Dover. The monster mile. It isn’t called the monster mile for no reason. There are few tracks harder than this one mile slab of concrete. If you spin, there is no infield to spin into. Just a solid wall. The whole track is highly banked so the whole race is spent tilted at an angle.

Many drivers in the field have won here, but none more than Jimmie Johnson. He has won at this track a staggering nine times. Many of those came in recent years. However, he is not indestructible. In 2013 Juan Pablo Montoya managed to trick Jimmie into jumping a restart, thus costing Johnson a win. Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon are the only drivers who have managed to beat Johnson in the past two years.

Stewart’s best track as of late has been Dover. In his past three races here he won one and finished seventh and fourteenth in the others. His teammates Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch have both had speed here in recent years as well. Kevin was the best at Dover last year, but little problems cost him both Dover wins. Busch won here in 2011, and has been decent recently. Johnson better keep his eye on this trio.

Jeff Gordon is the one of two other drivers who have outrun Jimmie in the past three years. His win in last Fall’s race didn’t come easy, but hey, he won. His teammate is Jimmie, so he may learn a thing or two from him. Their other teammates Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have both been good here, but to beat Johnson you almost have to be perfect.

Joey Logano and Brad Keslowski are good, but over the past couple weeks have been slower. However, Brad is coming into one of his best tracks. He was second in both Dover races last year, and he won the 2012 Fall race. Folks, we may have a contender.

Aside from the already mentioned drivers, no one else in the field seems to be a match for Johnson. No one that is, except Martin Truex Jr.  Truex won his first race here in 2007, and has had a good record since. Last year he finished in the top-ten in both races. And he felt like his team was not doing well in those races. He may have a shot to win.

Jimmie Johnson is without a doubt the favorite, but three others seem capable of possibly beating him. Kevin Harvick was unbeatable here in both of last years races, but technical problems waylaid him both times. His teammate Tony Stewart said he felt like his team was better than they finished in the Spring race (seventh). And Jeff Gordon out ran all comers in the Fall race. I believe these three may be capable of stopping Jimmie and his no. 48.