Johnny Benson

The high-banked concrete oval at Dover (Del.) hosts Sunday's Nextel Cup 400-miler -- the second race in the Chase for the Nextel Cup -- and it would be no surprise if Jimmie Johnson winds up in Victory Lane.

Working in Johnson's favor
The defending Cup champion opened the Chase with a sixth-place result last Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway. That finish added to what has been an impressive and extremely consistent season for the 31-year-old, who has six wins, 14 top-fives and 17 top-10s.

Johnson is tied with Jeff Gordon -- one of his teammates at Hendrick Motorsports -- for the top spot in the standings. But he and his team have set a goal of top-five finishes in the Chase races so while they consider their performance at New Hampshire good, to them it wasn't quite good enough. They'll be looking to do better at Dover.

Johnson is no stranger to success at Dover. In 2002, his first full Cup season, he pulled off a sweep at the Delaware track. In 11 Cup starts at this oval he has three wins, one pole, four top-fives, and seven top-10s. Johnson has had the lead in six of his 11 Cup races at the Monster Mile for a total of 553 laps.

Johnson crossed the checkers 15th in the June event at Dover, where his average finish is 11.7. In Johnson's view there is good and bad in running at this one-mile oval. The good he says is that it's really an entertaining track, and a fun track to drive on. The bad is that he feels like he's on the ragged edge and that's why it's such a dangerous track.

Other drivers to watch
Tony Stewart began the playoff with a third-place finish at New Hampshire. The two-time defending Cup champion led for 39 laps, but he didn't have the speed to catch race winner Clint Bowyer or runner-up Jeff Gordon. While disappointed he didn't win, Stewart admitted afterwards that third-place results right through the Chase would probably bring him another championship.

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Dover is the type of track that Stewart loves and he has the finishes to show why. In 17 Cup starts the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has two wins, nine top-fives, and 11 top-10s. Stewart has led in 10 of his 17 races at Dover for a combined 1,066 laps. His average finish at the Monster Mile is 10.7.

After starting 30th at New Hampshire, Matt Kenseth put on a forceful display of driving, rallying his No. 17 Ford to a seventh-place finish. The result moved Kenseth up one spot in the standings to seventh, 54 points off the lead.

Dover is Kenseth's favorite track. He came home fifth in the June event. And last season he was not one to tangle with at this oval. In the spring he led 83 laps on his way to a win, and he took a strong shot at a sweep by leading for a race-high 215 laps in the fall before finishing 10th. In addition to his win, Kenseth has five top-fives, and 10 top-10s in 17 Cup starts at Dover.

Jeff Gordon came up short of beating Bowyer in New Hampshire, but the four-time Cup champion was very pleased with his car and he was thrilled with his second-place run. One of the things Gordon is known for is his ability to get the most out of his cars. This season he's done that very well and he and his team have the expectation they can win every time out.

The 36-year-old has demonstrated that he knows how to win as well as anyone at this one-mile layout. In 29 Cup starts at Dover, Gordon has four wins, three poles, 13 top-fives, and 18 top-10s. What's more he has led the most laps five times, most notably 400 of 500 laps in 1995, 375 of 400 laps in 1998, and 381 of 400 laps in 2001.

He's not among those in the Chase but Ryan Newman runs very well at Dover. Newman is coming off a ninth-place finish at New Hampshire, but there's no doubt that in Delaware he'll be seeking to top that.

Newman placed second in the June event and he has eight top-10 finishes at Dover, including three wins. He has led 807 laps in eight Dover races, and has completed 4,375 laps of a possible 4,404 since he made his Cup debut at this track in 2002. Newman has a completion rate of 99.3 percent at the Monster Mile.

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