Know Your Track: Dover

Dover International Speedway

Track Name: Dover International Speedway

           

Nicknames: "The Monster Mile"

Location: Dover, Delaware

Capacity: 135,000

Date of First Race: July 6, 1969

Layout: Dover is a 1 mile concrete oval with its four turns banked at 24 degrees. The track was formerly asphalt up until 1994.

Current Sprint Cup Races:

• May 31, 2015 - Dover 400, a 400 mile, 400 lap regular season points race. This is a Sunday afternoon event.
• October 4, 2015 - AAA 400, a 400 mile, 400 lap Chase race. This is the final race of the Challenger Round of the Chase and the third out of ten Chase races overall. This is a Sunday afternoon event.

Most Wins:          

• All-Time: Jimmie Johnson, 9 wins
• Active: Jimmie Johnson, 9 wins
• Latest Winner:
• 2014 Dover 400: Jimmie Johnson
• 2014 AAA 400: Jeff Gordon

Description: There's a reason Dover is named the Monster Mile. It's a high speed, high banked beast of a track that features dramatic elevation changes going from the straightaways into the turns, putting some of the largest amounts of G-forces on drivers out of all of the tracks in NASCAR. The walls jump out at drivers coming off of the turns and it is not uncommon for one to hit it and cause a major pileup on the narrow track.

The track also features one of the most difficult pit roads to get on to, as it starts in the middle of turns 3 and 4, making it hard for drivers to slow down to pit road speed in time.

The track has had to remove seating after low attendance in recent seasons. Racing at the track can be entertaining at times, but passing there is very difficult, so side-by-side racing is hard to come by. Not to mention that Jimmie Johnson's iron-grip on this track has probably soured quite a few fans opinion of the track. But the Monster Mile is a nice change-up from the rest of the schedule and with the track holding a Chase cut-off race, it will be around for years to come.

Notable Races:

•  2001 MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400 - This was the first race NASCAR held after the September 11 attacks and the atmosphere was as patriotic as anywhere. Fans were all given American flags and most drivers changed their paint scheme on the car to reflect in America in some way, shape, or form, including Ken Schrader, who's car was a giant American flag. Dale Earnhardt Jr. went on to win the race.

Fun Facts: The track used to be called Dover Downs and featured horse races on a track inside of the speedway.