2005 MBNA RacePoints 400 at Dover International Speedway

This is one of the races that often gets overlooked on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule. It's not a flashy race but more of a 400-mile grind.

Dover is a track where you either hit the setup or you don't. It is very difficult to make effective changes during the race if you're not already pretty close to perfect. This leads to drivers winning here in bunches. Tony Stewart swept both races in 2000, Jimmie Johnson in 2002 and Ryan Newman has won three of the last four here.

Dover Downs is a high-banked one-mile concrete oval. The high-grip surface lets drivers really get aggressive and push the car, but at the expense of tire wear.

On a typical race day in Dover you'll see a number of different strategies play out. The race can be won by charging hard all day, by laying back and saving your tires for the end, or even by playing the fuel mileage game. You just never know what Dover will bring.

400 laps = 400 miles

Dover isn't a race track where you try to make a positive move in the points. You just try to survive and avoid a bad points day.

The current points top ten are: 1. Jimmie Johnson 1,747. 2. Greg Biffle 1,676. 3. Elliott Sadler 1,542. 4. Ryan Newman 1,530. 5. Jeff Gordon 1,516. 6. Tony Stewart 1,488. 7. Kevin Harvick 1,485. 8. Carl Edwards 1,459. 9. Jamie McMurray 1,451. 10. Kurt Busch 1,441.

Still lots of leftovers from last week's 22-caution melee at Lowes. The Earnhardt/Waltrip wreck and the harsh words that have been exchanged since then will certainly be a top story. Also, are there just more cautions this year than in years past? Is that just a fluke or is there a reason?

This week's racing is about patience, race the racetrack and watch your tire wear. Often Dover settles in for some long green flag runs and lap times go up dramatically over the course of a fuel run.

TV: FX Sunday, June 5, 12:30 PM Eastern.

Radio: MRN and XM Satellite

Actual Race: 1:35 p.m. Eastern

In 2004 bad luck seemed to plague the leaders as pole-sitter Jeremy Mayfield was leading late in the race before he was involved in a 17-car wreck one lap after giving up the lead to Kasey Kahne. Not long after that Kasey Kahne wrecked out of the lead with less than 20 laps to go. This gave the lead, and the win, to Mark Martin.

Another week with an obvious favorite. Ryan Newman has been very fast this year but just hasn't found Victory Lane yet. Considering the fact that Ryan has won three of the last four NEXTEL Cup races held in Dover and he's my number one pick for this week.

For my backup this week I'll go with the man that swept both races in 2000. Tony Stewart is ready to return to Victory Lane.