Dover 400 (fall race)

Updated on Sep 25, 2024

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First race 1971		Distance 400 miles (640 km)

Venue Dover International Speedway Location Dover, Delaware, United States Laps 400 (Stage 1: 120 Stage 2: 120 Stage 3: 160) Previous names Delaware 500 (1971–1978, 1984–1988) CRC Chemicals 500 (1979–1982) Budweiser 500 (1983) Peak Performance 500 (1989) Peak AntiFreeze 500 (1990–1992) SplitFire Spark Plug 500 (1993–1994) MBNA 500 (1995–1996) MBNA 400 (1997) MBNA Gold 400 (1998–1999) MBNA.com 400 (2000) MBNA Cal Ripken, Jr. 400 (2001) MBNA All-American Heroes 400 (2002) MBNA America 400 (2003–2004) MBNA NASCAR RacePoints 400 (2005) Dover 400 (2006) Dodge Dealers 400 (2007) Camping World RV 400 (2008) AAA 400 (2009–2015) Citizen Soldier 400 (2016)

The Dover 400 is the second of two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stock car races held at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, the other one being the AAA 400 Drive for Autism. It is held on the last weekend of September or the first weekend of October. It is the third race in the NASCAR Cup Series' Chase for the Championship after the 2011 realignment. NBC has the rights to obtain the final 20 races of the season (13 of 20), including this race.

Notes

2005: Race extended due to a green–white–checker finish.

2012: Brad Keselowski's win marked the last win for Dodge.

Notable races

1971: Bobby Allison dominated the race until a lug bolt broke on a pit stop, putting Richard Petty into the lead in the final 100 laps en route to the win.

1975: Richard Petty put the entire field two laps down until at Lap 350 he ran over debris from a backmarker's blown engine that broke a tie rod. Petty spent eight laps in the pits getting a new tie rod and came out six laps down. While Lennie Pond blew his engine Petty erased all six laps, but needed a late yellow when Buddy Arrington stopped on the track with fifteen to go. Petty breezed to the win, leaving runner-up Dick Brooks angry at Arrington, who'd recently purchased a transporter from Petty Enterprises: "I guess Arrington needed that truck paid for."

1976: Cale Yarborough lost two laps on two separate occasions and made them up en route to the win.

1977: Benny Parsons dominated the race after Lap 250.

1978: Bobby Allison won after a recent visit to the Mayo Clinic for a checkup.

1979: Richard Petty, Donnie Allison, and Cale Yarborough battled over the final 30 laps; Petty edged Allison by a hood at the stripe.

1980: Darrell Waltrip took the win, his final for DiGard Racing.

1981: Neil Bonnett stormed to his second win in the 1981 season's last three races as hard-luck Harry Gant led 178 laps but blew his engine with 63 laps to go.

1983: Bobby Allison edged Geoff Bodine for the win, his sixth of the season en route to his only Winston Cup title.

1986: Ricky Rudd took his first Dover win as title contenders Dale Earnhardt and Tim Richmond crashed and raced each other with damaged race cars despite being multiple laps down.

1990: Derrike Cope came back from 3 laps down to take the lead with 55 laps to go and win the race.

1991: Multiple crashes put Harry Gant alone on the lead lap for his third straight win of September 1991.

1992: Ricky Rudd edged Bill Elliott as Alan Kulwicki crashed, putting him seemingly out of the season point chase.

1993: Tire failures and crashes, including a multi-car melee detonated when Rusty Wallace hammered another car into the path of the leaders, plagued the 1993 500 won by Wallace.

1995: In a race with only five yellows Jeff Gordon and Bobby Hamilton dominated en route to a 1-2 finish.

1996: Gordon and Dale Earnhardt battled amid an epidemic of crashes. Ernie Irvan crashed ahead of Derrike Cope and crew chief Larry McReynolds attacked Cope in the garage area. A three-car melee led to a near-brawl on the track between Jimmy Spencer and Wally Dallenbach, Jr. Following this race NASCAR raised the sanction fee for a 500-mile race, forcing Dover to cut back to 400 miles.

2000: Tony Stewart went on to win the season sweep at Dover. This race also marked the first career start for driver Kurt Busch who replaced driver Chad Little in the John Deere Ford.

2001: In the first NASCAR sactioned Cup race following the September 11, 2001 attacks, (the previous race scheduled for New Hampshire Speedway was postponed until the end of the season) a silent lap 3, which was a season-long scheduled event in memory of Dale Earnhardt who had died in a crash in the 2001 Daytona 500, was changed to include the memory of the victims of the attacks. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race and celebrated by doing a Polish victory lap while holding an American flag in salute.

2006: Jeff Burton broke a 175 race winless streak passing Matt Kenseth with 8 laps to go. This was a very emotional win for Jeff.

2009: Joey Logano flipped 8 times in turn 3 after being tapped by Tony Stewart, though a couple cars ahead of Logano had braked going into the corner. Logano suffered no injuries from the wreck.

2013: Jimmie Johnson held off Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to take his eighth win at Dover, breaking a tie with Richard Petty and Bobby Allison for most all-time wins at the track. For Johnson, it allowed him to redeem himself for the restart line violation (when he'd jumped Juan Pablo Montoya on a late restart with 20 laps to go) that had cost him a shot at winning the race in June.

References

Dover 400 (fall race) Wikipedia

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Notes

Notable races

References