The Cup Series will travel to Dover Motor Speedway this weekend to try and slay Miles the Monster. This race was moved from its traditional spot in May on the NASCAR schedule to a race in mid July. The track is going to be hotter and slicker and that should make the cars tougher to drive at what is already one of the toughest tracks on the circuit. Buckle up… We may be in for a wild race at the Monster Mile this weekend. The Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 can be seen Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on TNT.
PRACTICE SPEEDS FOR DOVER
Qualifying was rained out. The field was set “per the metrics” from the stats at Sonoma last week. This means there are some good drivers starting deep in the field and some no-so-good drivers starting up front. Goodyear is bringing a new tire to the track and the teams have no clue how the concrete will take rubber during the race. Dover went from being one of the easiest races to predict, to one of the hardest since practice was rained out. I am simply going to trust the stats from the previous races at Dover and the tracks similar to Dover this week. That is all we have to work with.
STRATEGY FOR DOVER
The Fantasy Live regular season ends in six weeks and then the allocations will reset to five. There are only four races on oval tracks left in the regular season. You want your top drivers for the races at Dover, Indianapolis, Iowa and Richmond. Do not worry about saving allocations in the Fantasy Live game Sunday.
Here are the picks for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400…
CHASE ELLIOTT (4): Dover has been a good track for Elliott. He won the race in the Gen-7 car at Dover in 2022 and he finished 5th last year. Elliott has also scored Stage Points in seven of the last eight Stages at the Monster Mile. Elliott starts on the pole because practice was rained out. I doubt he will have a starting position like this in any of the upcoming races. I will take a chance with the Most Popular Driver at one of his best tracks.
WILLIAM BYRON (2): Byron has had one of the fastest cars in the last two races at Dover. He led 193 laps and finished 4th in 2023 and last year he was running up front again when he was wrecked. Byron starts in the top-five, so he has the track position to run up front, score some Stage Points and be a good pick for our Fantasy Live lineup.
CHASE BRISCOE (6): Briscoe has not been very good at Dover but he was not very good at Sonoma either and we should have played Briscoe last week. The switch from Stewart-Haas Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing should be enough to get Briscoe up front. Dover was one of the best tracks for the No. 19 team with Martin Truex Jr. in the car. Briscoe starts on the front row. I did not think he could stay up front last week. I am not making the mistake of fading Briscoe when he starts up front again.
DENNY HAMLIN (3): Hamlin has a history of slaying Miles the Monster at Dover. He led 136 laps, scored 13 Stage Points and won the race last year. Hamlin also scored 15 Stage Points and finished 5th at Dover in 2023. Hamlin starts 13th Sunday. That is close enough to the front to score a lot of Stage Points and win the race at one of his best tracks.
TY GIBBS (3): I have been using Gibbs a lot over the last two months and so far he has not let me down. I will go back to the No. 54 car Sunday. Gibbs finished 10th and 13th in his two Cup Series races at Dover. Gibbs also looked good earlier this season on the concrete at Bristol. He started 6th and finished 3rd. Gibbs starts 9th Sunday. The No. 54 car should have the speed to run in the top-10, score some Stage Points and finish in the top-10 Sunday.
(GARAGE PICK) ALEX BOWMAN (5): I originally had Ross Chastain in the Fantasy Live Garage because I thought his extra seat time in the Xfinity Series would give him an advantage Sunday since practice and qualifying was rained out. The No. 9 car blew up in the Xfinity Series race, so Chastain did not get the experience I thought he would get. I will pivot to Bowman. He has had terrible luck on the concrete tracks this year, but Dover is one of his best tracks. The No. 48 team should have the notes to bring some speed to the track Sunday.
Good luck and be sure to follow me on X (Twitter) @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.