Breaking down the Dover starting lineup

DOVER, Del. – Jimmie Johnson is over the finish Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

Kind of.

“I’ve moved on and did have a good week, but there are a couple of things that still linger, and that always seems to go away when you get in the race car and start the next practice session,” Johnson said before stepping into his car Friday morning at Dover International Speedway.

Dover is a place where Johnson has 11 career Cup wins. But it wouldn’t be surprising if his mind still wanders about what happened last weekend.

He still seems a little frustrated over the finish, where he wheel-hopped into the final turn and spun into leader Martin Truex Jr., costing Truex a win and Johnson a playoff spot in the second round.

Johnson stressed that he didn’t try to wreck Truex; he was just hoping to get to his inside and lost control of his car.

“I have thought about it a lot and what I would do differently,” Johnson said. “I just like to learn from my mistakes. I do feel bad for my team and the fact that we didn’t advance and how much we put in that.

“But, countless text messages, phone calls, walking through the shop, they’ve all supported my decision to race for the win and have a lot of pride in that.”

But Johnson still seemed bothered about the result.

“The other piece that weighs on me … I feel bad for Martin and that No. 78 team,” Johnson said. “I hate that my mistake affected them and could impact their season to some degree.

“So I don’t like that aspect to it, but it is racing and I know in my heart that it was a legitimate attempt at winning the race and a mistake was made.”

Although Johnson is out of the playoffs, 12 drivers still have a shot at the championship as Dover opens the second round, which features Dover, Talladega and Kansas.

The 12 remaining playoff drivers ranked by average finish at Dover: Chase Elliott (5.0), Kyle Larson (8.1), Clint Bowyer (12.5), Martin Truex Jr. (12.9), Brad Keselowski (13.2), Joey Logano (14.1), Kevin Harvick (14.5), Kyle Busch (15.0), Aric Almirola (16.5), Kurt Busch (18.3), Ryan Blaney (21.8) and Alex Bowman (29.8).

Remaining playoff driver wins at Dover: Kyle Busch (3), Harvick (2), Truex (2), Kurt Busch (1) and Keselowski (1).

Here is how the lineup breaks down for the Gander Outdoors 400 second-round-opening playoff race at Dover:

1. Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota): The fall race has treated Busch, the defending champion of the fall Dover race, much better than the spring one in recent years as he has finishes of second, second and first in his past three October visits. He probably has forgotten about this past May when he was 35th. The only thing that might concern Busch is that he wasn’t great in practice Friday and figures he would have started in Rows 4-5 instead of the pole if qualifying hadn’t been rained out.

2. Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford): Harvick led 201 laps on his way to the win at Dover in May, his second win in his past six Dover starts. He hasn’t finished better than ninth in any of the other four.

3. Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota): Truex has four consecutive top-5s at Dover and has led 387 laps in the past five events. He won the October 2016 race, his second Dover win; his first career Cup win came at Dover in June 2007.

4. Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford): Keselowski led 108 laps in May and finished sixth. He has four top-5s since his win at Dover six years ago.

5. Clint Bowyer (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford): Bowyer has three career top-10s at Dover, including a second-place finish in May. He’s in the playoffs, and a top-10 would be solid for him as he looks to advance.

6. Joey Logano (Team Penske No. 22 Ford): Logano has led just four laps at Dover and has just two top-10s in his past seven starts. But never count out Logano as he often comes through in clutch situations.

7. Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford): Busch has two top-5s — both fifth-place finishes — in his past 13 starts at Dover. He could really use a good run to build some momentum in this round.

8. Ryan Blaney (Team Penske No. 12 Ford): Coming off the win at Charlotte, Blaney comes to a place where he has won — in Xfinity. He won a year ago in the Xfinity race. His best Cup finishes at Dover are a pair of eighth-place runs.

9. Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet): Elliott has a second and two thirds in Cup races at Dover. He likes this track, and this could provide the spark he needs in the playoffs.

10. Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet): Larson has two seconds, a third and a fifth among his finishes at Dover. Is this the day he wins in 2018? How many times has that been written in this column only for it not to happen? Some would say Larson’s bad luck is gone after the way he got in last week with Jeffrey Earnhardt stalled on the track, but considering he was fastest in practice Friday and is starting 10th because qualifying was rained out, he probably could still use more good luck.

11. Aric Almirola (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Ford): Almirola has three career top-10s at Dover, but the real momentum and confidence come from advancing to the second round of the playoffs.

12. Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet): Bowman finished 23rd at Dover in May. He needs his first Dover top-20 finish to remain a threat in the playoffs.

13. Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet): Can he put the Charlotte finish behind him and wax the field at Dover? Probably not. He does have 11 wins at the track and a third and a ninth since his last win in June 2017. He won’t wax the field, but he could find himself close to the lead at the end, and there’s no way he’ll make mistakes two weeks in a row, right?

14. Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet): Knocked out of the playoffs last week, Dillon is at a track where he hasn’t had much fun except for an eighth-place finish two years ago.

15. Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota): Hamlin has never won a Cup race at Dover and has just three top-5s at the track. He has seven races left to extend his 12-year streak of winning at least one race a season.

16. Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota): Jones is still working to get the hang of a Cup car at Dover as he seeks his first top-10 in his fourth start. He did win the May 2016 Xfinity race at the track.

17. Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet): Newman won three Dover races in 2003-04 but has just one top-5 in his past 22 races at the track.

18. Paul Menard (Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford): Menard hasn’t finished top-20 at Dover since May 2016.

19. Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota): This is one of Suarez’s best tracks. He has 10 top-10s in 11 career national series starts at the track. He won the Xfinity race two years ago. He was third in the Cup race in May

20. Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet): McMurray has four top-10s in his past seven Cup starts at Dover. He has led just three laps in his past 19 Dover starts.

21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford): Stenhouse has one career top-10 (an eighth) at Dover.

22. William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet): Byron finished 14th in his first Cup start at Dover. He does have two poles (one in truck, one in Xfinity) at Dover.

23. Chris Buescher (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 37 Chevrolet): Buescher won an Xfinity race at Dover in 2015, but he hasn’t been able to muster a finish better than 18th in a Cup car.

24. AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 Chevrolet): Allmendinger hasn’t had a top-15 finish in his past 11 starts at Dover.

25. Regan Smith (Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Chevrolet): Smith continues to replace Kasey Kahne in this ride as Kahne’s test at Charlotte resulted in him still not being able to stay hydrated.

26. David Ragan (Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford): Ragan doesn’t have a top-10 finish at Dover and hasn’t finish top-20 in his past four Dover starts.

27. Michael McDowell (Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford): McDowell has three finishes 19th-22nd in his past four Dover starts, so that gives you an idea of where he likely will finish.

28. Matt Kenseth (Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford): Kenseth has three career Cup wins at Dover, including May 2016. This could be one of his better weekends in the Roush car.

29. Bubba Wallace (Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Chevrolet): Wallace might be the happiest driver in the field knowing that the road course portion of the season is over.

30. Ty Dillon (Germain Racing No. 13 Chevrolet): Dillon led 27 laps and finished 14th in the June 2017 race. He would love to repeat that performance Sunday.

31. Matt DiBenedetto (Go Fas Racing No. 32 Ford): He has been running at the finish in six of his seven career Dover starts. He was 29th in May.

32. Ross Chastain (Premium Motorsports No. 15 Chevrolet): Chastain has his eyes on a top-20 finish — he was 20th in June 2017.

33. Corey LaJoie (TriStar Motorsports No. 72 Chevrolet): He was 38th in May. He did finish sixth in the October 2016 Xfinity race at the track.

34. Landon Cassill (StarCom Racing No. 00 Chevrolet): Cassill has finished 29th in each of the past two fall Dover races. But with no qualifying, he’s starting 34th.

35. J.J. Yeley (BK Racing No. 23 Toyota): He has started somewhere between 32nd and 36th in his previous five starts in this car.

36. B.J. McLeod (Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Chevrolet): McLeod started 36th and finished 36th in this race a year ago.

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt (Gaunt Brothers Racing No. 96 Toyota): Earnhardt is looking for respect, and Dover is certainly a place a driver can earn it on the tough track.

38. Timmy Hill (Carl Long Motorsports No. 66 Toyota): Hill has finished somewhere between 36th and 40th in his past seven races in this car.

39. Harrison Rhodes (Rick Ware Racing No. 52 Chevrolet): Rhodes is making his first Cup start since Richmond this past April.