In the 2016 Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover, Martin Truex Jr. takes advantage of pit road issues by Jimmie Johnson. Truex dominates the second half of the race at his home track and cements himself as a Chase favourite. The Chase is cut to 12 drivers as Martin Truex Jr. dominates Dover.
Truex Jr. is Chase Favourite after Dominating at Dover
No track on the NASCAR circuit means more to Martin Truex Jr. than Dover International Speedway. A native of New Jersey, Dover is a short drive away and was a track Truex Jr. would attend as a kid. It was also the track where Truex Jr. notched his first NASCAR victory back in 2007. When Truex Jr. crossed the finish line at the end of the 2016 Citizen Soldier 400, it gave the New Jersey native two victories at Dover. Truex Jr. also holds two victories in round one of the Chase; three in the last five races.
Winning in the Chase
Winning is of utmost importance in the Chase and few drivers understand this better than Kevin Harvick. His championship in 2014 was a result of his victory in the final race at Homestead. Last season at this race, Harvick needed to win in order to advance to the second round. He won and advanced all the way to the championship round. With Harvick’s win last week, he did not have to worry about points and this was vital for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver. On lap 33, Harvick broke a trackbar mount, putting him out of contention. Had he not won, it could’ve spelled the end of his chase early, which is significant because we at LWOS picked Harvick to win it all in our Chase preview. However, Stewart-Haas Racing was not the only team to have problems.
Ganassi Struggles
Chip Ganassi Racing entered Dover with a chance for both drivers, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson, to advance to the second round. However, mechanical issues would prevent this. Larson reported having no power on a lap 37 pit stop. To add insult to injury, as he came in to his pit box for service, the team was penalized for too many men over the wall. This resulted in a pass through penalty. Larson went from being in the top half of the field to being three laps down in 39th. He would not fully recover as during his attempt to charge back, he hit the wall on lap 182 causing damage and putting him even further out of contention.
Larson’s teammate Jamie McMurray, in only his second Chase, found himself in a familiar spot. Last year at this race, he was battling with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the final advancing spot. He finished the Dover race tied with Jr. but did not have the tiebreaker and thus his Chase was over early. Today, on lap 165, McMurray was running in the top 10 before dropping a cylinder. The engine did not hold up much longer and let go completely on lap 194. A disappointing race for Chase for Ganassi Racing. However, if they take a step back, they will see the positives of both drivers making the Chase and having Larson grab his first victory.
Johnson’s Domination at Dover
Up front, this race belonged to Jimmie Johnson, a 10-time winner at the “Monster Mile”. Johnson has been so dominant at this track that only nine drivers in the field have more wins in their career than Johnson does at Dover. On lap 281, during a pit stop, Johnson’s crew were over the wall too soon resulting in a pass through penalty. It was the fourth penalty on pit road in the last five races. Certainly those mistakes will not help in a battle for a championship and will be something the team must work on if they want to do serious damage. Johnson set a blistering pace all day but that mistake opened the door for the second best car of Truex Jr.
Conclusion
The Furniture Row Racing team dominated the entire second half of the race and set such a fast pace that only six cars were on the lead lap at the end. No driver is on more of a roll than Truex Jr. who is still looking for his first Sprint Cup championship. He has to be considered the favourite now. He has managed to limit a lot of the mistakes that bit him through his career and now with such dominant cars he is able to put together a complete race and finish off those performances in Victory Lane. With the field cut to 12, everyone will be chasing the 78 Team. Here are the updated Chase standings:
Round of 12: Chase Grid
Martin Truex Jr.
Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch
Matt Kenseth
Joey Logano
Chase Elliott
Brad Keselowski
Kurt Busch
Denny Hamlin
Carl Edwards
Jimmie Johnson
Auston Dillon
Eliminated:
Tony Stewart
Jamie McMurray
Kyle Larson
Chris Buescher
