NASCAR at Dover notebook: A tiring triumph — Gibbs dominates tire-plagued ARCA race

By Mike Finney
Posted 5/14/21

DOVER — Redemption was on Ty Gibbs’ mind as he got NASCAR’s weekend tripleheader of racing at Dover International Speedway underway on Friday afternoon.

Gibbs, the grandson of …

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NASCAR at Dover notebook: A tiring triumph — Gibbs dominates tire-plagued ARCA race

Posted

DOVER — Redemption was on Ty Gibbs’ mind as he got NASCAR’s weekend tripleheader of racing at Dover International Speedway underway on Friday afternoon.

Gibbs, the grandson of NFL Hall of Fame coach and NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs, settled a score with the Monster Mile from last season as he simply dominated the General Tire 125 ARCA Menard’s Series East race.

After watching several drivers slam into the outside wall at Dover’s high-banked, one-mile concrete oval during the first three quarters of the event, ARCA and officials from General Tire made the decision to add an extra caution period with 22 laps to go so the race teams could add new tires to their race cars for the finish.

Gibbs, with a fresh set of four tires on his unsponsored Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, managed to overcome a side-by-side battle with Josh Berry — bumping off each other in the first turn with 17 laps to go — before continuing his dominance over the final 16 circuits following the restart and held off Berry by about eight car-lengths at the checkered flag.

Gibbs, who led all 125 laps of the event, admitted the restart with Berry got a little more intense that what he was hoping for.

“The cars don’t have that much power and I was running really hard,” said Gibbs, who earned the pole position for the race after ripping off a lap at an average speed of 155.386 mph during practice/qualifying earlier in the day. “You’ve got to run him down (the racetrack). There’s really no other way to get by him.

“That’s just a part of it, that’s just etiquette and it’s racing. It’s going to happen, and it was a good time, and we learned a lot for (today’s Xfinity) race.”

David Gilliland finished in third place, followed by Sammy Smith and Max Gutierrez.

Tire issues over the first three quarters of the race led to drivers racing on eggshells over the final portion of the race.

Blown tires quickly turned into an epidemic of twisted sheet metal and angry drivers. The General tires did not appear to be laying rubber down on the race surface, which led to a lack of grip for the drivers.

Drew Dollar crashed into the outside wall off the second corner while running second on lap 26, series points leader Smith suffered a flat on lap 36, Justin Carroll crashed hard off the fourth turn on lap 61 and Rajah Caruth, running third, smashing into the wall on lap 76 at nearly the same place where Dollar crashed earlier.

“We were just racing and trying to protect our right-front tire, that was a really big issue that needed to be fixed,” said Gibbs, an 18-year-old driver who is a Xfinity Series race winner and secured his 11th ARCA Menard Series victory. “I’m really thankful to be able to run here and I had a good time. I can’t thank my (pit crew) enough.”

In the ARCA race at Dover last August, Gibbs led the opening 104 laps and was battling for the lead with Sam Mayer when he punctured a right-front tire and made significant contact with the outside wall.

Gibbs lost that battle last year. He made sure it didn’t happen again on Friday.

Haley out of Cup, Xfinity race due to COVID protocols

Spire Motorsports announced Friday that Josh Berry will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut driving the team’s No. 77 Chevrolet in Sunday’s Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Berry will fill in for Justin Haley, who has been temporarily sidelined in accordance with team and NASCAR COVID-19 protocols and will be unable to participate this weekend.

Zane Smith will drive for Haley in today’s Drydene 200 Xfinity Series race at Dover.

Berry, a Hendersonville, Tenn., native, competes regularly for JR Motorsports and picked up his first career Xfinity Series victory last month in the Cook Out 250 at Martinsville Speedway. In 15 career starts on NASCAR’s junior circuit, Berry has earned one win, two top-five and six top-10 finishes.

“First off, I hope Justin is doing well and I can’t wait to compete with him in a few weeks at Charlotte in the Xfinity Series,” said Berry, 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series Champion. “I can’t thank Spire Motorsports enough for giving me the opportunity to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time. This is a great opportunity for me, and I am going to do my best to give the team a solid finish Sunday afternoon.”

Berry, a consistent winner throughout his career, stormed the late model stock car scene in 2020, tallying 27 victories in 40 starts, including a flag-to-flag victory in the Valley Star Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway and a dominant performance in the Old North State Nationals.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled for Josh to get the call from Spire Motorsports to make his Cup racing debut,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr. “It’ll be thrilling for Josh to experience Cup action and I’m confident he will do a great job for them. Big thanks to Spire for presenting Josh with such an awesome opportunity.”

Truex to start from pole in Sunday’s main event

Martin Truex Jr. will start Sunday’s Drydene 400 Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway from the pole position due to a formula that NASCAR has put in place this season to replace live qualifying during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Denny Hamlin, who won the first race of a Dover doubleheader last August, will start second, followed by William Byron and Kyle Larson. Kevin Harvick, who won the second race of last August’s Dover doubleheader, will start fifth.

Truex, who won last weekend’s event at Darlington Raceway, will start his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from the top spot. Truex is the Cup Series’ only multi-race winner so far this season with three victories.

Daniel Hemric’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will be on the pole for today’s Drydene 200 Xfinity Series race.

As NASCAR adapted to COVID-19 protocols last season, practice and qualifying were eliminated at a majority of national-series events to limit at-track time, exposure and to cut race weekend costs.

NASCAR’s metrics formula for 2021 weighs: driver’s finishing position from the previous race (25%); car owner’s finishing position from the previous race (25%); team owner points ranking (35%) and fastest lap from the previous race (15%).

Wanna’ bet?

Truex is the 15/4 betting favorite to win Sunday’s Drydene 400 Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway, according to BetOnline.

Kyle Larson is the second favorite with 9/2 odds to win, followed by Hamlin (6/1), Harvick (7/1), Kyle Busch (8/1) and Chase Elliott (9/1).

Comcast brings free internet to Dover’s Green Beret Project

With the NASCAR Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash Drydene 200 race set for 1:30 this afternoon at Dover International Speedway, Comcast is excited to officially announce the opening of a brand-new Lift Zone in the Dover community.

Created in partnership with the Green Beret Project that operates out of the old Boys & Girls Club at Simon Circle in Dover, the new Lift Zone will provide a safe space for students to access the internet for free so they can participate in distance learning and do their schoolwork.

Students at the center will also receive laptops to assist in closing the homework gap and digital divide.

“We’re proud to support military veterans who are making a difference in their communities,” said Rebecca Gray, Executive Director of Military & Veteran Affairs at Comcast. “Through this Lift Zone at the Green Beret Project, young people will be able to access education, job training, and other critical resources through the internet.”

Since 2018, Comcast has donated more than $200,000 during NASCAR’s Dash 4 Cash to help close the digital divide.

The efforts have enabled local nonprofits in each Dash 4 Cash market, from Veterans Service Organizations to Boys & Girls Clubs, to make internet connectivity more accessible for low-income families and individuals.

“For years, Comcast has shown its commitment to supporting low-income families and veterans by ensuring they have access to an affordable and reliable internet connection,” said Adam Kramer, state director for The Green Beret Project. “We’re proud to partner with Comcast on the opening of this Lift Zone and look forward to the positive benefits it will bring to the Dover community.”

Lift Zones complement Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, the largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program for low-income households in the U.S.

Internet Essentials has an integrated, research-based, wrap-around design meant to address each of the three major barriers to broadband adoption — insufficient digital literacy skills, the lack of a computer, and the absence of a low-cost internet service.

The program is structured as a partnership between Comcast and tens of thousands of school districts, libraries, elected officials, and nonprofit community partners.

In March, on the 10th anniversary of Internet Essentials, Comcast announced it would invest $1 billion over the next 10 years to further close the digital divide and provide even more low-income Americans the tools and resources they need to succeed in an increasingly digital world.

Today’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Dover International Speedway concludes the Dash 4 Cash program, with full-time Xfinity Series drivers, Brandon Jones, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier and Noah Gragson competing for a bonus $100,000 in prize money. The highest-finishing Dash 4 Cash eligible driver at Dover will receive the bonus.

Keselowski car to feature unique paint scheme

Team Penske, Universal Technical Institute (UTI) and Würth will recognize instructors who have worked tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to continue providing state-of-the-industry training to students, both in the classroom and remotely.

UTI instructors and Würth trainers will see their names racing around Dover International Speedway during the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday. Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Würth Ford Mustang will feature a unique paint scheme honoring these COVID-19 heroes.
As part of National Teacher Appreciation Week, the hood and roof of Keselowski’s car will carry the names of 480 instructors from UTI’s 12 campuses, alongside the names of 39 Würth Trainers.

“We appreciate the partnership and the value that UTI graduates bring to our team and our organization,” said team owner Roger Penske. “We thank all of the UTI instructors and Würth trainers that have worked so hard and found new ways to continue to provide elite training and education to their students during the pandemic.”

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