Dover International Speedway:

Dover International Speedway:

History

·         The official opening of Dover International Speedway, then called Dover Downs International Speedway, was in 1969.

·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on July 6, 1969 – won by Richard Petty.

·         The first two races at Dover were 300 miles. The race length was changed to 500 miles in 1971.

·         The track surface was changed to concrete in 1995.

·         The race length was changed to 400 miles beginning with the second race in 1997.

·         The track name was changed to Dover International Speedway in 2002.

 

Notebook

·         There have been 86 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Dover International Speedway, one race in 1969 and 1970, two races per year since 1971.

·         371 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway; 268 in more than one.

·         NASCAR Hall of Famer Ricky Rudd leads the series in starts at Dover with 56. Mark Martin leads all active drivers with 53 starts; followed by Terry Labonte with 52.

·         David Pearson won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Dover in 1969 with a speed of 130.430 mph.

·         36 drivers have Coors Light Pole Awards at Dover, led by David Pearson with six. Mark Martin leads all active drivers in poles, with five, followed by Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman with four each.

·         Eight drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Dover. David Pearson holds the record for most consecutive poles at Dover with three; from 1973 to the spring race of 1974.

·         Three active drivers have posted consecutive Coors Light poles at Dover: Mark Martin (fall 1988 and spring 1989), Bobby Labonte (fall 1996 and spring 1997) and Ryan Newman (fall 2005 and spring 2006).

·         Youngest Dover pole winner: Jeff Gordon (6/4/1995 – 23 years, 10 months, 0 days).

·         Oldest Dover pole winner: Mark Martin (6/1/2012 – 53 years, 4 months, 23 days).

·         34 different drivers have won at Dover International Speedway, led by Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Jimmie Johnson with seven wins each.

·         12 drivers have posted consecutive wins at Dover International Speedway, including three consecutive by David Pearson (fall 1972 and 1973 sweep), Rusty Wallace (fall 1993 and 1994 sweep) and Jeff Gordon (fall 1995 and 1996 sweep).

·         Youngest Dover winner: Kyle Busch (6/1/2008 – 23 years, 0 months, 30 days).

·         Oldest Dover winner: Harry Gant (5/31/1992 – 52 years, 4 months, 21 days).

·         Hendrick Motorsportshas the most wins at Dover in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with 14: Jimmie Johnson (seven), Jeff Gordon (four), Geoff Bodine (one), Ken Schrader (one) and Ricky Rudd (one).

·         Nine different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Dover; led by Chevrolet with 32 victories; followed by Ford with 25.

·         13 of the 86 (15.1%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Dover have been won from the pole position; the two most recent were Jimmie Johnson in 2009 and 2010.

·         The second-place starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (15) than any other starting position at Dover International Speedway.

·         28 of the 86 (32.5%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Dover have been won from the front row: 13 from the pole and 15 from second place.

·         68 of the 86 (79.0%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Dover have been won from a top-10 starting position.

·         Four of the 86 (4.6%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Dover have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

·         The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Dover was 37th, by Kyle Petty in the spring of 1995.

·         Mark Martin leads the series in runner-up finishes at Dover with eight; followed by Dale Earnhardt with five.

·         Mark Martin leads the series in top-five finishes at Dover with 24; followed by Dale Earnhardt with 19.

·         Mark Martin leads the series in top-10 finishes at Dover with 32; followed by Richard Petty and Ricky Rudd with 26 each.

·         Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Dover with a 9.500.

·         Carl Edwards leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Dover with an 8.294; Jimmie Johnson (8.636) is the only other active driver with an average finish in the top 10.

·         15 of the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners at Dover International Speedway participated in at least one or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Jimmie Johnson won at Dover in his first two appearances.

·         Jeff Burton competed at Dover International Speedway 25 times before winning in the fall of 2006; the longest span of any the 16 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners.

·         Among the 16 active NSCS Dover winners, Jeff Burton (25), Kurt Busch (22), Mark Martin (22), Matt Kenseth (14), Bobby Labonte (13) and Ken Schrader (12) all made 10 or more attempts before their first win.

·         Joe Nemechek leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Dover without visiting Victory Lane at 37; followed by Kevin Harvick with 24.

·         Since the advent of electronic scoring, the closest margin of victory (MOV) in NSCS at Dover was the Sept. 25, 2005 race won by Jimmie Johnson over Kyle Busch with an MOV of 0.08 second.

·         There has been one NASCAR Sprint Cup race resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Dover International Speedway: fall of 2005 - 400/404 (scheduled no. of laps/actual no. of laps).

·         Not one of the 86 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Dover has been shortened due to weather conditions.

·         Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Dover five times: fall of 1984, spring of 2001, fall of 2003, spring of 2005 and spring of 2011.

·         Four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series active drivers have made their first career start at Dover: Bobby Labonte (6/3/91), Matt Kenseth (9/20/98), Kurt Busch (9/24/00) and David Ragan (9/24/06).

·         Two active drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Award at Dover International Speedway: Matt Kenseth (6/2/02) and Michael Waltrip (6/3/1991).

·         One active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver has posted his first career win at Dover International Speedway: Martin Truex Jr. (6/4/07).

·         Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Dover with 2,318 in 22 starts.