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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Next Race: AAA 400 Drive for Autism

The Place: Dover International Speedway

The Date: Sunday, May 6

The Time: 2 p.m. ET

TV: FS1, 12:30 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 400 miles (400 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 120),

Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 240), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 500)

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Flavor Vote Toyota, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27, 2018 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Stopped At Three In A Row

Although it was a valiant effort, Kyle Busch did not extend his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series three-race winning streak Sunday at Talladega, finishing 13th in a typically frantic day of restrictor-plate competition. However, the former champ has every reason to believe he can make it four wins out of five as the series heads to Dover International Speedway (Sunday, May 6, 2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) this weekend.

Busch won the last race on Dover’s “Monster Mile” and only one other driver (Jimmie Johnson, 17) has more top-five finishes at the track than Busch (12).

Interesting, Busch has six DNFs at Dover – twice his number of wins, yet still has those impressive top-fives (12) and top-10 (16) finishes. Busch has finished either first or second in the last three fall races here and won the Busch Pole Award for this spring race last year.

His 13th-place finish at Talladega on Sunday was only the second double-digit result for him in 10 races so far this season. It halted a seven-race streak of top-three finishes for Busch, who insists he’s absolutely optimistic about his chances in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota this weekend.

“It’s definitely a fast racetrack,’’ Busch said. “It’s a fun racetrack, too. It makes it interesting when you get to traffic, when you have to pass guys, when you’re kind of falling down into the hole and jumping back up out of the hole to the straightaways.

“It’s a good place to race. It’s a competitive racetrack and, when the rubber gets laid down, it definitely changes the whole atmosphere and the whole way you run around that place.”

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s for Pros Chevrolet, talks with his crew chief, Chad Knaus, during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 4, 2018 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

Dover Domination

Jimmie Johnson may be the most excited driver to arrive in the state of Delaware this week for the AAA 400 Drive for Autism (Sunday, May 6, 2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It is, after all, the venue where the seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion and defending race winner last hoisted a trophy. And he’s more than ready – and prepared – to do so again.

Johnson’s statistics at the track are tops in the series. He is an 11-time winner and his driver rating (118) far exceeds anyone else in the field. Next closest are Chase Elliott (107.6) and Kyle Busch (105.8). He is tops in six of the eight statistical loop data categories since 2005 including: driving rating, average running position (7.716), laps led (2,710 since 2005, 3,105 overall), laps run in the top-15 (8,935 laps or 85.8 percent), fastest laps run (1,369) and green flag speed (145.215 mph).

And how about this? Johnson’s 11 wins puts him one victory shy of equaling all the other wins in total produced previously from everyone else in Sunday’s field (12). Getting his 84th career victory this week in the No. 48 Lowe’s For Pros Chevrolet would tie him with NASCAR Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison on the all-time list.

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, signs autographs during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 4, 2018 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

Back on Track

Joey Logano’s victory at Talladega over the weekend means Ford has now won nine of the last 11 restrictor-plate races. But for Logano, the victory was perhaps as gratifying personally since it ended it a year-long winless streak and cut down leader Kyle Busch’s championship points-lead advantage over him from 56 to 30 points.

Of the eight Ford drivers ranked among the top 16 in points, however, only three have wins at Dover: Logano’s Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski (1) and Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick (1) and Kurt Busch (1).

The victory at Talladega will surely add to Logano’s confidence this weekend. He has top-10 finishes in nine of the 10 races this season – a 19th-place at Phoenix the lone outlier. And a ninth place at Bristol is the only other time Logano has finished worse than sixth all season.

His last top-10 finish in the spring race at Dover was eighth place in 2014.

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota, drives during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 4, 2018 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

Home Track Advantage

Martin Truex Jr. is hoping the stop at what the New Jersey native considers his “home track” will right the early season ship for the reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion.

Truex has wrecked out of three of the last four races and dropped to seventh in the championship after leading the standings following his March win in California.

Dover has been a good place for Truex, however. He scored his first Monster Energy Series victory there in June, 2007, and won again driving the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota in October, 2016.

The tough Dover miler is one of three venues where he has multiple wins (add in Charlotte and Chicago). He also has started on the Busch Pole there three times, including the last time the Cup series raced at Dover in October. Overall Truex has an impressive top-11 finish in his last eight races.

Ryan Newman, driver of the #31 Liberty National Chevrolet, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 24, 2018 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

New Man Newman

Ryan Newman has quietly been positioning himself in Playoff contention this season and, historically speaking, Dover International Speedway is a place presenting him with opportunity to make a dramatic move upward in the standings.

Newman has seven top-five and 14 top-10 finishes at Dover, and from 2003-04 won three of the four races at the Monster Mile. He swept the 2003 races and won the following fall.

He has only two DNFs in 32 starts, which is impressive considering the tight nature of the racing here. And only two drivers in the field this week, (Jimmie Johnson, 17 and Kyle Busch, 12) have more top-five finishes.

Newman has top-10 finishes in two of the last three races this season in the Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet.

Darrell Wallace Jr., driver of the #43 Eckrich Chevrolet, gets into his car during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 5, 2018 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

Good Vibes

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. has good reason to look forward to Dover race weekend. It has proven to be one of his best racing venues. From the very start of his career.

As an up-and-coming racer, Wallace, 24, won from the pole position at Dover in the 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race. He won his first pole position in NASCAR’s national series in 2012 at the age of 18, starting first and finishing 12th in a limited four-race NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. He finished second in the Xfinity Series race at Dover in 2016.

He is coming off another rookie confidence-builder in Talladega over the weekend, leading laps (five) for only the second time this season and finishing 16th.

Wallace is currently ranked 22nd in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings.

Media Center Interviews:

Jimmie Johnson – 

Joey Logano – 

Daniel Suarez – 

Martin Truex Jr. – 

Austin Dillon – 

Jamie McMurray –