GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS FOR NASCAR CUP TEAMS AHEAD OF DOVER WEEKEND
After three drafting style tracks in the first 10 races, the NASCAR Cup Series moves to some of its unique tracks in the next stretch of races.
The series heads next to Dover, the 1-mile banked concrete track known as the Monster Mile.
Here’s a look at where things stand for each Cup organization heading into the 11th race of the season:
23XI Racing — Good news: Talladega winner Tyler Reddick has seven top-10 finishes in the last eight races, including the last five. Reddick is tied with William Byron for most top 10s this season with seven. … The organization has been the top finishing Toyota in the last three races. That ties 23XI Racing’s longest streak. Bad news: Bubba Wallace does not have a top-10 finish in nine career Cup starts at Dover. His best finish is 11th.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland finished a season-best eighth at Talladega. Bad News: Michael McDowell came so close to winning at Talladega, only to finish 31st when he crashed after a block while leading on the last lap. It is the second week in a row that McDowell has crashed while running either first or second in the race. McDowell has never finished better than 17th in 23 career starts at Dover.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Alex Bowman, the only Hendrick driver without a win this season, has a victory and two fifth-place finishes in his last three Dover starts. He also is making his 300th career start Sunday. Seven drivers have won in their 300th Cup start. … William Byron has three fourth-place finishes in his last four Dover starts. … Kyle Larson has led a series-high 18.4% of the laps run this year. …Chase Elliott has completed all but one of the 2,893 laps this season. That’s tied with Martin Truex Jr. for best in the series. Elliott also has nine top-five finishes, including two wins, in 13 Dover starts. Bad news: Byron and Bowman have yet to win a stage this season.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Martin Truex Jr. has two wins and three runner-up finishes in his last seven Dover starts. … Denny Hamlin has the best average running position this season at 8.5. Bad news: The organization has not had a car finish in the top 10 in the last three races (Talladega, Texas and Martinsville). That is the team’s longest top-10 drought since 2003. The organization had only two cars then. Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte were the drivers. They went four races without a top 10 that season (New Hampshire, Pocono, Indianapolis and Watkins Glen).
JTG Daugherty Racing — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is one of five drivers who has scored top-10 finishes in two of the three races this season at drafting style tracks (Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta). The others are William Byron, Alex Bowman, Noah Gragson and Bubba Wallace. Bad news: Stenhouse has not finished better than 17th at any other type of track this year.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: Daniel Hemric finished a season-best ninth at Talladega. Bad news: AJ Allmendinger has not finished in the top 15 in his last 14 Dover starts.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Jimmie Johnson is back in the No. 84 this weekend. He has 11 career wins at Dover. Bad news: John Hunter Nemechek has been involved in an accident in each of the last three races. ... Erik Jones suffered a compression fracture and will miss Dover.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon each scored stage points last weekend at Talladega. That’s the first time both had done so in the same race since Las Vegas in early March. Bad news: Busch has two top 10s in the last eight races. … Dillon has yet to finish in the top 20 at Dover in the Next Gen car.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Justin Haley’s best finish at Dover is 11th in 2022 with Kaulig Racing. Bad news: The organization’s best finish at Dover is 25th in 2022 with Ryan Preece.
RFK Racing — Good news: Brad Keselowski has finished second in each of the past two races. He has four top-five finishes in the last seven starts. Keselowski’s surge has moved him back into a playoff spot. Bad news: Keselowski knocked teammate Chris Buescher out of a playoff spot after Talladega. Buescher has finished 15th or worse each of the last three races.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Carson Hocevar has three consecutive top-20 finishes for the second time this season. … Corey LaJoie’s 18th-place finish, while sliding on his side across the finish line, was his first top 20 in the last eight races. Bad news: Zane Smith has one top-20 finish in the last nine races.
Stewart-Haas Racing — Good news: Noah Gragson finished a career-best third at Talladega. … Chase Briscoe has placed 13th or better in six of the last seven races. … Ryan Preece has completed all but five laps this season to rank sixth in the series in laps completed. Bad news: Josh Berry is one of three drivers who has started every Cup race this year and is yet to finish in the top 10. His best finish this season is 11th.
Team Penske — Good news: Austin Cindric scored a race-high 19 stage points at Talladega, winning the opening stage and finishing runner-up in the second stage. Bad news: Ryan Blaney has one top-10 finish in the last six races. … Joey Logano has 27 starts at Dover. That is the most starts he’s had at a track without winning there. His best finish at Dover is third.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain finished second at Dover last year and third the year before. He is the only driver to score top-five finishes in both Dover races with the Next Gen car. Bad news: Daniel Suarez has four pit road speeding penalties this season, including three in the last five races.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Harrison Burton is coming off a season-best 10th-place finish at Talladega. It is his first top-10 result at that track. He also has scored stage points in each of the past two races. Bad news: He has failed to finish on the lead lap in five of the 10 races this season.