Clint Bowyer
A week ago Clint Bowyer was the feel good story of the Chase. Winning at New Hampshire in dominating fashion after Tony Stewart ran out of fuel. Wednesday, NASCAR announced 150 point deduction, fines and suspensions. Bowyer and Richard Childress Racing are appealing the ruling.
The penalty all but ended his title hopes when he went from second in the points to 12th. This weekend at Dover International Raceway, Bowyer was looking to make it two wins in a row.
It would take some work as Bowyer qualified 24th after a disappointing run. Dover is not one of Bowyer’s best tracks. He only has three top 10 finishes and zero top five’s. His average finish is 14.7 in nine career starts. He has a career driver rating at Dover of 89.5.
Bowyer is looking to prove the naysayers wrong and climb his way back into the title hunt.
Tony Stewart
Lost in all the Bowyer penalties and drivers comments this past week is Tony Stewart leading the race at the white flag at NHMS but coming up short on fuel. He finished 24th and dropped to 10th in the standings.
Dover has been hit and miss for Stewart in the past was struggling especially in qualifying on Friday. He will start 25th after a poor qualifying lap. At Dover in 23 races his average finish is 11.4. He has two wins, 10 top fives and 15 top 10 finishes.
Stewart and his team will have some work to do on Sunday and will need a solid finish to climb back into title contention.
Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch was not very happy last weekend at NHMS. In fact he went off on Dave Rogers about midway when the cars handling was getting worse. Busch was not a factor last Sunday when but he finished ninth.
Busch won this race in the spring and was looking for the season sweep this weekend. At Dover, Busch has run 11 races and has two wins, six top five’s and six top 10’s. Busch knows how to finish races at Dover, his driver rating of 101.6.
Busch is quietly positioning himself for the title run. Sitting fourth in the standings Busch will be tough to beat on Sunday.
Greg Biffle
About midway through the season Greg Biffle looked like he was ready to make a run for the title. The last couple weeks though Biffle hasn’t shown he can contend for a win let alone the title.
Biffle finished 17th at NHMS last Sunday which was not the day they were expecting to have. On Sunday they will start sixth after a solid qualifying effort. Biffle has two wins, six top fives and 10 top 10 finishes.
Biffle needs to run a complete race. They qualify well but the team can’t seem to finish the race in recent weeks. Can Biffle beat the monster and take home win number three at Dover?
Jimmie Johnson
The start of the Chase for Jimmie Johnson’s fifth title resulted in a dismal 25th place finish at NHMS. Many were asking; what is wrong with Johnson?
Clearly not much as he earned the pole for the race at Dover on Sunday. Johnson dropped to sixth in the standings following hiss run last week. Johnson will be looking to get back into victory lane this weekend.
Johnson leads all active drivers with five wins at Dover. He has seven top fives and 11 top 10 finishes. Johnson doesn’t need extra motivation after NHMS, but would sure like a win this weekend.
Jeff Gordon
In case you missed it Jeff Gordon finished sixth at NHMS last weekend. He quietly moved up to fourth in the standings. Gordon though is still searching for his first win this season and Dover could be the place to finally break through.
Gordon at Dover has four wins, 14 top fives and 21 top 10’s. In the spring race Gordon had a good car but late troubles saw them drop back in the final laps.
Gordon needs to run well this weekend and he needs to lead laps. He starts 15th on Sunday and was very good on the long runs during practice on Saturday.
Gordon is driving under the radar so far in the Chase. On Sunday they hope to make a statement in victory lane.
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