The green flag for the NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Drydene 400 will be raised at 3 pm ET on Sunday, May 1, at Dover Motor Speedway. TSN5 and MRN will be covering the event live.
Just like most NASCAR races, the lineup is usually derived from the qualifying race, which in most cases is held one day before the race. If the qualifying race is suspended, as we witnessed in Atlanta, then NASCAR’s rule book sets the lineup.
Well, in this case, single-car qualifying served as the determiner for NASCAR’s DuraMAX Drydene 400 race. This time around, it has recorded another new pole winner for its eleventh race of the season.
Looking at past pole winners, no one has managed to transform them into wins for the past ten successfully concluded events. Judging from the surprises we have witnessed in past races, however, the new pole winner might surprise us by converting the pole into a win.
Chris Buescher, the Roush Fenway driver, won Saturday's qualifying race in his Ford Mustang #17 with the best time of 160.149 mph. Since winning the Daytona Duel #2 in February, the driver has been dormant and has not dominated as he was expected to, gaining entry into the top ten only twice.
Starting in the inner lane of the track, Buescher will be fighting for his first win of the season. The last time he performed better in Dover was in 2020, taking a 14th place finish, and this time he might have driven his Ford #17 to the victory line.
Lineup of NASCAR drivers at Dover Motor Speedway
Joe Gibbs' driver, Denny Hamlin, who is driving a Toyota Camry # 11, will be joining Buescher in the front row, but he will be shooting his shot from the outer line. Kyle Larson, the day's favorite driver, will take the green flag from row 2 on pole 3, one of the best positions to win. The rest of the lineup is as follows:
Dover Motor Speedway was founded in 1969 as Dover Downs International Speedway, a unique dual-purpose facility that can host both harness racing and motorsports events. The facility's debut race was a 300-lap event on an asphalt track where Richard's son, Kyle Petty, won the Monster Mile's first concrete race on June 4, 1995, after starting 37th.