Matt Kenseth and his crew made the gutsy decision to go with just two tires during a caution with a little over 30 laps left in the FedEx 400 and it paid off with a win at Dover.
The decision to go with only two tires during the caution put Kenseth ahead at the restart on lap 367 and no one was able to catch him from that point on. It was Kenseth’s second win of the season and second career victory at Dover.
Kenseth, along with many drivers complained about the rubber build up on the track. It would get cleaned up during a caution, but quickly come back and make the cars very tough to control. So getting out in front, he says, was key.
“At the end the rubber kind of got cleaned off and you could really race for about 15 laps before that yucky rubber would build up and you couldn’t maneuver any more. So it was key to be out front and have a clean track at the end.”
Race favorite Jimmie Johnson looked like he was on his way to his record tying 6th win at Dover Downs, as he led 135 of the first 142 laps of the race. He and Carl Edwards would trade the lead off with Johnson leading the race as late as lap 332. However, cautions and questionable pit strategies dropped Johnson to 9th by the race’s end.
Mark Martin finished 2nd, followed by Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers to round out the top five. Clint Bowyer finished 6th with Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick completing the top ten.
Carl Edwards remains atop the Sprint Cup Series standings followed Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kevin Harvick.