Dover Race Report

• No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver Mark Martin finished third. The No. 55 is 14th in
  owner points.
• No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. finished sixth and is eighth in
  NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. 
• No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota driver Clint Bowyer finished ninth and is fourth in NASCAR’s Chase
  for the Sprint Cup. 

CHASE STANDINGS (After 3 of 10 races)
1.     Brad Keselowski        2142    Leader
2.     Jimmie Johnson         2137      -5
3.     Denny Hamlin           2126      -16
4.     Clint Bowyer             2117      -25
5.     Tony Stewart            2110      -32
6.     Kasey Kahne            2110      -32
7.     Dale Earnhardt Jr.     2103      -39
8.     Martin Truex Jr.        2100      -42
9.     Kevin Harvick           2096      -46
10.   Jeff Gordon              2094      -48
11.   Greg Biffle               2091       -51
12.   Matt Kenseth           2070       -72

Mark Martin Race Summary: No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver Mark Martin finished third in Sunday’s AAA 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver started 26th and climbed to 10th in the first 55 laps. A debris caution just laps after his pit stop and before the leaders dropped Martin a lap down to the leaders. Martin restarted the race in 20th and continued posting fast lap times, but it appeared he’d never return to the lead lap. With 90 laps left in the race a caution enabled Martin to earn the Aaron’s Lucky Dog free pass. Three laps later a caution for Matt Kenseth’s accident enabled Martin to pit for fuel then restart with the leaders. Martin stretched his fuel mileage in the closing laps as many of the leaders began running out of fuel. Martin passed Jimmie Johnson for third with less five laps to go to secure the third-place finish. The No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota returns to action Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway with Michael Waltrip behind the wheel. Martin returns to action  Oct. 13 at Charlotte.

• Started 26th and finished third
• Moved from 26th to 10th in the first 55 laps.
• A debris caution after his pit stop dropped Martin a lap behind leaders.
• Turned laps times as fast as leaders during most of the race.
• Earned Aaron’s Lucky Dog free pass on lap 310 to return to lead lap.
• Pitted and restarted with the leaders on lap 320.
• Passed several cars in the closing laps including Jimmie Johnson to secure third-place finish.

MARTIN: “I don’t know, with all the show that was going on, if everybody really noticed or not, but we had a rocket ship, super fast car.  Start of the race, green flag, we were passing cars left and right.  It was awesome.  It was great on restarts.  We were making our way up from deep in the pack with our qualifying spot.  Came back out, as soon as we got on the track, a caution came out.  It had us trapped two laps down.  So, we had to continue to fight from being buried and had a fast race car, passed a lot of cars, eventually got ourselves into the hunt.  But, the race was just about over.  I just want to really commend Rodney Childers (crew chief), underrated, a brilliant crew chief.  I have a fantastic race team and I love being part of MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing).  We are just having a blast.”

Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary:  No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. finished sixth in Sunday’s AAA 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver started third and battled for track position after a debris caution left only six cars on the lead lap. Truex fought his way back into the top-10 by the halfway. Truex earned the Aaron’s Lucky Dog free pass with 85 laps remaining to return to the lead lap. As teams attempted to stretch their fuel mileage in the closing laps, Truex raced his way by several cars and finished sixth. The NAPA AUTO PARTS team returns to action Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Truex will start the fourth of the 10-race Chase in eighth just 42 points out of first.

• Started third and finished sixth
• Raced as high as third and as low as 20th
• Recorded his 16th top-10 finish of the season
• Eighth in the Chase just 34 points out of first

TRUEX: “Well, it wasn’t pretty at the beginning.  It was pretty damn pretty at the end.  What a crazy day.  At the start of the race we were just terrible -- I don’t know what it was.  Whether it was the first set of tires or what.  And, we pitted and made a few changes and you know, of course, we got caught by the caution which got us two laps down.  But, at that point right there the car was fast.  It was fast all day after that.  We just battled -- battled hard.  We passed a ton of cars.  Obviously, we got a few at the end there cause of the fuel mileage deal.  We came from dead last there with the ‘lucky dog’ the last run and I was catching the 99 (Carl Edwards) -- he was on the lead lap all day.  A little bit frustrated.  But, all in all, we fought hard today.  We showed what we were made of and battled.  We were just off at the beginning of the race -- that’s all I can say.”

How happy are you with the sixth-place finish? “It’s a great finish for where we started.  We’re still kind of confused on what happened there at the beginning with the first set of tires.  It was terrible. You know, we went from third -- to I don’t even know where we were -- half-a-straightaway from being lapped.  Then really the biggest thing that hurt us was the caution.  We pitted and the caution came out.  We just stayed out three or four more laps we’d have been in good shape.  Played catch-up all day, but proud of the guys for sticking with it.  When you have days like that you just have to keep fighting and today we kept fighting and came out with a good result.”

Clint Bowyer Race Summary: No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota driver Clint Bowyer finished ninth in Sunday’s AAA 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver started second and raced in the top-five for the first 300 laps. Bowyer, who was racing in fourth, benefitted from a caution early in the race that put all but six cars a lap down. Bowyer continued to battle a loose handling car throughout the race. Bowyer made his final stop for two tires and fuel with 25 laps to go and fell a lap down. He gained two spots in the closing lap as teams attempted different fuel strategies. Bowyer and the 5-hour ENERGY team return to action Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway in the fourth of NASCAR’S 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup. Bowyer is fourth in the Chase after the third of 10 races just 25 points out of first.

• Started second and finished ninth
• Collected a bonus point for leading lap 147
• Raced in the top-five for the first 300 laps
• Pitted for two tires and fuel with 25 laps left
• Recorded his 18th top-10 of 2012

CREW CHIEF BRIAN PATTIE: “We just didn’t have the mileage to go there until the end.  Our car was burning the right rear tire off too soon.  So, when you do that, you just fall off the pace so bad.  It kind of stinks.  This team wants to run top-five every week, and ninth-place isn’t good enough.  We’ll go to Talladega and hopefully shake them up there.”

RACE NOTES:
• Brad Keselowski won the race by 1.078 seconds over Jeff Gordon.
• Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five finishers.
• The race took three hours and 11 minutes. 
• The race featured 11 lead changes among six drivers.
• Five cautions slowed the race for 28 laps.
• NASCAR estimated the attendance at 85,000