MASTERING THE MONSTER MILE
Sunday at Dover International Speedway, Jimmie Johnson did what he does best – win.
The victory marked Johnson’s 11th victory at the Monster Mile, placing him alongside the likes of Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip, the only other drivers to have won 11 races at a single track.
Chad Knaus, crew chief of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, described the team’s confidence coming into the weekend at Dover.
“There's a time when you walk in the door and you feel like you've got it or you've got an opportunity,” Knaus said. “I can tell you when the 48 team and Jimmie Johnson, they roll into this racetrack, everybody is on their tippy toes and their chests are puffed up, and that comes from Jimmie's experience, Jimmie's ability to adapt.”
When asked about his relationship with Miles the Monster, Johnson joked that he thinks they're good friends by now.
“Yeah, we are buddies,” Johnson smiled. “Hopefully, we can stay that way.”
SOLID DAY FOR ELLIOTT
Johnson was not the only Hendrick Motorsports teammate to make his way toward the front of the field. Chase Elliott scored a fifth-place finish at Dover after avoiding multiple-car incident in overtime.
“I don’t exactly know what happened between all those guys, but our NAPA Chevy was solid all day,” Elliott said. “It wasn’t as good as some of those other guys, but we made a lot of gains from I think where we were yesterday.”
Despite a roller-coaster race for the driver of the No. 24, Elliott is pleased with the team’s progress from Saturday.
“We got up inside the top five there at one point and got stuck back around 10th at one point too,” Elliott shared. “So, up and down for sure.”
COMPETITIVE KAHNE
Kasey Kahne had a strong run at Dover and even racked up bonus points from his top-10 finishes in Stage 1 and Stage 2.
Unfortunately, the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet SS was caught in the incident during overtime that caused the race to finish under caution.
Despite a 17th-place finish, Kahne was happy with the team’s competitive performance.