myerstownherald.com

By ERIC FISHER
History reveals that it’s likely that at least one Chase driver will suffer an awful afternoon Sunday during the Dover 400. Who will be the Monster Mile’s next victim?
Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing’s Chase tandem, certainly don’t expect to be victimized. Biffle won this race last year and had finished in the top six in each of the last six races at Dover.
Edwards has been even better. In 10 races at Dover, Edwards’ average finish is between 7th and 8th place. Before finishing seventh at the Autism Speak 400 earlier this year (Biffle was third), Edwards had finished in the top three during the previous five races at Dover, including a victory in 2007.
Roush’s drivers, in ninth (Biffle) and 11th place (Edwards) in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, are looking forward to making up some ground at Dover. Others, however, would be pleased simply to escape Dover without a disaster.
Denny Hamlin, just 35 points behind leader Mark Martin, hopes that he’s done being a victim of the Monster. Hamlin finished 36th in the Autism Speaks 400 earlier this year — and that was his best finish in his last four Dover races.
Kasey Kahne, already in a deep Chase hole because his crankshaft broke Sunday in New Hampshire, also has been a wreck, literally and figuratively, at Dover. Kahne’s average finish at Dover is a horrific 24th, and that includes a sixth-place finish earlier this year.
Dover has also been a horror show for Brian Vickers, whose average finish there is between 21st and 22nd. Tony Stewart, who swept the Dover races in 2000, has finished outside the top 10 in seven of his last eight races at Dover, including finishes of 40th and 41st.
The Hendrick Motorsports trio of Martin, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon should feel comfortable at Dover. All three have four career victories at Dover, although Gordon hasn’t won there since 2001 and has had some poor finishes. Johnson won at Dover earlier this year.
Who will be the victor? Who will be the victim? We’ll find out Sunday at the Monster Mile.