FedEx 400 Race Review
Racing returned to the daylight hours this past weekend as NASCAR made its first visit of the season to Dover International Raceway, better known as the Monster Mile. A track that is banked on both turns and straightaways, that works the tyres and the cars hard and can often provide some entertaining action.
Jun 1, 2013; Dover, DE, USA; Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) during practice for the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Qualifying on Friday afternoon was a surprising affair in the fact that the gen-6 car didn’t break the track record, which is the first time in a while that the new car hasn’t proven to be faster. It was a middle of the pack run by Denny Hamlin that saw him take pole for the second week in a row with a time of 22.788 seconds (157.978mph) and prove once and for all that his back injury that saw him out of action for five weeks, is well and truly behind him. If he is to make the Chase than a high finishing position at every race is crucial for him. It was a front of the pack dominated by Toyota’s with them locking out the top four and Joe Gibbs Racing continuing their impressive run of form with all three of their drivers in the top four.
At the green flag Hamlin and second place qualifier Martin Truex Jr run side by side through turns one and two before Hamlin is just able to get his rear bumper clear of the 56 and move up in front to take the lead. It is a similar story right behind them as JGR team mates Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth go door to door with each other until Kenseth is able to make a move stick to take third and start harassing the 56 for second. It only takes Kenseth another lap to get by Truex Jr and then start to close down the gap to Hamlin who has already built up a one second lead.
It is a hot day in Dover with the track temperatures in the early stages hitting 107F, and the hotter the track the less grip the cars can have so for the drivers the early stages are very much a case of sizing up the track and finding out how the car responds in different lines. But nobody seems to have told Kenseth to take it easy as by lap 12 he is all over the back of the 11 car trying to find a way by. But he just can’t find the right line to take to make the move stick and this battling allows the final JGR car to catch them up and Kyle Busch makes short work of Kenseth to take second. As lapped cars start to come into play Hamlin’s lap times start to suffer and this is the chance that Kyle Busch needs and he doesn’t need to be asked twice as he is able to fly by the 11 car for the lead.
Jun 2, 2013; Dover, DE, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11), Matt Kenseth (20) and Kyle Busch (20) during the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O
As Busch starts to work on extending his lead, at the back of the pack Danica Patrick finds the outside wall but does well to keep the car going and negate the need for a caution. But she isn’t the only backmarker to be causing potential issues for the leaders. Right in front of the 18 Austin Dillon and David Stremme are battling each other seemingly oblivious to the leaders fast approaching. They have a coming together and both do well to keep control of their cars but all this happens right in front of Kyle and one wrong move would have seen his chances of a race win gone. But Kyle is too experienced to let that rattle him and over the next few laps he is able to extend his lead to 2.7 seconds over chasing Hamlin. While Busch is putting car after car a lap down Truex Jr finds a way by Hamlin who’s lap times are starting to fall off the pace. While the 11 car starts to slip the reverse is true for the 5 of Kasey Kahne who after starting in 11th has worked his way up to fourth.