By far, the most successful active driver at The Monster Mile in Dover, Delaware is Jimmie Johnson. He is also the last driver to post Back-to-Back wins, during the 2009 season, where he won both the spring and fall races. Actually Jimmie is the only driver in history to have pulled this off twice in his career by winning both races in 2002.

I also found it interesting that since the Dover International Speedway opened in July of 1969, there had been 12 drivers that won back to back races here. The King , Richard Petty, who was the first to win at Dover, and by winning again in September of 1970 he became the first back-to-back winner. Nascar didn’t start running two races a year at Dover until the 1971 season.

David Pearson who holds the record at Dover for the most poles, was the first to win back-to-back-to-back. He won the fall race in 1972, and both races from the pole in 1973. Three of Pearson’s five Dover wins came from the pole.

The only other back-to-back-to-back winners on this track were Rusty Wallace in 1993-1994, and Jeff Gordon 1995-96. Both Wallace and Gordon each won one of these races from the pole. The three wins were Rusty’s only wins at Dover, Jeff won one more time in June of 2001.

Bobby Allison, who holds the record with Richard Petty for most wins at Dover at seven each, had back-to-back wins in the 1983 season. Bobby was one of only two drivers to win at Dover in a Buick.

Other back-to-back winners include Cale Yarborough in 1976-77, Bill Elliott 1988, Dale Earnhardt 1999 and Harry Gant in 1991-92. The only other active drivers who have performed the feat, are current SHR Teammates Tony Stewart in 2000, and Ryan Newman in 2003.

Given Kurt Busch’s demotion to a single car team at Phoenix Racing, I don’t see him pulling off the back-to-back on Sunday with a repeat of last fall’s win at Dover. This was however, his last win on the Sprint Cup Circuit.

Look for Jimmie Johnson to continue his hot streak and continue his dominance at the Monster Mile,and tying  him with the Old Timers at seven wins. Who knows, maybe he can set another record for a third back-to-back.

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All hands will be on deck this upcoming weekend as “Miles The Monster” will be awaiting the arrival of everything Nascar has to offer. The Camping World Truck Series will start the action Friday Night with the Lucas Oil 200, Saturday Afternoon we have the 5-Hour Energy 200, and last but not least, the big boys take to the track for the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks. A full slate of racing on the famous Monster Mile at Dover.

Dover International Speedway, built in 1969, is unique in two aspects. It is Exactly One Mile, and is paved in Concrete. Dover was originally paved in asphalt, which is the standard for most of the other tracks on the Nascar circuit, but was changed to concrete in 1995. The track was designed to hold 140,00 race fans, but the addition of Safer Barriers and new wider seats, the actual seating capacity has been dropped to around 113,000.

The Monster Mile is a one mile oval track with 24 degree banking in all four corners and 9 degrees on the straights. The Sprint Cup Qualifying record was set by Jeremy Mayfield in 2004 at 22.288 sec (161.522 mph), and the race record is held by Mark Martin at 132.719 miles per hour. Bobby Allison and Richard Petty hold the most wins at Dover with 7 each, and the most poles by David Pearson with 6. Most starts and of course most laps completed were by Ricky Rudd. Surprisingly, the best average finish for this track is Carl Edwards at 7.3.

For newbie race fans, Goodyear and Nascar, after considerable testing and evaluating, decide on a rubber formula for each race track. This is an important aspect at Dover due to the concrete surface. With this in mind, tire management by drivers and crew chiefs becomes the ultimate focus for the weekend. In Sprint Cup competition, where they get an unlimited supply of tires, the question becomes, how many laps can I run on a set of tires before they blow out. The Trucks and Nationwide cars are only allowed so many tires, making their job more crucial.

The other factor that affects tire wear is the track temperature. With the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races starting in the afternoon, look for crew chiefs to be calling for 4-tire stops most of the day. You won’t see too many 2-tire stops of Gas-and-Go’s at this race, as teams like to change tires at every opportunity.

The Sprint Cup Race on Sunday will mark the end of Fox TV’s coverage for the season. Dover is the last race for Old DW and the gang until next years Daytona 500. TNT will take over the booth for six races and ESPN/ABC will take us from the Brickyard in July through to Homestead. Matt Kenseth is your defending Champion for this race.

Look for Jimmie Johnson to have another good day as he has 6 wins in 20 starts on the Monster Mile. He loves this track, and with Chad Knaus on the pit box, he has one of the best in the business at race strategy and tire management. JJ has been on a roll since Darlington. A pit road mistake at Charlotte, by his jack man took him out of contention Sunday Night, so look for him to arrive in Dover with a chip on his shoulder.

So for the last time this season, pull them seat belts up tight and “Let’s Go Racin Boys”.

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