Rain washes away Friday’s NASCAR events at Dover

Gordon, a five-time Dover victor, was feted by the track as he winds down his 23-year career.

While it would appear drivers ranked No. 3 through No. 5, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson, would be relatively safe in the standings, all one was to do is look at the last two races when Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch had finishes of 42nd and 37th respectively. Harvick is 0 for 29 at Dover.

“I feel like we should have won two out of the last three races at [Dover]”, Harvick says. “They’re different and fun and it’s all in the approach and how you react to them”.

Harvick is 15th and will have to win to advance and remain in championship contention.

The 16-driver field is sliced to 12 following Sunday’s race at Dover global Speedway. He’ll earn an automatic berth into the championship round with a victory.

Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin, who are 1-2 in points, are the only drivers who are locked into the next round of Chase, called the Challenger Round, with their wins at New Hampshire and Chicagoland.

“It was a bummer deal”, he said of the incident in New Hampshire, “but it puts us in a position now where we have to fight through this round and it’s no different than any other year“.

A full day later, both drivers likely think they could have done something differently. As it stands right now, Clint Bowyer, Harvick and Paul Menard would not make the cut.

Lots of fans at Dover will miss Gordon as he bids farewell to the track.

Due to the rainout, the starting lineup will be set by owner’s points, putting all 16 Chasers in the first eight rows on the grid.

“As you look back on it, things could have ended better”. He is 23 points behind 12th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr., meaning even a second-place finish may not be enough. “It’s going to be a shame more than anything because he’s got the potential to win the whole thing”.

Kevin Harvick still hasn’t had his Thursday morning coffee and he’s about to go on air to start a string of media interviews. It was one for each of his team members. For two laps, the tire smoking from the friction, Harvick tried to get that sheet metal to give.

He won the event back last September after dominating the final laps to advance a step further in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

And McMurray has had his moments in Chip Ganassi’s race cars. “If anything showed we were taking a chance, we would have pitted”. I think there are so many good cars in (the Chase). “I don’t think anybody views last week as a risk, just for the fact that the mileage wasn’t even close”.

As Johnson explained his version after the race, he had an idea that Harvick was going to be upset.

Tony Stewart made it official Wednesday by announcing he will retire from Sprint Cup competition following the 2016 season.

“It’s a complex picture that’s deeper than one week”, said Harvick, who wouldn’t elaborate. “If he would come back, I’d be right there with him”, Patty said.