Dover Is Your Favorite Track? REALLY?
5/31/2014
Jim Fitzgerald
That’s it, Race Friends….it’s official. The world has gone completely nutso and bonkers.
Check this out. “I really like the track.
It’s one of those tracks that’s really
fast. You can attack it. It’s one of the tracks that’s pretty hard to
get around fast by yourself, and then you throw all of them cars out there and
it makes it a lot
harder. Looking
forward to getting on the track.” That was Matt Kenseth at Dover International Speedway when
he was asked about the one-mile concreted oval.
For as long as I can remember, most drivers have usually looked at Dover
as a place they would circle on the calendar.
Not as a place they would win, mind you, but as a place to avoid at all
costs and live in fear of twice a year.
There is the often told story of Kyle Petty talking about a race track
which he would rather see filled with water and stocked with bass to turn it
into an effective fishing hole, just because he hated
it so much. I believe that was
Darlington, but the story has been told so often I’m sure someone changed it to
Dover at some point. And if someone else
didn’t, I just did. You’ve no doubt seen footage and heard stories of the “good
old days” of racing when someone would tackle (then) 500 miles of racing at
Dover, and then get out of his car and then near collapse next to it because 500
spins around that one mile circle of Hell took it out of them. The point I’m making is that Dover has never really been
anyone’s favorite track, as far as I know. Now, however, so many seem to love it. Kenseth went on to
add about his love for the Monster mile. “Well, I made my first Cup start here a long time ago. I’ve just always liked it. It’s really unique. There’s not really any other tracks like this
that’s kind of like Bristol but twice as big and twice as fast. It’s just one of those tracks that’s a challenge to get around by yourself, especially to
get around fast by yourself. It’s just
tricky and has a lot of character.” Oh, fear not, my race
friends. I wouldn’t let Matt Kenseth
speak for everyone, you know. Take the
following statement from Joey Logano. “I remember my first Nationwide
race, here,” Logano said. “It was
interesting. I finished seventh or
eighth and I was mad about it. I thought
we should have run better than that. It has been one of those tracks that I have
taken to right off the bat.” And here’s a shocker.
Who do you think likes Dover the most?
None other than the guy who has finished ahead of everyone else more
times than anyone else in the history of the track. Jimmie Johnson, who has won at Dover eight
times, so far, is very complimentary of the track. “We are coming to my favorite race track and by the stats
probably our best track as well. Excited
to be here and looking forward to getting on the race track and seeing how the
new rules package works here.” Johnson was asked about his eight Miles The
Monster trophies which are given to the winner of each race at Dover. “They are all in one spot,” he said. “I have a great man
cave. It’s a big warehouse and I have a
huge bar that I restored and it’s got a big top shelf on it. I think five of them are up there and then
the others are scattered about through this kind of pub area that I set up
inside of my warehouse where I have some old cars and stuff that I
collected. They’re a big trophy and they
certainly draw a lot of attention.” Attention? I’d say
so. It’s big, made to look like it is
made of rock, has glowing red eyes, and a model of the winner’s car goes in its
hands of stone grasp. Dover has always been MY favorite track as well, because it’s
my home track and one of the few tracks I have been able to get to see personally,
let alone cover for a race weekend. It’s
unique, fast, and the reward for winning is that trophy. Come to think of it, why isn’t Dover everyone’s favorite
track? Until next time, my friends…
Feel free to leave comments below, and be sure to follow me @RaceFansJim on Twitter, because sometimes I give stuff away!