Dover's PLace In NASCAR History
09/27/2013
Jim Fitzgerald
I cannot help it. Dover is my home track, and I love it.
I live in Maryland, but Dover is a short 100 minute drive, and I have been going there for twenty-two years with the best of family and friends.
For being a very standard shape and distance, the track is still very unique. It is the only one mile, high banked, concrete surfaced track on the schedule. It has the nickname of The Monster Mile, yet has also been called “Bristol on Steroids” among other names.
Traditionally, Dover has had two Sprint Cup dates each year. That was not always the case. The track, which began construction in 1966, held its first race on July 6, 1969. The inaugural Mason Dixon 300 was won by Richard Petty, in a Ford.
On August 24th of that same year, the USAC Champ Car Series would hold an event. The Delaware 200 was won by Art Pollard, who was sponsored by STP, in a car owned by Andy Granatelli. A.J. Foyt finished 19th in a 22 car field which took about 96 minutes to complete 200 laps.
After Petty followed up with another win the following year in a Plymouth, Bobby Allison broke the King’s grasp on Victory Lane in 1971 as the distance increased from 300 to 500 miles. On October 17th of that year, Dover held the first event which would eventually become the third race of The Chase for the Championship, the reason we have congregated to Dover this week. Richard Petty regained his throne at the end of the 500 lap event, when, after dominating most of the race, Bobby Allison broke a lug bolt on a pit stop.
So, ever since 1971, NASCAR has visited the First State’s track twice per year. While only two stops per year, the one mile wonder has produced quite a few interesting moments in NASCAR history.
- In 1971, Dover removed all other forms of motorsports from its schedule to concentrate on the two NASCAR races held there every year. In 1998, the IRL series ran at the track, but only for a two year stint.
- Dover races have never been shortened due to weather. However, in 1974, the race was cut by 50 laps for an energy crisis. In 2005, the race ran four extra laps due to a Green-White-Checkered finish. Every other Dover race has gone the exact scheduled distance.
- In 1983, Bobby Allison won his seventh race at the track. That is a record held with Richard Petty (1984), and as of the FedEx 400 last year, Jimmie Johnson.
- On May 31st, 1987, Davey Alison scored his second win of the season as a rookie. Allison’s two wins as a rookie would be a record until Tony Stewart won three of the last ten races in his 1999 rookie season.
- In the 1990 June race, won by Derrike Cope, Dale Earnhardt blew an engine in the race…twice. The first happened early enough in the race (Lap 23) that his crew could make repairs, but the engine failed again, allowing Earnhardt to complete only 159 laps. Earnhardt would go on to win his 4th championship that year by 26 points over Mark Martin. Twelve of those points would be gained by Earnhardt returning to the track that day.
- In 1991, Harry Gant won the third of what would be four consecutive series wins, earning him the name “Mr. September.” Gant’s margin of victory was a complete lap, plus an additional nineteen seconds, over Geoff Bodine and Morgan Shepherd.
- In September of 1993, Rusty Wallace triggered a multi-car crash on a restart taking out many of the top contenders. Wallace would go onto to win the race, and was awarded the “Rubberhead of the Race Award” from an angry Ricky Rudd. That race took nearly five hours to complete due to sixteen caution periods.
- In 1995, Dover became the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series track to be completely paved with concrete. The ultra white racing surface led the track to have yet another nickname, “White Lightning,” for a few years until the track weathered a bit. That first race on concrete was won by Kyle Petty.
- On September 21st, 1997, Mark Martin completed the fastest race at the track, finishing the MBNA 400 in 3 hours and 50 seconds, an average speed of 132.719 Miles Per Hour. Martin would go on to win the next two September Dover races as well.
- Only June 4th, 2004, Jeremy Mayfield turned the fastest qualifying lap at the track. Mayfield navigated the course in 22.288 seconds, for a speed of 161.522 Miles Per Hour.
- In 2007, the June race was rained out and run on the following day. Martin Truex, Jr. scored his only win to date in that race.
- In 2009, Joey Logano, after contact with Tony Stewart, spun to the inside of the track, back to the top near the wall, and proceeded to execute a barrel roll. The roll would complete seven rotations before the car came to rest on its wheels between turns three and four. Logano walked away without major injury.
- And then there was September, 23rd, 2001. After the 9/11 attacks, NASCAR postponed the following race at New Hampshire, and placed it at the end of the schedule. That made Dover, scheduled for the week after, the next race to be run. It was the Cal Ripken 400, honoring one of baseball’s greatest, but it was also a return to normal. It was healing, and it felt right.
The track and the sport did a fantastic job to bring the NASCAR community back together at the right time. Most of the cars had their sponsors on the hoods replaced with American Flag images. Each fan upon entry was given an American Flag and a green flag, both to be waved at the start of the race, or whenever you felt like it. On the beginning of the last lap, the flagman never waved the white flag, still signifying No Surrender. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. took the victory, and did a reverse victory lap, saluting the fans, and flying Old Glory.
So, Dover may not be the season opening race at Daytona, and it may not be the longest race like the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, and it may not be the final race of the year to crown a Champion. Dover is unique, however, not only in the configuration, but in the happenings at the track on any given race weekend. I suggest to you; if you have never been there, give it a shot. It is a first class facility, and well worth the investment. It is truly a fan’s racetrack.
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