It seems as though the current stretch of races are all at tracks with nicknames that describe the kind of racing expected by the drivers.  At Richmond, it's described as "Racing Perfection," then last Saturday night a trip to the "Lady in Black" was in order.

Now, here's week number three of this stretch of races, but definitely a track everyone needs to respect.

One mile in length with a surface made of concrete and not asphalt.  The 24-degree corners break off into slightly banked straightaways that will bite drivers with ease if the wrong line is chosen.

It's a track where a statue outside the entrance has a full-size stock car in it's hand.

Welcome to the "Monster Mile" in Dover, Delaware.

It's hard to choose a winner for this one, especially given how last week went with everyone's picks.  Mostly everyone had a potential winner, only to be outshined by a first-time victor.

But, maybe this week will be different.  Here are the picks for this week's race, the FedEx 400 Benefitting Autism Speaks:

 

Misan Ayuka (SB Nation):  Matt Kenseth

Kenseth has had it rough since he won.  He hasn't finished insidethe top twenty since.  Dover is a great track to for Kenseth to stopthe bleeding.

He has a win there when he passed a dominant JamieMcMurray with 3 laps to go in 2006.  Since 2006 he has only twofinishes outside the top ten in ten races.  Kenseth is a good bet tosurvive at the monster mile.

 

James Broomhead (The Checkered Flag):  Carl Edwards

I’m back-to-backing Carl picks.  I’m still hunting a first win this season and Flippers second at Darlington was as close as I’ve come.

There have been years when Roush have owned Dover, hopefully this weekend they can at least make a down payment (or some other property buying pun).

 

Kelly Crandall (Speedway Media):  Matt Kenseth

Really wanted to stay with Kyle Busch this weekend and I'll probably being giving up a win, but I want to take a chance with some other drivers.  Or maybe, I just don't like being predicted and doing things the easy way.

I also thought about Jimmie Johnson but besides his win in Talladega, which is a crapshot, the 48 team has shown no signs of being the strong, dominate team they've always been.

Tracks they normally dominate at, they've struggled and finished worse than expected.  For Kenseth, while he's coming off a frustrating week in Darlington he's heading to a track that he is very good at and finished second in this race last season.  This team has been on a rebound in 2011 and they're next win is around the corner.

 

Summer Dreyer (Next Time By):  Jimmie Johnson

Johnson is due for another win, and what better place to get it than the Monster Mile.

 

Billy Fellin (Richmond Times-Dispatch):  Jimmie Johnson

The guy is just money at Dover. He's won 3 of the last 4 at the Monster Mile. As he's proved the last 2 races, even when it seems that he's out of it, he still manages a decent finish.

 

Michael Hirshbein (Fan Vs. Fan):  Kyle Busch

No commentary available.

 

Christopher Leone (On Pit Row):  Martin Truex Jr.

With Regan Smith taking the surprise victory at Darlington, I might as well go out on a limb and say that lightning can indeed strike twice.

Dover is kind of a home track for the New Jersey native, and the site of his lone Sprint Cup win, back in 2007 when Dale Earnhardt Inc. was still a power player in the garage.

He's somewhat struggled at the track since, at least in the finishing order, but starts of first and third last year prove that he's fast.

 

Kara Martin (Speedway Media):  Denny Hamlin

No commentary available.

 

Ryan O'Hara (Speedway Media):  Kyle Busch

Picking Rowdy to tame the Monster because of dominant performance last year.

 

Dustin Parks (All About Horsepower):  Carl Edwards

At Dover, there's two teams that seem to always have this place figured out.  That's Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson, as has been shown the last few years.

But, I'm not going to pull my Johnson card yet, nor do I want to use Kyle a second straight week.  Instead, I'm going with another former Dover winner in Edwards.  This guy almost pulled off the victory last weekend, but settled for second behind Regan Smith.

Going with the duck this week as an insurance policy to have a good run, no pun intended.

 

Sal Sigala Jr. (3 Wide and 1 To Go):  Jimmie Johnson

This week Im playing a hunch.

 

Rob Tiongson (The Podium Finish):  Jimmie Johnson

He's a six-time race winner at this track and leads all active drivers in victories at "The Monster Mile."

If he's looking to nab a monster bite portion of Carl Edwards' points lead, a win at this high speed venue would be a great opportunity for Team 48 to capitalize on this opportunity before the All-Star break.

 

Standings following Darlington:

Sal Sigala Jr. (366) Jeff Gordon finished 12th (2)

Kelly Crandall (365) Kyle Busch finished 11th (1)

Billy Fellin (336) Jeff Gordon finished 12th (2)

Kara Martin (324) Jeff Gordon finished 12th (1)

Christopher Leone (322) Kyle Busch finished 11th (2)

Misan Ayuka (319) Jamie McMurray finished ninth (1)

Dustin Parks (312) Kyle Busch finished 11th (0)

Rob Tiongson (310) Jeff Gordon finished 12th (1)

Michael Hirshbein (301) Kyle Busch finished 11th (2)

James Broomhead (295) Carl Edwards finished second (0)

Ryan O'Hara (295) Jeff Gordon finished 12th (1)

Summer Dreyer (281) Jeff Gordon finished 12th (0)

 

Final Thoughts:  When a track creates a statue that represents it's nickname, you know the place is going to be a good track.  Miles the Monster lurks high above the banking at Dover, and has taken a huge bite out of many drivers who come here to race.

Who can forget Joey Logano's tumble in turn 2, or Jeff Gordon's hard hit in qualifying.  If one loses focus just for one moment, this track will grab you and not let go.

Who's going to have his die-cast put in the trophy this time?  Find out by watching FOX on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

 

Summary of Picks:

Jimmie Johnson-4

Kyle Busch-2

Carl Edwards-2

Matt Kenseth-2

Martin Truex Jr-1