The 12th Sprint Cup race of the 2010 NASCAR season takes us to the Monster Mile at Dover International Speedway in Delaware for the Autism Speaks 400 set to get underway on Sunday, May 16th at 1:00 P.M. This is the first of two races scheduled at Dover with the second being on September 26th.
Denny Hamlin won last week in Darlington to notch his third Sprint Cup victory of the year, while Kevin Harvick remained in the top spot in the Sprint Cup standings with 1622 points. As usual, Jimmie Johnson is the favorite to win this week, but there are a few drivers that might have something to say about that. The following is a preview of the top seven drivers in the Sprint Cup point standings along with their current odds to win this week.
Harvick finished sixth last week holding the top spot in the standings with 1622 points. Last year in this race he started 35th and finished 17th. His best finish in this race was in 2006 when he started from the fifth position and ended up taking third. He has six top 10 finishes at this track, but only one in the last three years. He has finished in the top 10 of this race three times.
After another rough outing last week Johnson is still in second place with 1512 points, but is now 110 out of first. After starting from the eighth position he won this race last year. He actually won both races at Dover in 2009. He has 11 top 10 finishes at Dover including five wins. In this race he has five top 10 finishes and has won twice.
With his seventh place finish last week, Busch now has 1509 points, 113 back. Last year in this race he started sixth and finished 23rd. In 2008 he won this race after starting from the third position. He has only raced at Dover ten times in his career but has five top 10 finishes including three in this race.
Gordon continues to close the gap in the standings as he now has 1475 points, 147 out of the lead. Last year in this race he started all the way back in 42nd and ended up 26th. He won this race twice in his career; in 2001 after starting second and in 1996 after starting from the poll. Overall, he has 21 career top 10 finishes with four victories at this track and ten top 10 finishes in this race.
Kenseth is currently in fifth place with 1472 points, 150 back. Last year in this race he started 14th and finished fourth. In 2006 he won this race after starting 19th. He has 14 top 10 finishes at this track including eight in his last nine races here. Heading into this race he actually has five straight top 5 finishes at Dover.
With last week’s victory at Darlington, Hamlin now has 1458 points, 164 out of the lead. Last year in this race he started 16th and finished a disappointing 36th. His best effort in this race was in 2007 when he started 29th and finished fourth. He has only raced at Dover eight times in his career, recording two top 10 finishes.
Biffle continues to slide down the standings falling from fifth to seventh. He now has 1431 points, 191 back. Last year in this race he started from the fifth position and finished third. He won this race back in 2005 after starting second. He has nine career top 10 finishes including seven in his last eight races here. He has five top 10 finishes in this race.
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