NASCAR made its way to the monster mile at Dover Motor Speedway this week. After some trouble with rain in qualifying and forcing a postponement. The race finally took place on Monday afternoon and delivered one of the best races of the season so far.
I gave you a preview earlier this week of who I thought would perform here at Dover. So as usual, we’ll recap this race, and then take a look at how those drivers panned out. Much like last week, let’s go stage by stage, and deliver the highlights from the Wurth 400!
STAGE 1
The drivers didn’t get a chance to have qualifying at this track, so the order was predetermined ahead of the green flag start. #8 Kyle Busch led the way, with #20 Christopher Bell, #12 Ryan Blaney, #6 Brad Keselowski, and #17 Chris Buescher following. The first 20 laps were clean racing and pretty straightforward. Denny Hamlin was a rocket early, going from 13th to 8th in the first 20 laps.
Trouble for Noah Gragson at Dover. https://t.co/R2DXQasxkA pic.twitter.com/2g03UuOgKN
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 1, 2023
At the pits, Busch would be penalized for entering pit road too fast. The top five at the next green flag would be #24 William Byron, Keselowski, Hamlin, Buescher, and Blaney. They wouldn’t have a clean restart as #42 Noah Gragson would go into the wall and draw the caution at lap 29.
Miles the monster is awake ? Big trouble!
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 1, 2023
Daniel Suárez is done for the day. https://t.co/EjZAgvCTle pic.twitter.com/dLp4TmT2JY
Six laps later on the restart #99 Daniel Suarez would crash into the wall. Causing a collision with #77 Ty Dillon and #78 B.J. McLeod. Suarez and Dillon sustained too much damage to be allowed to continue. Gragson on lap 52 would be forced to come in after failing to meet the minimum speed requirements after the repairs.
"That was a little too aggressive in my opinion."- Rusty Wallace https://t.co/5SMW0NEyPG pic.twitter.com/BKjnHgjTN4
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 1, 2023
At this point, the top five remained the same. The race would go another 30 laps before the next caution, and it would change the course of the race going forward. #1 Ross Chastain was getting past the lapped #15 Brennan Poole. He contacted Poole which caused him to shoot down and come back up the track, where the car sat, and took heavy contact with #5 Kyle Larson. This would be a factor later.
Byron still led the way and was making ground. Hamlin, Blaney, Chastain, and Keselowski rounded out the top 5. The stage would finish without another caution, and Byron took the stage win. Hamlin climbed into second, with Blaney, Keselowski, and Chastain holding position.
STAGE 2
After the pits, Byron maintained his spot as the leader on the stage two restart. Chastain climbed to second, followed by Blaney, #19 Martin Truex Jr, and #54 Ty Gibbs making a name for himself at the Monster Mile closing the top five.
This stage would go without caution, with Byron leading the way for the majority. However, when the pit stops came through, Chastain was able to jump him and take the lead, with Truex coming in hot. The stage would finish with Chastain taking it home. Byron held second, with Blaney, Truex, and Hamlin going strong.
STAGE 3
At the restart, Byron retook the lead on pit road. Chastain kept second, with Blaney and Truex holding their position. Hamlin fell out of the top five in favor of Gibbs, who was having a career race here at Dover Motor Speedway.
Another clean period of racing for the drivers here at the Monster Mile, as green flag stops would come and go. Truex would jump Chastain for the lead and Byron fell out of the top five. Blaney, Gibbs, and Hamlin held strong as this race came to the closing laps.
Martin Truex Jr. is a pretty big Kyle Larson fan right now. https://t.co/IRY9y7gzOk pic.twitter.com/w577n0HwFS
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 1, 2023
Larson shockingly was still running in this race, despite being 30+ laps down. As Truex and Chastain were battling for first place, Larson aimed to get his revenge. Putting a savage block on Chastain that held up the progress he was making on the race leader.
Joey Logano is done for the day in Dover. https://t.co/U9ZBW4SG2C pic.twitter.com/B1ON5ZFg6C
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 1, 2023
The clean racing would continue until lap 386 when #22 Joey Logano would have his car lock up and go into the wall. He takes a hard hit but gets out okay. His car would be rendered done for the day though. The restart would have just eight drivers on the lead lap. The top five would feature Truex leading the way at lap 393. Blaney was right next to the leader, followed by Bell, Chastain, and Keselowski. A big turning point of this stage is at these pit stops, where Truex and Blaney only opted to take two tires on this visit. While Chastain opted to take all four.
THE FINISH
Truex and Blaney would get fantastic starts off the line, with Chastain following close. It would be a three-car race from the beginning of this seven-lap race to the finish. Chastain would eventually overtake Blaney and be following Truex as the laps counted down. But the #19 was just too fast. Martin Truex Jr took home the checkered flag for the first time in 54 races. Picking up his fourth win at his home track of Dover Motor Speedway. The same weekend that his brother, Ryan Truex, won at the monster mile. Chastain finished a respectable second place. Blaney, Byron, and Hamlin closed out the top five.
DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: #54 Ty Gibbs
What a race for the rookie. Unfortunately, not the way he had hoped it would end. In the final stage, the broadcast would reveal that he was seven laps short on fuel, and had to preserve in case a caution didn’t come. This would push him out of the top five he was racing all of stage two and get him a lap down by the time the caution finally came with 14 laps to go. But this was a great showing for Gibbs. It’s showing progression and he could be a driver to watch right at the end. For sure my best pick of the six drivers I presented to you all before the weekend begins. We’ll see if he can ride the momentum into next week at Kansas.
Closing Thoughts
Per usual, I gave you all five drivers to look out for this race. So, let’s revisit and see who made me look smart, and who let me down here at Dover Motor Speedway.
#1: Ross Chastain
Chastain finishes this race in the same spot he did last year. Falling just short of his first win of the season. He had just one very questionable move that knocked Larson out of the race early but was overall a great driver this week. Can’t be mad about a second-place pick. He’ll get his eventually.
#4 Kevin Harvick
Harvick was a dud this weekend. He ran top 10 at some points of this race but he fell into some car issues in stage two and never really recovered. Getting two laps down late and finishing 19th. His last race at Dover won’t be one to remember. Harvick is still itching for his first win of the year, and he’ll need to be a whole lot better next weekend.
#9 Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott was not up to Chase Elliott standards at Dover Motor Speedway. After taking the checkered flag last year, he finishes just outside the top 10 in 11th. He was running that position pretty much all race and didn’t make any significant jumps up or down. Elliott will get his win eventually, I’m quite confident in that. But I expected a little more here at this track.
#24 William Byron
Byron was a superstar at this track. Leading 193 laps before fading late in this race. He was the best car out there for large stretches of this race, but something gave up at the end as he got loose and fell behind the leaders. He scraped together a fourth-place finish despite all this, so it wasn’t really a bad day. But with a clean finish, there’s a good chance he takes home his third win of the year. A great day for him, as he leads the vaunted Hendrick cars at one of their best tracks. But this ends a winning streak at this spot for them.
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