I suppose that it was inevitable. For years Dover has been ruled by Jimmie Johnson and his no. 48 Lowes Chevy. Since 2012 he has one at least one Dover race per year. And 2015 wasn’t destined to be different. Six-time won for the tenth time at Dover. However, it didn’t come easy.

Throughout the race many drivers led, but for most of the race, Jimmie wasn’t one of them. Martin Truex Jr. led the most laps (131) for the third race in a row. But for the third race in a row, he lost it late in the going. And it was clear that he was very frustrated with Kasey Kahne, who slowed him in the last stretch of the race.

Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin was next in the lap leading bracket, leading over a hundred. However, late in the race the “Monster Mile” claimed a victim. While racing hard with Clint Bowyer, Denny was clipped and sent down the track. Then he flew up the track, destroying his no. 11 and collecting Kurt Busch in the process. Bowyer came over to Hamlin and apologized immediately after the race.

Kevin Harvick appeared to have the race well in hand until a rash of late cautions flew. In the final laps he lost the lead to Johnson, but he made a valiant attempt to retake the lead from the no. 48. However, for the fourth time this season, Kevin finished second to Jimmie.

Many late race cautions flew, as I previously stated, and it seemed that they were going to be Johnson’s undoing. Multiple drivers pitted for tires and fuel, but Johnson and Harvick stayed on the track. Some how the two of them managed to survive twenty laps against drivers with much better tires than their own. Many drivers challenged for the lead, but every attack was beaten back.

While Jimmie won the race, there were several other drivers in the field who had victories of their own. Kyle Larson finished third, his best result all year. Danica Patrick finished fifteenth. She had never finished in the top-thirty at Dover before now, and if she hadn’t been caught speeding earlier in the race she may have finished even better. And Tony Stewart managed to finish sixteenth, an improvement on his miserable past couple weeks.

At Dover it is easy to predict who will win (Jimmie Johnson), but when it comes to the rest of the field, this one-mile pile of concrete may just surprise you. It continues to surprise me. Although I do wish someone could get the no. 48 out of victory-lane. Just for once when I’m watching.