and Bobby Allison for the most all time at the track. It was Johnson's 57th career victory (8th all-time), and his second victory of the year just in the last three races.
Its going to take a lot to stop the Hendrick train heading into Pocono next week, Hendrick drivers (Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne) now have won four races in a row, including the All-Star. In those four races Jeff Gordon has often had the fastest car to only have problems and Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been beating on the door of a victory with finishes of 6th and 3rd in the last two races, winning the Sprint Showdown and placing 5th in the All Star race. Can anyone stop the train?
Unofficial race results: FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks
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| A 13 car pileup at lap 9 brought out the red flag (Getty Images) |
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| Johnson leads at "The Monster Mile (Getty Images) |
Most of the leaders stayed on track and Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch were the top-5 on the restart. Johnson would snag the lead back from Martin at lap 30 and the two traded it back and forth through green flag pitstops between them, untill a caution at lap 111 when David Reutimann's engine expired. After pitstops Johnson, Martin, Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon restarted top 5. Johnson continued to lead through a lap 164 caution where Carl Edwards saw his good run hit the wall, but at lap 211 Gordon took the lead from Johnson, and Kyle Busch had taken his car to the garage with a blown engine just 6 laps prior. A lap 226 caution for debris on the frontstretch slowed the field and after pitstops it was Gordon, Johnson, Kenseth, Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the top 5. Harvick restarted 19th after almost missing his pitbox.
After the green flag it was apparent that Jeff Gordon's bad luck was going to continue, he let Johnson pass for the lead at lap 244 and by lap 251 he was on pit road to repair a loose wheel and came out about 20th 2 laps down. He would pass the leader to gain a lap back and eventually retake the lead from Johnson but a debris caution at lap 340 foiled his plans as he was trapped a lap down being on a diffferent pit strategy as the front runners. He would get a wave around and wind up finishing 13th.
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| Jimmie Johnson celebrates Madagascar style (Getty Images) |
Its going to take a lot to stop the Hendrick train heading into Pocono next week, Hendrick drivers (Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne) now have won four races in a row, including the All-Star. In those four races Jeff Gordon has often had the fastest car to only have problems and Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been beating on the door of a victory with finishes of 6th and 3rd in the last two races, winning the Sprint Showdown and placing 5th in the All Star race. Can anyone stop the train?
Unofficial race results: FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks
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| FIN | ST | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | PTS/BNS | LAPS | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's Madagascar | 48/5 | 400 | Running |
| 2 | 6 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Jimmy Johns | 42/0 | 400 | Running |
| 3 | 5 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Best Buy | 42/1 | 400 | Running |
| 4 | 17 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | AMP Energy / Diet Mtn. Dew / National Guard | 41/1 | 400 | Running |
| 5 | 4 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-hour Energy | 39/0 | 400 | Running |
| 6 | 12 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Jani-King / Smithfield | 38/0 | 400 | Running |
| 7 | 18 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 37/0 | 400 | Running |
| 8 | 11 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 36/0 | 400 | Running |
| 9 | 13 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | 35/0 | 400 | Running |
| 10 | 21 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley | 34/0 | 400 | Running |
| 11 | 7 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M / Heilind (EMD) | 33/0 | 400 | Running |
| 12 | 16 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 32/0 | 400 | Running |
| 13 | 14 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 32/1 | 400 | Running |
| 14 | 1 | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron's Dream Machine | 31/1 | 400 | Running |
| 15 | 3 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Quicken Loans | 29/0 | 400 | Running |
| 16 | 23 | 22 | AJ Allmendinger | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 28/0 | 400 | Running |
| 17 | 20 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Menards / Pittsburgh Paints | 27/0 | 400 | Running |
| 18 | 10 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Freight / Autism Speaks | 27/1 | 400 | Running |
| 19 | 24 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Allstate | 25/0 | 400 | Running |
| 20 | 22 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Scott Products | 24/0 | 399 | Running |
| 21 | 28 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | MHP / 8 Hour Alert | 24/1 | 398 | Running |
| 22 | 15 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | BB&T | 22/0 | 364 | Engine |
| 23 | 42 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 21/0 | 348 | Running |
| 24 | 9 | 51 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction Services | 20/0 | 338 | Engine |
| 25 | 29 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Office Depot | 19/0 | 331 | Running |
| 26 | 19 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Subway | 18/0 | 318 | Running |
| 27 | 26 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / CSX "Play it Safe" | 17/0 | 306 | Running |
| 28 | 31 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 16/0 | 296 | Running |
| 29 | 8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M's | 15/0 | 202 | Engine |
| 30 | 38 | 32 | Reed Sorenson | Ford | FAS Lane Racing | 0 | 124 | Accident |
| 31 | 39 | 10 | David Reutimann | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 13/0 | 110 | Engine |
| 32 | 41 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 12/0 | 65 | Accident |
| 33 | 32 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 11/0 | 63 | Overheating |
| 34 | 34 | 249 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | America Israel Racing / JPO Absorbents | 10/0 | 41 | Overheating |
| 35 | 37 | 33 | Stephen Leicht * | Chevrolet | Little Joes Autos.com | 9/0 | 29 | Accident |
| 36 | 36 | 119 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Humphrey Smith Racing | 0 | 23 | Steering |
| 37 | 43 | 23 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 7/0 | 21 | Vibration |
| 38 | 27 | 83 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 6/0 | 9 | Accident |
| 39 | 35 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 0 | 9 | Accident |
| 40 | 30 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | Autism Speaks | 4/0 | 9 | Accident |
| 41 | 40 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 3/0 | 8 | Accident |
| 42 | 33 | 98 | Michael McDowell | Ford | Phil Parsons Racing | 2/0 | 8 | Accident |
| 43 | 25 | 179 | Scott Speed | Ford | Team Kyle / Koma Unwind | 1/0 | 8 | Accident |
* Denotes Rookie Unofficial race results via NASCAR.com
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