The NASCAR Cup Series hit Dover Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon, the 21st points race of the regular season. There are now only five races remaining on the NASCAR schedule before the playoffs begin and the “Monster Mile” added to the intensity for Sunday’s race in an overtime finish..
Let’s dive into our winners and losers from Sunday’s NASCAR race at Dover.
Winner: Denny Hamlin
NASCAR fans certainly wouldn’t have been happy if Denny Hamlin had won Sunday’s race because of rain. Fortunately, we got overtime. Hamlin faced challenges from Christopher Bell and later Chase Briscoe, but he held off both despite running on significantly older tires. He earned the victory with outstanding tire management and clean, competitive racing. It was a well-deserved fourth win of the season.
Loser: Shane van Gisbergen
After winning three road course races in the last five weeks, everyone knew that Shane van Gisbergen would struggle at Dover Motor Speedway. What hurt is what happened minutes into the race, when he reported an issue that required an early stop to pit lane. SVG’s call to pit was the right one; he had a puncture in his right front tire, but it put him 4 laps down. He’s still near the top of the playoff picture for the playoffs at 3 wins, but the No. 88 car didn’t do him any favors after he started sixth (based on metric score), which could’ve been a golden opportunity for him to practice racing near the front of the field at Dover.
Related: Insane Shane van Gisbergen Stats from his Incredible Run
Winner: Kyle Larson
Without having qualifying to place him near the start of the field, Kyle Larson started Sunday’s race in 25th. He worked his way to 10th (1 point) at the end of Stage 1 and kept himself near the front of the field for the rest of the day. While Larson didn’t come away with the victory, which would’ve solidified him in first place in the playoff picture, he did a great job climbing his way through the field to narrow the gap in the regular-season standings after a rough summer dropped him back.
Loser: Chase Elliott’s jackman and crew chief
After earning the pole position for the EchoPark Automotive 400 based on the metric score, Chase Elliott was dominant through the first 170-plus laps on Sunday. With the advantage of clean air, he seemed perfectly positioned to go from pole to checkered flag at Dover, so long as disaster didn’t strike on pit road. Unfortunately for Elliott, that’s exactly what happened. The jack plate didn’t get fully positioned under the jack post on the driver’s side, causing it to slip out and cost valuable time. He came off pit road in sixth place after leading 171 laps during the first two stages. Fortunately for Elliott, his entire pit crew made up for it on the next pit stop and got him back on the front row.
Then, crew chief Alan Gustafson made the baffling decision to bring him down pit road to take two tires and that took Elliott off the front row. Elliott did everything he needed to earn a win on Sunday, unfortunately, certain members of his team let him down.
Winner: Alex Bowman
Alex Bowman was easily one of, if not the, best drivers on Sunday. He quickly worked his way into the top 10 early, showing the best long-run speed on the track. Bowman converted that speed into 15 stage points—some much-needed breathing room in the playoff race, given the strong likelihood that we’ll see at least one more new race winner in the next five weeks. It was a phenomenal day at the track for Bowman and the No. 48 team.
Loser: A.J. Allmendinger’s car lets him down
A.J. Allmendinger looked good early on Sunday, working his way up from 17th to 10th with just a few laps to go in Stage 1. Unfortunately, his tire started to come undone and it dropped him to the middle of the pack. In Stage 2, he started to show that same speed again and then encountered brake problems that ended his day. What happened on Sunday certainly doesn’t fall on Allmendinger; the car just let him down.
Winner: Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports
The two best teams in NASCAR showcased their dominance at Dover. Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, and Christopher Bell all led at least one lap, and each of them spent the majority of Sunday inside the top 10. JGR and Hendrick finished with the top six spots at the checkered flag, further strengthening their separation from the rest of the field in the team standings.
Loser: Trackhouse Racing
It was a day to forget for Trackhouse Racing. Beyond the issues that Shane van Gisbergen experienced, which kept him at the back of the field throughout Sunday’s race, there were also problems with the No. 77 car. During Carson Hocevar’s pit stop in Stage 2, the fuel tank was dropped and landed outside the pit stall, resulting in a penalty. It put Hocevar a lap down, and additional issues just minutes later forced him to have his car checked out. As for Daniel Suárez, his only notable moment was frustrating Chase Elliott for a few laps to avoid falling a lap down, but he eventually lost that battle.
Read More: NASCAR Drivers on the Hot Seat
Loser: Joey Logano
Already locked into the NASCAR Playoffs, Joey Logano and the No. 22 team cost themselves some valuable positioning for September. With rain on the horizon, instead of running long, the team brought Logano into pit lane. The gamble backfired, as Logano was penalized and dropped to 27th. Moments later, the caution came out for a brief rain delay. What could’ve been a promising points day for Logano turned into a major blunder in the final stage.
Winner: Bubba Wallace
Realistically, Bubba Wallace probably won’t get the win necessary to make the NASCAR playoffs. He also doesn’t have the strongest track record at Dover, which made Sunday’s performance especially important. He finished seventh after starting outside the top 20, increasing his lead over Ryan Preece to +16 after entering the day at +3. There is still a strong likelihood he will need to overtake Chris Buescher, who is 28 points ahead of Wallace, but Sunday at least improved Wallace’s playoff odds.
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