NASCAR: Winners and losers from the 2018 AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rolled into Dover on Sunday for the AAA 400 Drive for Autism. Who were this week’s winners and losers?

A little rain on Sunday wasn’t enough to end the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway early. After a delay of around 41 during the third and final stage of the race, the green flag flew once again and Kevin Harvick won his fourth NASCAR Cup Series race of the 2018 season.

Which drivers left Dover feeling like winners? Which didn’t? Read on to find out.

Winners from Dover

Kevin Harvick

After winning three straight races early in the year, six races had passed that did not end with Kevin Harvick victories. In any other season, that would be a very normal thing, but something had started to feel special for Harvick until Kyle Busch got hot and things changed.

Well, Harvick led 201 laps on Sunday and ended up in victory lane. The fact that he did it at Dover, the track where he has his eighth worst average finish of any active NASCAR track and had just one top 10 finish over the past four races, is impressive.

Daniel Suarez

A third place run for Daniel Suarez matches his career-high finish with his run at Watkins Glen last season. It was also the third consecutive top 10 finish for the 26-year-old Mexican-born driver, who showed a lot of long-run speed on Sunday. After finishing 20th in points last year, there were concerns that Suarez had been rushed to the Cup Series too early, but his recent performances suggest that he’s finally arrived as a weekly top 10 threat.

Clint Bowyer

Clint Bowyer hadn’t had a top five finish since his win at Martinsville and was coming off a 31st place run at Talladega, but the veteran finished second on Sunday after leading 40 laps and looking at times like he could have something for his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick. Bowyer’s last top 10 finish in the championship standings was in the 2013 season when he finished in seventh, but he’s already guaranteed himself a playoff spot this season and sits fourth in the standings right now.

Losers from Dover

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch started complaining of engine issues near the start of Sunday’s race, but he was running in the top five and the consensus over on Twitter was that his car was probably fine and he was exaggerating the issues because the #18 Toyota was running too well for the engine to be failing.

Well…

The drivetrain went on lap 271. Busch finished 35th, but the stage points helped him keep a 22-point lead over Joey Logano in the standings.

Paul Menard

Paul Menard had the fastest car in the final practice session, but that speed didn’t really manifest on Sunday. He possibly could have contended for a top 10 finish by the end of the race, but he ultimately had to deal with a right rear tire issue that sent him to garage. He returned 44 laps down and finished the race in 34th.

Trevor Bayne

Trevor Bayne finished in 19th place on Sunday, and he sits 29th in points ahead of just three drivers who have driven every race so far this season. With Matt Kenseth set to drive for Roush Fenway Racing this week in Kansas, Bayne’s tenure as a full-time Cup Series driver appears to be over. While he’ll still be driving part-time for the remainder of the season, a surprise win at Dover would have been his only shot at keeping some sort of week-to-week role. That’s over, and now the second Matt Kenseth era begins for Jack Roush’s team.

Next: Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas on Saturday night for the KC Masterpiece 400. It will air on May 12th at 8:00 pm ET on Fox Sports 1. Can Martin Truex Jr., who won both Kansas races last season, earn the victory? Will Kevin Harvick win his fifth race of the season and his third at Kansas? Tune in and find out!

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