Dover International Speedway hasn't been kind to drivers trying to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship and winning the fall race at "The Monster Mile" then going on to capture the title has been nearly impossible.
In fact, no driver has ever won a Dover September Chase race and gone on to win the championship.
The last time a driver won the September Dover race and the championship in the same season was Jeff Gordon in 1995.
"Dover's a tough place that's for sure," said Gordon, who is in the hunt for a fifth title this season. "I'm not surprised that it's a difficult task to win in the fall and then go on to taking the championship."
This year's field of 12 Chase drivers have a combined total of 15 wins at Dover International Speedway (Gordon 4, Jimmie Johnson 3, Tony Stewart 2, Carl Edwards 1, Greg Biffle 1, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1, Jeff Burton 1, Kyle Busch 1 and Matt Kenseth 1).
Of the top-12 drivers, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick have never won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover.
"It's a race where you have to be on your toes from the start of practice on Friday all the way through the event," Johnson said. "It's a pretty intense track."
Johnson's second-place finish last week at New Hampshire gave him a share of the series lead with Carl Edwards while Loudon winner Greg Biffle sits a mere thirty points behind.
Biffle, back in the Chase after a two-year absence, is pumped up about his win last week and this week's chances at Dover.
"I felt like we were a definite threat for the Chase if we made it because of the momentum we've had and how good the race tracks are in the Chase for me," Biffle said. "Dover, I can't name them all. Dover, Homestead – we've won at. Texas, Kansas, there are a bunch of great race tracks for us in the chase.
"I just can't wait to go to Dover."
Biffle's crew chief Greg Erwin is also excited about the team's chances in the Chase after its performance last weekend in Loudon.
"Our history at New Hampshire hadn't been real strong, so quite honestly we thought if we came out with a top-10 finish and roll into Dover, where we're second and third and fifth or sixth in our last three trips there, that we'd be able to put a solid string together and get up there in the points," Erwin said.
