2020 Drydene 311 (Sunday)
The 2020 Drydene 311 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on August 23, 2020, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Scheduled to be contested over 400 laps but shortened to 311 laps because of the doubleheader format on the 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete speedway, it was the 25th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 25 of 36 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
_program_cover.jpeg.webp) The 2020 Drydene 311 program cover, featuring Jimmie Johnson's win at the 2012 FedEx 400. | |||
| Date | August 23, 2020 | ||
| Location | Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1 mi (1.6 km) | ||
| Distance | 311 laps, 311 mi (500.399 km) | ||
| Average speed | 110.994 miles per hour (178.628 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Wood Brothers Racing | ||
|
Grid positions set by partial inversion of previous race's finishing order | |||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | |
| Laps | 223 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBCSN | ||
| Announcers | Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. | ||
| Nielsen Ratings | 1.946 million[7] | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Alex Hayden and Jeff Striegle | ||
| Turn Announcers | Mike Bagley (Backstretch) | ||
Report
Background
Dover International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1 mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.
The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
Matt DiBenedetto was awarded the pole for the race as determined by the top 20 from Saturday's finishing order inverted.
Starting Lineup
Race
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 70
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 115
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 41 | Cole Custer (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 126
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 311 | 60 |
| 2 | 19 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 311 | 42 |
| 3 | 14 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 311 | 39 |
| 4 | 23 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 311 | 46 |
| 5 | 21 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 311 | 36 |
| 6 | 13 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 311 | 45 |
| 7 | 4 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 311 | 37 |
| 8 | 12 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 311 | 36 |
| 9 | 6 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 311 | 29 |
| 10 | 10 | 41 | Cole Custer (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 311 | 30 |
| 11 | 18 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 311 | 26 |
| 12 | 7 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 311 | 40 |
| 13 | 28 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 311 | 26 |
| 14 | 5 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 311 | 23 |
| 15 | 22 | 42 | Matt Kenseth | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 311 | 22 |
| 16 | 15 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 311 | 21 |
| 17 | 1 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 311 | 24 |
| 18 | 8 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 311 | 19 |
| 19 | 20 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 311 | 26 |
| 20 | 27 | 38 | John Hunter Nemechek (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 311 | 17 |
| 21 | 26 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 311 | 16 |
| 22 | 9 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 310 | 15 |
| 23 | 30 | 32 | Corey LaJoie | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 310 | 14 |
| 24 | 2 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 310 | 13 |
| 25 | 25 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 310 | 12 |
| 26 | 29 | 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 310 | 11 |
| 27 | 24 | 95 | Christopher Bell (R) | Leavine Family Racing | Toyota | 310 | 10 |
| 28 | 31 | 96 | Daniel Suárez | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 309 | 9 |
| 29 | 3 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 309 | 8 |
| 30 | 34 | 15 | Brennan Poole (R) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 305 | 7 |
| 31 | 40 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 303 | 0 |
| 32 | 33 | 53 | Josh Bilicki (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 302 | 0 |
| 33 | 37 | 77 | Reed Sorenson | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 302 | 4 |
| 34 | 35 | 00 | Quin Houff (R) | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 302 | 3 |
| 35 | 39 | 7 | Garrett Smithley (i) | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 296 | 0 |
| 36 | 36 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 252 | 0 |
| 37 | 11 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 215 | 1 |
| 38 | 31 | 27 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 110 | 0 |
| 39 | 16 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 | 1 |
| 40 | 35 | 51 | Joey Gase (i) | Petty Ware Racing | Ford | 4 | 0 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 15 among 6 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 7 for 40
- Red flags: 1 for 12 minutes and 19 seconds
- Time of race: 2 hours, 48 minutes and 7 seconds
- Average speed: 110.994 miles per hour (178.628 km/h)
Media
Television
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, 2006 race winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and 2001 race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. covered the race from the booth at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman and Dillon Welch handled the pit road duties on site.
| NBCSN | |
|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dave Burns Parker Kligerman Dillon Welch |
Radio
MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
| MRN Radio | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle | Backstretch: Mike Bagley | Steve Post Kim Coon |
Standings after the race
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References
- "2020 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. January 17, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- "Dover International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 29, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- "Starting Lineup". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. August 22, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
- "Drydene 311 (Sunday) Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. August 23, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
- "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 23, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
- "2020 Drydene 311 (Sunday) ratings". ShowBuzzDaily. Mitch Metcalf. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2020.