The NASCAR Cup Series will join the Xfinity Series at Dover Motor Superspeedway this weekend. The teams will be back to their regular schedule this week with a 20-minute practice session, followed by qualifying. Hopefully the racing will be better that what it has been on the short tacks in 2023. Here is the schedule for this weekend at Dover…
DOVER SCHEDULE
NASCAR STRATEGY
The races at Dover have typically been easy to predict, but that may not be the case this week. We usually can use the data from Bristol, but that track has dirt on it now. Usually, the stats from the races at Phoenix and Richmond has also been helpful in the past, but Dover will NOT use the short track aero package that was used at Phoenix and Richmond. I do not think we need to ignore the data from the races at Phoenix and Richmond, but we do need to focus a little more on what happened last year at Dover in the Gen-7 car.
You can watch the extended highlights of the last year’s race at Dover here: NASCAR Race Rewind
Hendrick Motorsports dominated the races at Phoenix, Richmond and Las Vegas this season. Now they get to race at one of the best tracks for HMS. Chase Elliott won the race at Dover last year and Alex Bowman won at the Monster Mile in 2021. I plan to have a lot of the HMS cars in my Fantasy Lineups Sunday, but I also want to see what other teams show up with some speed in practice Saturday.
STATS FOR DOVER
Dover is a unique track. It is not a normal intermediate track like the “cookie cutter” tracks we have on the schedule. The Cup Series will use a different aero package from what was used at Phoenix and Richmond. So, how do we handicap this race?
I am throwing all of the stats in a pot, mixing them up and see which drivers float to the top. I am using the Driver Rankings from the races this year at Phoenix, Richmond and Las Vegas. I will add in the Driver Rankings from the race using the Gen-7 car at Dover last year. Sprinkle in the Driver Rankings for the last three seasons at Dover and just a touch of momentum from the 2023 season. Here is how it all comes out…
EARLY WEEK PICKS FOR DOVER
ONE & DONE PICK: ALEX BOWMAN *KYLE LARSON
*I originally had Alex Bowman listed as my One & Done pick but he is out for 3-4 weeks
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS: KYLE LARSON, CHASE ELLIOTT, ALEX BOWMAN, KEVIN HARVICK, KYLE BUSCH, MARTIN TRUEX JR., TY GIBBS, RYAN PREECE
FANTASY LIVE PICKS: KYLE LARSON, CHASE ELLIOTT, ALEX BOWMAN, DENNY HAMLIN, MARTIN TRUEX JR. (GARAGE) KEVIN HARVICK
Good luck this weekend!
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