Erik Jones Takes Home Dover’s Dash 4 Cash

Erik Jones drove his #20 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry to victory at Dover International Speedway on Saturday and collected the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash first place prize. The Xfinity Series stand-out led 76 of the 120 laps and turned around the one-mile concrete oval dubbed the Monster Mile. Despite choosing to stay out on old tires, Jones drove away from second place finisher Darrell Wallace Jr. and won by 1.434 seconds.

Jones’s car was equipped for short-run speed. Jones and crew chief Chris Gabehart liked their chances at the front of the field on older tires, even though other competitors came to the pits under caution for fresh tires before a restart on Lap 116 of 120.

“I couldn’t see how many came to pit road, so I wasn’t too sure,” Jones said of the decision to stay out under the final caution. “I was a little anxious to see how many came and how many stayed out. Fortunately enough stayed out to make it viable for us to still get the win here.”

Erik Jones contributed the Heat races prior to the main event as a way his team and him improved their hot-rod. The victory was Jones’s second of the season with both wins coming on concrete surfaces at Bristol Motor Speedway and now Dover. He has now has claimed victory in two of the three NASCAR Xfinity Series races held under the new Dash 4 Cash prize format, which features two Heat races and then the main event.

“The tracks that they’re at are tracks that I’ve had historically good runs at,” Erik Jones said. “It just kind of worked out that way. The Heat race format gives us a chance to go out and adjust on our stuff. I think our ability to adjust and maintain and get better throughout the race is one of the best in the garage, and having the opportunity to do that in the Heat race gives us that little bit of an edge.”

Runner-up driver Darrell Wallace Jr. claimed the highest Xfinity Series finish ever for an African-American driver. The #6 Loud Mouth Exhaust Ford improved on it’s own record of third, and Wallace did it in a backup car because of his crash in the Friday afternoon practice round. Wallace Jr. never led a lap in the contest, but had plenty of speed and was upfront among the leaders all afternoon. The consistent Xfinity Series competitor gave all of the credit to his team.

“I keep saying it, we never give up,” Wallace said. “It’s really a credit to my guys right here for really thrashing this thing. It’s unfortunate when you do have to bring the backup car out, (but) we never give up and we work really hard to get some speed in this baby.”

The third place finisher was the #88 Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet driver Alex Bowman. Bowman led 33 circuits during the race which is impressive considering it had been seven months away from competitive auto racing, barring one appearance in a Midget Car at the Chili Bowl in January. Bowman was consistent throughout the events at Dover International Speedway. This was the first of nine scheduled races with JR Motorsports, the next of which will come at Pocono Raceway in early June.

“I was a little worried, being so rusty,” Bowman said. “Obviously, you can’t just take a car to the race track and go test anymore because of the NASCAR sanctioned rules. I think Friday morning, before practice, I was probably the most nervous I’ve been in years, as far as getting in the race car.

Justin Allgaier, who also drives for Jr Motorsports, came in a respectable fourth. Obviously Allgaier and Alex Bowman who both are Xfinity teammates, shared inside information to improve their finishing positions at the Monster Mile. NASCAR Sprint Cup part-timer Ty Dillon led 11 laps and finished in the fifth position followed by the Xfinity Series point leader Elliott Sadler in sixth.

The 35th Annual Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 at Dover International Speedway took only 55 minutes to complete. It was a clean race that featured only two cautions for a total of ten laps. The average speed posted by the racing field was 122.867 miles per hour and the margin between first and the second place finisher was 1.434 seconds.

There were four lead changes between three different drivers. Erik Jones reeled in the Coors 21 Means 21 Pole Award for his qualifying efforts on Friday. The Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race award again went to Joe Gibbs Racing. Erik Jones also took home the Sunoco Rookie of the Race and the Mobil 1 Driver of the Race.

Results for the 35th Annual Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 at Dover International Speedway: