Kyle Larson Takes the Gold At Dover’s 50th Annual Drydene 400

Kyle Larson takes the Checkered Flag to capture the Golden "Miles the Monster" trophy at Dover's 50th Annual Drydene 400.

Dean Patton Photo

Dover, DE - RIS - Kyle Larson makes a statement with his commanding run for the checkered flag at Dover International Speedway. Larson’s victory to win a Gold Miles the Monster Trophy at the 50th Annual  Drydene 400 ends a two year drought for NASCAR Monster Cup Series wins. There could not have been a better time to win that truly counts. Ending his winless streak with this win makes it his first for the 2019 season, but his fifteenth top-10 finish for the season. Taking this win also makes this his first win at Dover in the twelve races he has run here. In those twelve starts he has also finished in the top-10 nine times so he has always been a top competitor at Dover. Kyle Larson was wheeling the #42 Clover Chevrolet and made that team a happy winner with this super fast run.

Martin Truex, Jr was a closing second place finisher in the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota. He has sixteen top-10 finishes in twenty-eight starts at Dover. This run is also nineteenth top-10 finish for the 2019 NASCAR Monster Cup Series. Following the event Martin explained that he was closing in on Kyle, but it would have taken many more laps to make it close if he could have gotten there as Kyle Larson had already lapped every other driver except those ending in the top-8.

Third place finisher is Alex Bowman the chauffeur of the #88 Cincinnati Chevrolet, with Kevin Harvick driving his famous #4 Busch Beer All Harvick Ford running a close fourth at the finish. Fifth place runner would be Denny Hamlin in the #11 FedEx Express Toyota. Hamlin set a new track record in his time trial run and started on the pole. He was fading in the waning laps, but was able to hold off a comer Kyle Busch. Busch was wheeling his #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota and appeared to be coming on, but too late to make any type of challenge to the leaders.

Matt DiBenedetto brought the #20 Dumont Jets Toyota home in the seventh place. Jimmie Johnson the last of those on the lead lap stayed a good distance in front of the eventual winner Kyle Larson. Johnson was the chauffeur of the #48 Ally Chevrolet.

Finishing ninth and a lap down would be Kurt Busch running his #1 GearWrench Chevrolet. Rounding out the top-10 would be Clint Bowyer in the ITsavvy/Haas Ford.

Ryan Preece was the highest finishing Rookie in his #47 Kroger Chevrolet. As far as the Chase posts go there are a few drivers who will need a probable win to progress into the next session, and that would be Chase Elliott who finished last due to engine problems and only completed 8 laps today. The other driver who will need some help will be Ryan Blaney who experienced major Suspension problems causing him only complete 297 laps in the 5th Annual Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway.

As always, the results are not official until NASCAR Officials get to look over the competing cars.

See you ate the track

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 42 Kyle Larson (P) Clover Chevrolet 400 3 2 57 Running 4 154 5
2 3 19 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Bass Pro Shops Toyota 400 2 1 54 Running 1 15 1
3 12 88 Alex Bowman (P) Cincinnati Chevrolet 400 6 6 44 Running
4 4 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Busch Beer All Harvick Ford 400 5 4 46 Running
5 1 11 Denny Hamlin (P) FedEx Express Toyota 400 1 3 50 Running 4 218 1
6 18 18 Kyle Busch (P) Interstate Batteries Toyota 400 8 34 Running
7 20 95 Matt DiBenedetto Dumont Jets Toyota 400 30 Running
8 11 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 400 7 5 39 Running 1 1
9 9 1 Kurt Busch GEARWRENCH Chevrolet 399 28 Running 1 3
10 17 14 Clint Bowyer (P) ITsavvy/Haas Ford 399 10 28 Running
11 16 2 Brad Keselowski (P) Wurth Ford 399 9 28 Running
12 13 21 Paul Menard Menards/Cardell Cabinets Ford 398 25 Running 1 6
13 6 24 William Byron (P) Axalta Chevrolet 398 4 31 Running 1 1
14 15 41 Daniel Suarez ARRIS Ford 398 23 Running 1 1
15 8 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 398 9 7 28 Running
16 19 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 398 21 Running
17 7 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 398 20 Running
18 27 3 Austin Dillon AAA Chevrolet 398 19 Running
19 32 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 396 18 Running
20 26 43 Bubba Wallace Victory Junction Chevrolet 395 17 Running
21 31 8 Daniel Hemric # Lucas Oil Chevrolet 394 16 Running
22 24 6 Ryan Newman Acronis Ford 393 15 Running
23 25 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 393 14 Running 1 1
24 28 34 Michael McDowell The Pete Store Ford 391 13 Running
25 23 36 Matt Tifft # Delaware Lottery/Surface Ford 390 12 Running
26 30 00 Landon Cassill(i) Clean Origin Chevrolet 389 0 Running
27 21 38 David Ragan MDS Transport Ford 388 10 Running
28 29 32 Corey LaJoie Drydene Ford 385 9 Running
29 33 51 BJ McLeod(i) Jacob Companies Chevrolet 382 0 Running
30 36 27 * Joe Nemechek(i) Chevrolet 381 0 Running
31 34 15 Ross Chastain(i) Low-T Center Chevrolet 380 0 Running
32 35 52 JJ Yeley(i) Drive Smart Ford 380 0 Running
33 37 54 * Garrett Smithley(i) AQRE.app Ford 377 0 Running
34 14 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 375 3 Running
35 10 12 Ryan Blaney (P) PPG Ford 297 10 8 6 Suspension
36 22 37 Chris Buescher Kroger Simmer Like A Winner Chevrolet 232 1 Engine
37 38 77 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 180 1 Handling
38 5 9 Chase Elliott (P) Hooters Give a Hoot Chevrolet 8 1 Engine
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 56 Mins, 49 Secs. Average Speed: 135.734 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.578 Seconds

Dean Patton

I have been a Photojournalist for RIS-news for the past ten years more or less. I was a shooter for a Minority Publication here in Reading, PA. Unfortunately the publisher passed away ending the publication. Mike took me onboard the following February while covering Daytona freelance. I also shoot Football, Professional Boxing, and Pennsylvania Dirt Track Racing. Hailing from Reading, Pennsylvania what else would I do. In my real life I am also a sitting Magisterial District Judge... sports coverage is my escape!

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Volume 2019, Issue 9, Posted 7:09 PM, 10.06.2019