Dover AAA 400 Race Preview

By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

This weeks race takes us to the 1-mile concrete oval of Dover for the second race of the Chase. While the track is unique to itself among all others, I like to use Bristol as a comparison of sorts because of the similarities despite being a half-mile smaller. Because of the banking and surface, many of the crew chiefs use similar set-ups for each and some bring the exact same car if having success on one.

Just as small sampling of how similar the two tracks are, Kyle Busch won at Dover May and a few weeks ago at Bristol. Busch only has three wins on the season and two came on these tracks which again makes him a contender this week. Over his career he has two wins and four other top-five finishes in 11 starts.

Look for Busch to keep the sweep trend going at Dover this week. Jimmie Johnson swept Dover last year just as he did in 2002. Ryan Newman also swept the season in 2003, as did Tony Stewart in 2000, Jeff Gordon in 1996, Rusty Wallace in 1994 and, well, you get the picture. It happens a quite often and more so than other tracks.

We didn’t see a lot of anything good out of the Roush drivers last week and that should change this week as all three in the Chase are quite accomplished at Dover. Last season a four year streak ended where a Roush driver had won at least one of the two races a year. Greg Biffle is a two-time winner on the track with Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth each posting wins as well. Kenseth is currently on a Dover streak of five straight top-four finishes and will be using his fifth-place Michigan chassis this week. Edwards is using a new car while Biffle is using his 10th-place car from Texas.

The Childress drivers should all be competitive this week. Jeff Burton was runner-up in the May race with Kevin Harvick finishing seventh. Clint Bowyer can build off his win last week with another good run this week based on his fourth-place finish at Bristol last month. Burton will be using his fourth-place car from Atlanta earlier this month.

As for Bowyer, don’t let his penalty deter you in betting him. His chances at winning the Chase are slim, but he’ll still be competing for wins and could get some. He’ll be using a strong chassis this week that looked to be one of the best at Pocono earlier this year while leading 59 laps.

Of the non-chasers who have the best chance at winning, Kasey Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman should all be top-10 contenders this week. McMurray has one of the best cars being brought to the track this week. It’s his third-place Bristol car that contended for the win.

Early Top-5 Dover Finish Prediction:
1) #18 Kyle Busch (4/1)
2) # 99 Carl Edwards (12/1)
3) #48 Jimmie Johnson (6/1)
4) #1 Jamie McMurray (20/1)
5) #17 Matt Kenseth (18/1)

Get all your sports gaming information needs needs at VegasInsider.com