After back-to-back weekends on road courses, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to an oval with a trip to Dover Motor Speedway this weekend.
The last eight Cup points races on ovals have been won by a different driver. Those winners have been Austin Cindric (Talladega), Joey Logano (Texas), Kyle Larson (Kansas), Ross Chastain (Coca-Cola 600), Ryan Blaney (Nashville), Denny Hamlin (Michigan), Chase Briscoe (Pocono) and Chase Elliott (Atlanta).
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading into Sunday’s race.
23XI Racing — Good news: Tyler Reddick advanced in the In-Season Challenge and faces Ty Gibbs in the semifinals this weekend at Dover. … Reddick has finished sixth or better in each of the last three races. … Bubba Wallace continues to hold the final playoff spot. Bad news: Wallace has been on the playoff bubble (16th or 17th in the standings) more than any other driver in the Next Gen era (22 times). … Wallace has never finished in the top 10 in 10 starts at Dover. … Riley Herbst, making his first Cup start at Dover, did not have a top-five finish in seven Xfinity starts there.
Two teams state in court documents that “they once again will face the prospect of losing key sponsors and star drivers” if they lose their charter status.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Zane Smith has four top-15 finishes in the last seven races. … Smith has the last two top-10 finishes scored by Front Row Motorsports this season, placing seventh at Atlanta and Michigan. Bad news: Noah Gragson has finished 23rd or worse seven consecutive races. … Todd Gilliland has never placed better than 25th in three Cup starts at Dover.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer has never finished worse than 15th in four Cup starts at Dover. … Custer’s average finish of 11.5 is his best among tracks where he’s had multiple Cup starts. Bad News: Custer has not finished better than 19th in the last seven oval races on the Cup schedule.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Hendrick Motorsports has had at least one car finish in the top 10 in each of the last 25 Cup races at Dover, a streak that goes back to September 2010. … Chase Elliott has four top-five finishes in the last five races. … Elliott has 10 top-five finishes at Dover, his most top-five results at any Cup track. … All six of Alex Bowman’s top-10 finishes at Dover have come in his last seven starts there, including five top-five finishes. … Bowman has finished 11th or better in four of the last five races. … Kyle Larson has finished sixth or better in five of his last six Dover starts, including a runner-up result last year. … Larson ranks second in all-time average finish at Dover at 8.2, just off David Pearson’s mark of 8.0. … Points leader William Byron ranks first in the series this season in speed and restarts, second in defense and third in passing, according to Racing Insights data. Bad news: Larson’s average finish in the last eight races is 19.8, which is 10 places worse than his average finish in the season’s first 12 races (9.8). … Byron has only two top-five finishes in the last 10 races.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has made 384 consecutive starts in. Cup. Bad news: Stenhouse has three top-10 finishes through 20 races this season (he had five top 10s at this point a year ago). … Stenhouse has three finishes of 30th or worse in the last four races.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Denny Hamlin won last year’s race at Dover. … Hamlin is the only repeat winner in the last seven Dover races. … Hamlin has led 542 laps in the last seven races at Dover, most of all drivers. … Ty Gibbs advanced in the In-Season Challenge and goes against Tyler Reddick in the semifinals this weekend at Dover. … Gibbs has six top-15 finishes in a row. … Gibbs’ average finish in his last six races is 8.5, compared to his average finish of 21.6 in the previous 14 races. … Chase Briscoe has led 149 laps in the last seven races compared to having led 75 laps in the previous 59 races. … Both of Christopher Bell’s top 10s at Dover have come in the last three races there. Bad news: Bell has placed 16th or worse in four of the last six races.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: Ty Dillon, the last seed in the 32-driver In-Season Challenge, is two races away from claiming the $1 million prize. … Dillon is paired against John Hunter Nemechek at Dover. … Dillon has averaged 26.7 points a race in the past three events (he averaged 9.0 points a race in the previous six events). … Dillon has three consecutive top-20 finishes for the first time since August 2022. … AJ Allmendinger has three top-15 finishes in the last five races. … Allmendinger has led 152 laps at Dover, his most at any Cup track. Bad news: Allmendinger was seven points below the cutline after Nashville in June but has lost 43 points to the cutline in the last six races and is now 50 points from the last playoff spot.
Ty Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek, Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs remain in race for $1 million.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: John Hunter Nemechek goes against Ty Dillon at Dover in the In-Season Challenge for the right to race for $1 million later this month at Indianapolis. … Erik Jones has six top-15 finishes in the last 10 races. Bad news: Nemechek has five finishes of 25th or worse in the last eight races. … Jones has made 99 Cup starts since his last series win, which came in the 2022 Southern 500 at Darlington.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch has scored 76 points in the past two races — more than he scored in the previous four races (65 points). … Busch has gained 35 points on the playoff cutline in the last two races and is 37 points back with six races left in the regular season. … Busch leads all active drivers in wins (three), top fives (14) and top 10s (22) at Dover. Bad news: Austin Dillon has finished 19th or worse in the last nine races.
Kyle Busch seeks to return to the Cup playoffs after not making it last season.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware has finished 26th or better in three of the last six races. Bad news: Ware placed 34th at Sonoma after losing a wheel for his lowest finish since Bristol in April. … Ware has not finished better than 31st in five Cup starts at Dover.
RFK Racing — Good news: Brad Keselowski has four top-10 finishes in the last eight races after having no top 10s in the season’s first 12 races. … Chris Buescher makes his 350th career start this weekend at Dover. … Both of Buescher’s top-10 finishes at Dover have come in the last three races there. … Buescher’s average start of 10.5 this season is best of all drivers. … Ryan Preece has eight top-15 finishes in the last nine races. Bad news: Preece has never placed better than 17th in eight Cup starts at Dover.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Justin Haley scored the bonus point for the fastest lap last weekend at Sonoma. … All three of Spire’s drivers have won the bonus point for the fastest lap in a race at least once this season. … Michael McDowell has claimed the bonus three times, while Carson Hocevar and Haley have done so once each. Bad news: Hocevar has finished 29th or worse in four of the last six races. … McDowell has not placed better than 17th in 24 Cup starts at Dover.
Team Penske — Good news: Joey Logano makes his 600th career Cup start this weekend at Dover. … At 35 years, 1 month and 26 days, Logano will be the youngest driver to make his 600th career series start (Richard Petty holds the record at age 35 years, 7 months, 23 days). Bad news: Team Penske last won at Dover in September 2012 with Brad Keselowski. … None of Team Penske’s current group of drivers has a Cup victory at Dover. … Ryan Blaney has a series-high seven DNFs after he did not finish last weekend’s race at Sonoma due to an accident. … Austin Cindric has finished 25th or worse in six of the last 10 races. … Logano has not finished better than 16th at Dover in the Next Gen car.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Shane van Gisbergen led 64.2% of the laps run in his victories at Mexico, Chicago and Sonoma. … Ross Chastain’s average finish of 5.7 in the Next Gen car at Dover is tied with Chase Elliott for the best among active drivers. Bad news: Chastain has finished 24th or worse in three of the last four races. … Daniel Suarez has only one top-10 finish in his last eight Dover starts.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry has finished 12th in three of the last five Cup oval races. Bad news: Berry has finished in the top 10 only once in the 15 races since his Las Vegas victory. … The Wood Brothers last won at Dover in 1981 with Neil Bonnett.
