Dover International speedway is set to host the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 on Saturday, May 14 at 2 PM E.T. on FOX. The NASCAR Xfinity Series race will be the third time the series mainstays will vie for a bonus $100,000 dollars in the popular DASH 4 CASH program.
The Xfinity Series’s Dash 4 Cash is set up with two heats and a main. Four tracks will implement this program this season. The tracks are Bristol Motor Speedway on April 16th, Richmond International Raceway on April 23rd, Dover International Speedway on May 14th, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 23rd. Erik Jones, who races for NASCAR stand-out Kyle Busch, won the first round of the Dash 4 Cash at Bristol, and Ty Dillon took home the bacon in the second round at Richmond.
Each Dash 4 Cash event will have qualifying that will set the 40-car slate and the starting positions for the two heats. The quickest qualifier will receive the coveted Coors Light Pole Award. The odd-numbered qualifiers will start in the first heat in their qualifying order and the even-numbered competitors will begin the second Heat in their qualifying order.
The main will be set by the finishing order in the two previous heats. The top two NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars in each heat will become eligible for the Dash 4 Cash prize. The highest finishing racer among the four Dash 4 Cash eligible drivers will receive the $100,000 bonus.
Elliott Sadler celebrated in Victory Lane at Talladega Superspeedway on his birthday. Sadler has had an extra week to enjoy the spoils of winning in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event while capturing the championship standings lead. With the dominance shown by Kyle Busch’s race team and Joe Gibbs Racing, it remains to be seen if he can pick up a point-savings win on Saturday.
Daniel Suárez, one of Joe Gibbs Racing’s young guns, is still looking for his first win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but his consistency has put him on the pace for the points lead and a true shot at a NASCAR-sanctioned championship.
“Dover is such a unique racetrack and really unlike any track we visit all season,” said Suárez. “It reminds me a lot of Bristol, but on a much bigger scale. This is the third Dash 4 Cash race of the season, so we are going to work hard to qualify well, stay up front in our heat race, and hopefully come away with a win and 100,000 dollars!”
I fully expect Daniel Suárez to be a man on a mission this weekend at Dover International Speedway, which just happens to be the race track that 13 drivers have recorded their first victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Some of the big names that have collected their first wins here are drivers like Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader and Michael Waltrip to name a few.
Erik Jones is currently seventh in the Xfinity Series standings. He is officially 10 points behind Richard Childress Racing’s Brandon Jones. In nine starts this season, Erik Jones has landed one pole, one win at Bristol Motor Speedway, and five top fives with an average finish of 12th. Jones currently has locked-up a position in the Chase with his win, as long as he stays in the top 30 in points. Jones made his series track debut at Dover last season where he started sixth and finished ninth.
“Last year, I had a great Toyota Camry, gained a lot of track time and led laps,” Jones said. “I just made a late-race mistake that cost us a chance at the win. We’ve had fast Toyotas all season and if we can minimize mistakes, I know we will be there at the end with a shot at the Monster Mile.”
There will be seven other drivers doing double duty, attempting to compete in the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 this weekend at Dover International Speedway. While also racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Joey Logano, Paul Menard, Josh Wise, Matt DiBenedetto, Travis Kvapil, Timmy Hill and Matt Tifft will be turning circuits on Saturday.
Last year’s event at Dover International Speedway was a cleanly ran race. There were only four cautions that ate up only 29 laps in the contest. NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie Chris Beuscher drove his way into Victory lane after leading only 10 circles. Darrell Wallace Jr. sat on the pole for the start of the race and finished in the 17th spot. There were only seven lead changes among five different competitors throughout the day. The race took one hour and 43 minutes to complete and the victor won by a whopping 11.44 seconds.
