Biffle Takes Dover for Fourth Win of 2005
This is one of the races that often gets overlooked on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule. It's not a flashy race but more of a 400-mile grind. Dover is a track where you either hit the setup or you don't and given that Sunday was much hotter than the rest of the weekend had been many drivers were really scrambling to find the setup.
Qualifying
Rain washed out qualifying so the starting lineup was determined by car owner points.
This put points leader Jimmie Johnson on the pole with Greg Biffle, Elliott Sadler and Ryan Newman making up the rest of the two front rows.
Drop The Green Flag
Everybody was quick to get in line and settle in for a long green flag run. Dover normally features some long runs while drivers get used to the fast concrete and work in a second groove.
From the pole Jimmie Johnson stretched out the early lead but an early lap 12 caution sent all the leaders to pit road. After it all sorted out Elliott Sadler was able to set sail with no lapped traffic to deal with and take a solid lead. Elliott dominated the first three-quarters of the race.
Storylines
The third caution of the day came just 42 laps into the race when Tony Stewart got into the back of Jeff Gordon sending him firmly into the wall. After the incident Jeff said "I guarantee that the next time [Tony Stewart] is in my way it won't take but about half a lap for him to be out of the way." We'll have to keep an eye on that over the rest of this season to see if Jeff delivers on that threat.
Also, I can't remember the last time I saw so many cautions for random pieces of junk scattered on the track. There wasn't an excessive amount of beating and banging going on and not a huge number of wrecks but the teams were having a hard time keeping all of the parts on their cars. Spring rubbers, oil pump belts, air skirts and more. It was truly unusual.
Chasing The Checkers
Greg Biffle got his car hooked up and lead the majority of the last 100 laps as they headed towards the final round of pit stops. Jimmie Johnson was the fastest car on the track but he had a bit of a deficit to make up to get the lead. The final round of stops came with about 25 laps to go and they were the only green flag stops of the day.
Everybody pitted except Jimmie Johnson who stayed out to try to catch the rest of the field a lap down. This ploy didn't work out but we did see a bunch of different pit strategies. Some took four tires, some took two and some drivers didn't take any during that last stop.
They tried to make some drama but Greg Biffle reclaimed the lead after everybody pitted and easily coasted home to claim his fourth win of 2005.
Top Ten
The Points
Big shuffle in the back half of the top ten as 5th place Jeff Gordon fell all the way to 11th after the incident with Tony Stewart. Mark Martin's strong third place finish jumped him from 12th in the points to 6th and Rusty Wallace also popped into the top ten, moving up four spots to 7th in the season-long standings.
Next Week
Next week the NEXTEL Cup stars head to Pennsylvania for the Pocono 500. Pocono is the most unusual track layout on the NASCAR schedule. Pocono Raceway has a massive front straight that often sees cars going four, five and six wide before they funnel down into turn one. The triangle-shaped track has three different corner lengths and bankings making it very difficult to set up a car and to drive well. Pocono is, in a word, unique.
Qualifying
Rain washed out qualifying so the starting lineup was determined by car owner points.
This put points leader Jimmie Johnson on the pole with Greg Biffle, Elliott Sadler and Ryan Newman making up the rest of the two front rows.
Drop The Green Flag
Everybody was quick to get in line and settle in for a long green flag run. Dover normally features some long runs while drivers get used to the fast concrete and work in a second groove.
From the pole Jimmie Johnson stretched out the early lead but an early lap 12 caution sent all the leaders to pit road. After it all sorted out Elliott Sadler was able to set sail with no lapped traffic to deal with and take a solid lead. Elliott dominated the first three-quarters of the race.
Storylines
The third caution of the day came just 42 laps into the race when Tony Stewart got into the back of Jeff Gordon sending him firmly into the wall. After the incident Jeff said "I guarantee that the next time [Tony Stewart] is in my way it won't take but about half a lap for him to be out of the way." We'll have to keep an eye on that over the rest of this season to see if Jeff delivers on that threat.
Also, I can't remember the last time I saw so many cautions for random pieces of junk scattered on the track. There wasn't an excessive amount of beating and banging going on and not a huge number of wrecks but the teams were having a hard time keeping all of the parts on their cars. Spring rubbers, oil pump belts, air skirts and more. It was truly unusual.
Chasing The Checkers
Greg Biffle got his car hooked up and lead the majority of the last 100 laps as they headed towards the final round of pit stops. Jimmie Johnson was the fastest car on the track but he had a bit of a deficit to make up to get the lead. The final round of stops came with about 25 laps to go and they were the only green flag stops of the day.
Everybody pitted except Jimmie Johnson who stayed out to try to catch the rest of the field a lap down. This ploy didn't work out but we did see a bunch of different pit strategies. Some took four tires, some took two and some drivers didn't take any during that last stop.
They tried to make some drama but Greg Biffle reclaimed the lead after everybody pitted and easily coasted home to claim his fourth win of 2005.
Top Ten
- Greg Biffle
- Kyle Busch
- Mark Martin
- Jimmie Johnson
- Rusty Wallace
- Brian Vickers
- Matt Kenseth
- Ryan Newman
- Kurt Busch
- Elliott Sadler
The Points
Big shuffle in the back half of the top ten as 5th place Jeff Gordon fell all the way to 11th after the incident with Tony Stewart. Mark Martin's strong third place finish jumped him from 12th in the points to 6th and Rusty Wallace also popped into the top ten, moving up four spots to 7th in the season-long standings.
- Jimmie Johnson 0
- Greg Biffle -46
- Elliott Sadler -231
- Ryan Newman -240
- Tony Stewart -306
- Mark Martin -324
- Rusty Wallace -328
- Kurt Busch -333
- Carl Edwards -338
- Kevin Harvick -339
Next Week
Next week the NEXTEL Cup stars head to Pennsylvania for the Pocono 500. Pocono is the most unusual track layout on the NASCAR schedule. Pocono Raceway has a massive front straight that often sees cars going four, five and six wide before they funnel down into turn one. The triangle-shaped track has three different corner lengths and bankings making it very difficult to set up a car and to drive well. Pocono is, in a word, unique.
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