DOVER RACE REVIEW

Date: 5-1-2022 and 5-2-2022.
Name of the race: DuraMax Drydene 400.
Laps: 400.
Track: Dover Motor Speedway.
Pole winner: Chris Buescher.
Outside pole: Denny Hamlin.
Stage 1 winner: Denny Hamlin.
Stage 2 winner: Ryan Blaney.
Stage 3 winner (won the race): Chase Elliott.
Top 5: Chase Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, and Alex Bowman.  
FYI: The newly renamed Dover Motor Speedway would host its only race of 2022 this year on May the 1st, making this race at the Monster Mile the inaugural race under the new ownership of Speedway Motorsports Incorporated (SMI). Many questions circulated around the one-mile concrete oval amongst the fans in attendance. Would Hendrick Motorsports be able to repeat its iconic 1-2-3-4 finish from last year? Would Ross Chastain continue to kick tail and win his third race of the season? How would the Next-Gen car perform at the Monster Mile, and above all, who would get to take home that awesome trophy? RFK driver Christopher Buscher would surprise many and claim the top spot during Saturday's qualifying session and would lead the field to green the next day, alongside seasoned veteran Denny Hamlin. When the flag green flag dropped on this overcast Sunday afternoon, the excitement could be felt in the air! However, that wasn't the only thing in the air in Delaware, as rain would begin to fall only 78 laps in, and the race would be restarted the next day at high noon. Before the red flag flew signaling the cars off the track, all but seven cars took to the pits under the yellow flag. Of those seven who stayed out, HMS teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott would claim the top two spots and would find themselves there the next day as the race resumed. It wouldn't take Denny Hamlin long to make his way back up front and claim the green checkers for stage one. Everybody would pit this time around, as the race would resume, Larson and Elliott would continue to flex their muscles, as Joe Gibbs Toyotas Martin Truex Jr., and Kyle Busch would charge forward. Denny Hamlin would fade back in the pack, meanwhile, last year's winner, Alex Bowman in his Ally Chevy Camaro would climb towards the top spot and follow behind the younger Busch brother for the majority of the stage. Cody Ware would spin and collect Hamlin with him, causing some cosmetic damage to his number 11 FedEx Toyota. Defending Champion Kyle Larson would have a tire go down as he was swallowed up by the pack and would spin down the front stretch. He would have to fight back the remainder of the day to stay on the lead lap. Green flag stops would commence, and as the leaders of Busch and Bowman would pit, Tyler Reddick would spin, putting them a lap down after pit cycles, and giving Ryan Blaney the second stage win a few laps later. All throughout the day, one car was on everybody's radar constantly, that being the 1 of Ross Chastain. The humble watermelon farmer was well known for his ability to overcome adversity, and ever since striking it big and landing at Trackhouse Racing, he has managed to win twice, at two different types of racetracks (Circuit of the Americas and Talladega just last weekend), with the same car, further proving the Next Gen's ability to adapt. Chastain up to this point had been running up front, duking it out with the likes of Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr, and as the third stage drew on, he would have to contend with Truex as well as NASCAR's current most popular driver, Chase Elliott, both of which former winners at Dover. With the laps winding down, a series of cautions around the lap 330 mark would take place, leaving the three drivers on a collision course with one another, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. thrown into the mix as well, and a hard-charging Kyle Larson who regained his lap and was looking for redemption. The race would restart with about 50 to go. The three Chevrolets of Elliott and Stenhouse were held back by Chastain who claimed control of the race, but Elliott would swoop low and take away second and eventually first exiting turn 2 in a series of a few laps, where he would widen his lead to about 20 car lengths over Stenhouse and would remain in control of the race straight to the end, claiming win number one on the year and the 14th of his career! Chastain would get loose on the last lap and take out Truex, ending the race early after the leader had already taken the white flag. This win means now that all four HMS teams are locked into the playoffs, and the team would again make history as the fastest team to have all four drivers locked into the playoffs at just eleven races on the season. Did the Next Gen make this Dover race more interesting? Do you think Dover should get its second race date back? And seriously, how awesome is that trophy?
Next race: Darlington Raceway on Sunday afternoon (5-8-2022).