Dale Earnhardt Jr. debuts as NASCAR crew chief, turns to TNT on TV
The guys break down Chase Briscoe’s win and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief debut at Pocono. They also review the five-week Amazon Prime Video stint.
- The speedway will debut “Miles Beach,” a beach-themed area with sand, a tiki hut, and a giant rubber duck, to celebrate the summer race dates.
- The NASCAR Cup Series race, the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400, will be held on July 20 and will be a key race in the NASCAR In-Season Challenge.
- ESPN’s “SportsCenter: 50 States in 50 Days” will broadcast from Dover Motor Speedway on July 20.
It’s almost hard to fathom that in the 56 years of auto racing at Dover Motor Speedway, there has been only one other race weekend held in July − the first one, on July 6, 1969.
Yet that will happen again the weekend of July 18-20 when Dover hosts its annual race weekend, beginning July 18 with the General Tire 150 in the ARCA Series, followed July 19 with the BetRivers 200 as part of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and culminating July 20 with the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400, a key race in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Dover Motor Speedway officials are not treating this opportunity as an, ahem, day at the beach.
For the fans who attend, that’s a different story, literally.
That’s because “Miles Beach” will make its debut near the iconic “Miles the Monster” monument. Miles Beach will have more than 600 tons of sand and all the accoutrements to go along with a day at the beach.
That includes a stage with reggae music, a tiki hut, mini-boardwalk, a 25-foot lighthouse, the world’s largest Rubber Duck (60 feet tall and weighing 15.5 tons), sand sculptures, dunk tanks, and more.
“We couldn’t take the race to the beach, so let’s see if we can bring the beach to our track,” Dover Motor Speedway president and general manager Mike Tatoian said. “Now that we’re in the summer, and the kids are out of school, obviously we’re accentuating the beach, which is one of Delaware’s most beautiful natural assets.
“We’re trying to create a beach atmosphere without actually going to Rehoboth or Lewes. We’re having a lot of fun with that.”
It’s quite a contrast to what Dover has been able to offer in the past. From 2022-24, the race was held the last weekend of April. In 2022 and 2023, the Sunday races were postponed because of rain. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Dover hosted two races each year − one in the spring, usually in May or early June; the other in September.
It was hard for the speedway to appeal to the beach crowd, or to hold activities around the track that lasted much into the evening because the weather either hadn’t warmed up yet, or had already started to cool off.
But that’s just one component of the race weekend. Here are the others:
What’s the schedule for racing at Dover Motor Speedway?
- July 18 at 5 p.m.: General Tire 150 ARCA Menards Series race (on FS1).
- July 19 at 4:30 p.m.: BetRivers 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race (on The CW, Performance Racing Network).
- July 20 at 2 p.m.: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 NASCAR Cup Series race (on TNT, Performance Racing Network).
How to watch racing from Dover Motor Speedway on TV
TNT will broadcast the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 beginning at 2 p.m., with radio coverage from PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
For TNT, Adam Alexander is the play-by-play announcer, with Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Steve Letarte serving as analysts. The pit reporters are Marty Snider, Danielle Trotta and Alan Cavanna.
What’s the weather forecast for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400?
The outlook for July 20 isn’t great, with scattered thunderstorms expected in the morning, followed by mostly cloudy skies and potentially more thunderstorms in the afternoon. The National Weather Service is predicting a 70% chance of rain. The high temperature is expected to be 86 degrees and humid.
Either way, the hot and humid summer weather will have an impact on the racing conditions on the concrete oval.
“Being in July, the track is going to be hotter, slicker and theoretically should take more rubber,” driver Ricky Stenhouse said. “If that happens, then I think the top side of the racetrack comes into play more. You should be able to pass a little better. But it’ll also make the bottom of the racetrack very difficult because the rubber will build up, and then you start kind of sliding around on top of that rubber.
“So it’ll be tricky for sure.”
Who’s winning the NASCAR In-Season Tournament Challenge?
Dover’s Cup Series event will be the fourth of five in NASCAR’s first-ever In-Season Tournament Challenge, an in-season, bracket-style tournament in which the winning driver pockets $1 million.
The tournament began June 28 at Atlanta Motor Speedway with 32 drivers seeded from No. 1 through No. 32, paired off against each other − No. 1 Denny Hamlin vs. No. 32 Ty Dillon, No. 2 Chase Briscoe vs. No. 31 Noah Gragson, and so on.
The driver who performed better at a particular race advanced while the loser was eliminated. Dillon has advanced to the semifinals, held at Dover, where he’ll take on No. 12 seed John Hunter Nemecheck. The other semifinal pits No. 23 seed Tyler Reddick against No. 6 Ty Gibbs.
The winners advance to the finals July 27 in Indianapolis at the Brickyard 400.
Who are the top drivers to watch?
The In-Season Tournament Challenge between Gibbs and Reddick has perhaps has the most on the line. Beyond the chance for the $1 million prize, Gibbs has to perform well in order to keep his playoff hopes alive.
Sixteen drivers make the playoff field that is held over the final 10 races. There are five races left after Dover in the regular season. Individual ace winners are granted a spot in the playoff field, provided they finish in the top 20 in the standings.
Reddick is currently fourth in the standings, so he should be pretty safe for the playoffs. Gibbs, meanwhile, is 17th, just 10 points out of 16th. But he has not won a race this season.
As for other drivers, Kyle Busch has the most victories at Dover. He’s 15th in the standings, and has not won a race.
Other drivers to watch include Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott, who have each won twice at Dover. Elliott is currently second in the standings, while Hamlin is in fifth place.
That leaves Shane van Gisbergen, who won on the road course at Sonoma, California on July 13. It was his third victory of the season, all on road courses. He has not been nearly as successful on traditional tracks.
That’s why van Gisbergen is in 26th place in the standings. He will not make the playoffs unless he can move into the top 20. van Gisbergen is currently 31 points out of 20th place, so he’ll need a strong performance at Dover.
Is Katherine Legge racing at Dover?
Legge became the first woman to compete in a NASCAR Cup Series event since Danica Patrick in 2018 when she debuted at Phoenix back in March. Legge, who’s 44 years old, has raced in four Indy 500s during a racing career that has spanned more than 20 years.
In the Cup Series, Legge has only entered four races so far. She finished 19th on the road course in Chicago on July 6, the highest finish for a woman since Patrick in 2017. Legge is also racing in several Xfinity Series races this season.
She will race in both the Xfinity and Cup series races July 26-27 at the Brickyard 400, but she will not be racing at Dover. Legge also competes in the ARCA series, but she will not be at Dover for the General Tire 150.
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Why is ESPN SportsCenter at Dover?
ESPN will host its “SportsCenter: 50 States in 50 Days” at Dover Motor Speedway on July 20th. It’s the show’s first time at the Monster Mile. ESPN’s Marty Smith will begin coverage from the track at 10 a.m. that day with updates, features and so on throughout the day.
Where and how to meet drivers
Drivers Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are scheduled to participate in interviews at the Monster Monument on July 20 beginning at 11 a.m. for Elliott and Larson, and 11:15 a.m. for Blaney and Josh Berry.
In addition, other drivers are scheduled to appear around the racetrack on July 18 and July 19. Check https://www.dovermotorspeedway.com/events/autotrader-echopark-automotive-400/appearances for the full schedule.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
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