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| The Monster Mile with it's high-banked concrete layout is awesome! |
For Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne, they're going to have to run a great race this week while also having some luck go their way. They're the last four on the chopping block. They could take care of business by winning a race and automatically qualify for the next round, but with the way the balance of the series has shifted so dramatically to a few stout cars, that doesn't seem likely.
Four drivers have already qualified for the next by virtue of wins in the first two races of this round -- Martin Truex Jr. at Chicagoland and Kyle Busch at New Hampshire -- and two other drivers -- Kyle Larson (2,125 points) and Brad Keselowski (2,106) -- have clinched by accumulating enough points.
In the first Dover race of the season in early June, Larson finished second and Truex was third. They've been dominant like that almost everywhere. But a surprise top-five contender was Newman (2,043) in fourth-place and he could use another solid run like that and he's only two points behind the 12th-place transfer position. Chase Elliott finished fifth, his third straight top-five at Dover in his first three Cup starts there. He's sitting ninth in points (2,070).
