#3WideBlog Race Preview: Fedex 400

   This weekend we're headed to the Monster Mile for the Fedex 400, benefiting Autisim Speaks. This race obviously holds a special place inside all drivers, as it brings awareness to a very worthy cause.

Kenseth doing a victory burnout

   Dover International Speedway "The Monster Mile" was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph and his construction company. With an asphalt surface that was replaced with concrete in 1995 the storied track has been home to the NASCAR series' as well as the defunct IRL series among others. Located in Dover, Delaware USA, the 1 mile track features 24 degree banked turns and 9 degree banked straights and can seat approx 135,000 people. 


   Last years race was won by Matt Kenseth, who gambled late in the race with a two tire pit stop and finished ahead of Mark Martin by just over 2 seconds. The race was relatively uneventful, and by all accounts was a snooze fest. It seems likely that with the style of racing we are seeing this year this will likely prove to be pretty similar by the time it all shakes out. 


                    FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks Starting Line-up

POS	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	SPEED	TIME	BEHIND
1	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	158.297	22.742	Leader
2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's Madagascar	158.263	22.747	-0.005
3	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	Quicken Loans	158.235	22.751	-0.009
4	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	5-hour Energy	158.047	22.778	-0.036
5	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Best Buy	157.985	22.787	-0.045
6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Jimmy Johns	157.867	22.804	-0.062
7	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	3M / Heilind (EMD)	157.839	22.808	-0.066
8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M's	157.839	22.808	-0.066
9	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	Phoenix Construction Services	157.611	22.841	-0.099
10	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Freight / Autism Speaks	157.549	22.850	-0.108
11	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	The Home Depot	157.542	22.851	-0.109
12	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	Jani-King / Smithfield	157.494	22.858	-0.116
13	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	HendrickCars.com	157.418	22.869	-0.127
14	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	157.405	22.871	-0.129
15	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	BB&T	157.363	22.877	-0.135
16	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Miller Lite	157.343	22.880	-0.138
17	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	AMP Energy / Diet Mtn. Dew / National Guard	157.329	22.882	-0.140
18	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	157.178	22.904	-0.162
19	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Subway	157.061	22.921	-0.179
20	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Menards / Pittsburgh Paints	156.822	22.956	-0.214
21	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	Stanley	156.822	22.956	-0.214
22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	Scott Products	156.781	22.962	-0.220
23	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	Shell / Pennzoil	156.637	22.983	-0.241
24	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Allstate	156.563	22.994	-0.252
25	179	Scott Speed	Ford	Team Kyle / Koma Unwind	156.488	23.005	-0.263
26	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	Furniture Row / CSX "Play it Safe"	156.460	23.009	-0.267
27	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper	156.270	23.037	-0.295
28	34	David Ragan	Ford	MHP / 8 Hour Alert	156.216	23.045	-0.303
29	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Mobil 1 / Office Depot	156.121	23.059	-0.317
30	38	David Gilliland	Ford	Autism Speaks	155.723	23.118	-0.376
31	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	155.676	23.125	-0.383
32	30	David Stremme	Toyota	Inception Motorsports	155.266	23.186	-0.444
33	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	Phil Parsons Racing	154.912	23.239	-0.497
34	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	America Israel Racing / JPO Absorbents	154.672	23.275	-0.533
35	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves	154.559	23.292	-0.550
36	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	Humphrey Smith Racing	154.559	23.292	-0.550
37	33	Stephen Leicht*	Chevrolet	Little Joes Autos.com	154.480	23.304	-0.562
38	32	Reed Sorenson	Ford	FAS Lane Racing	154.096	23.362	-0.620
39	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	154.024	23.373	-0.631
40	13	Casey Mears+	Ford	GEICO	153.866	23.397	-0.655
41	36	Dave Blaney+	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	153.702	23.422	-0.680
42	93	Travis Kvapil+	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper	153.584	23.440	-0.698
43	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe	154.480	23.304	-0.562

Failed to Qualify: 26 Josh Wise, 74 Cole Whitt                                      via NASCAR.com

+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie

Kahne wins Charlotte

   Mark Martin won the pole for Sunday's race. It is his 3rd pole of the year, his 5th at "The Monster Mile" and the 54th of his career, which is 8th on the all-time list. He drove his Aarons Dream machine past the edge of control, swinging it sideways to edge Jimmie Johnson for the pole by 0.005 seconds. One has to think Hendrick Motorsports is carrying all the momentum into this race having won the last two races (Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne). Dale Jr is due for a win as is Jeff Gordon, their luck has to turn at some point. Joe Gibbs racing has been snake bitten of late too so look for them to try and make a big splash especially with Fedex being on Hamlins car. They'll be eager to put on a show and get his Toyota in victory lane. 


Lastly Danica Patrick won't be out there this weekend so there will be no #DanicaSightings for me to report on twitter, which makes me somewhat sad. 


All in all it should be a good race, maybe a little boring but that's okay, It's still racing which beats no racing any day.  



Track Records (Via NASCAR.com) 

RACE RECORDS

Sprint Cup Race Record :: Mark Martin 132.719 - 09/21/97
Nationwide Race Record :: Todd Bodine 142.510 - 06/01/91
Truck Race Record :: Mark Martin 120.200 - 06/02/06

QUALIFYING RECORDS

Sprint Cup Qualifying Record :: Jeremy Mayfield 161.522 - 2004
Nationwide Qualifying Record :: Kyle Busch 158.228 - 2010
Truck Qualifying Record :: David Starr 157.577 - 2005

TV Details 

FedEx 400: Sunday, June 3, 12:30 p.m. ET, (Fox)