DOVER SALUTES A MONSTER MILE MASTER By Michael Lewis Manager of Communication Dover International Speedway
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Through more than 50 years of racing at Dover International Speedway, one driver clearly claims the crown as the best alltime at the Monster Mile. Jimmie Johnson, the 11-time Dover winner and seven-time NASCAR champion, announced last November that 2020 would be his last full-time season as a Cup Series driver. From sweeping Dover’s two Cup Series races during his rookie year in 2002, to locking down Dover win No. 11 in a green-white checkered duel in 2017 for career victory No. 83, Johnson has eclipsed some of NASCAR’s legends in his climb up Dover’s record books. Johnson’s 11 wins are four more than Bobby Allison and Richard Petty, who earned seven Monster Mile trophies apiece. “I love that track,” Johnson says on Dover International Speedway’s 50th Anniversary Track History Video, which can also be found on DoverSpeedway.com. “It’s a place I took to my very first time. I love making laps there. I go in optimistic. I know how to drive the car and manipulate it and squeeze a bit more out of it.” Johnson has been saluted throughout NASCAR in 2020, including leading the field for a ceremonial pace lap before this year’s Daytona 500.
JIMMIE BY THE NUMBERS AT DOVER NASCAR Cup Series Starts: 36 Wins: 11 (All-time leader) Laps Led: 3,110 (All-time leader) Laps Completed: 14,165 or 14,419 (98.2%) Pole Positions: 3 Top 5 Finishes: 17 Top 10 Finishes: 25 Season Sweeps: 2 (2002, 2009) Average starting position: 10.9 Average finish: 9.92
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