FOX NASCAR at Dover International Speedway Quotes and Programming Schedule
FOX Sports offers a NASCAR tripleheader this weekend from Dover International Speedway, kicking off the first of four consecutive NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES races airing live on FOX Sports 1 to close out FOX Sports’ portion of the 2015 Cup Series season. More than 21 hours of live FOX Sports coverage from Dover includes the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES and NASCAR XFINITY SERIES races, culminating with the Cup Series race live on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, May 31 (1:00 PM ET), with pre-race coverage beginning at 11:30 AM ET with NASCAR RACEDAY.
On Sunday, Mike Joy leads the FOX NASCAR booth from the one-mile concrete track with analysis from NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip and former crew chief Larry McReynolds. The trio is joined on pit road by Jamie Little, Chris Neville and Matt Yocum. Chris Myers hosts the network’s coverage alongside analyst Michael Waltrip.
Kicking off Sunday’s Cup Series coverage is a 90-minute edition of NASCAR RACEDAY at 11:30 AM ET on FOX Sports 1. It includes: an explanatory feature on early feedback regarding the new adjustable track bar option available to drivers inside the car; a piece on Martin Truex Jr.’s tough luck when leading and dominating races the last three years; the seven-year-old “NASCAR rapper” and interviews with Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr.
Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race is the final of four XFINITY Series races broadcast on FOX in 2015. Adam Alexander calls Saturday’s race at 2:30 PM ET alongside Michael Waltrip and driver analyst Kevin Harvick. Harvick, the reigning NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES champion, is one of five NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES drivers announced as part of a rotation in the FOX and FOX Sports 1 booth for FOX Sports’ coverage of the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES season. Also scheduled as guest analysts are four-time champion Jeff Gordon, 2012 champ Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Danica Patrick (June 13 at 1:30 PM ET from Michigan). Reporting from the XFINITY Series pits at Dover are Vince Welch, Little and Neville.
Before the NASCAR XFINITY and CUP SERIES take the green flag, the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES is live on FOX Sports 1 on Friday, May 29 (5:30 PM ET) in its sixth stop of the season. Ralph Sheheen calls the action alongside analysts Phil Parsons and two-time series champion Todd Bodine, with pit reporting by Hermie Sadler and Yocum.
NCWTS SETUP, hosted by John Roberts and Ray Dunlap, sets the stage for the Truck Series race at 5:00 PM ET. Featured in the pre-race show are: A look back at Kasey Kahne’s win two weeks ago at Charlotte; a flashback to Kyle Busch’s victory last year at Dover; a piece on analyst and two-time NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES champion Todd Bodine’s last win, which came in the 2012 race at Dover; a feature on Chad Boat; and an examination of John Wes Townley’s strong run at Charlotte and subsequent climb in the point standings.
On-track action kicks off Friday at 10:00 AM ET on FOX Sports 1 with Cup Series practice. FOX Sports GO, the critically acclaimed app that provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content at home or on the go, offers live streaming of all NASCAR programming in 2015. Customers of participating video providers may access the live streams of the race through the FOX Sports GO app for iOS devices, as well as on desktops through FOXSportsGO.com. For the latest NASCAR news and information, please visit www.FOXSports.com and follow @NASCARonFOX on Twitter.
Below are quotes from FOX NASCAR analysts Darrell Waltrip and McReynolds on the week’s headlines and the race ahead, as well as the full FOX NASCAR programming schedule from Charlotte Motor Speedway:
WALTRIP ON WHETHER JIMMIE JOHNSON REBOUNDS FROM A DISMAL CHARLOTTE SHOWING TO GET HIS 10TH WIN AT DOVER:
“There are tracks I look at to gauge what kind of shape the No. 48 team is in, and Dover is one of them, as is Martinsville. If Jimmie Johnson goes to Dover and doesn’t have the car to beat, then things are not going well for them. Something is wrong. Although he has three wins this season and good performance on mile-and-a-half tracks until Charlotte, he needs to make a statement at Dover. He needs to win.”
WALTRIP ON WHETHER JOE GIBBS RACING HAS TURNED THE CORNER IN PERFORMANCE:
“We certainly saw improvement in the team’s performance at Charlotte with Denny Hamlin winning the pole and the All-Star Race with a fast car. Then Matt Kenseth won the pole for the 600 with a fast car and Carl Edwards won the race, not necessarily with the fastest car but with a great call to stretch the fuel mileage. Their recent performance indicates they’ve turned the corner. The drivers have complained about the motors all year but we didn’t hear that last week. Their problems probably aren’t solved but things are looking much better in that camp. With three cars in the Chase – the only team with three in the Chase at this point – it’s certainly encouraging. And Kyle Busch ran well and as he gets stronger, he’ll win a race down the road to put all four in the Chase.”
MCREYNOLDS ON THE PAIRING OF CARL EDWARDS AND DARIAN GRUBB PAYING DIVIDENDS:
“When they matched Darian Grubb with Carl Edwards, I thought from the beginning that was a good fit. Darian Grubb is a gambler. Think back to 2011 when Tony Stewart won the championship with Darian as his crew chief. He made that critical pit call to win the race and the championship to beat Edwards, who told me he was always anxious to talk to Darian about what he was thinking with that call. Grubb also won another 600 back in 2007 by gambling on fuel mileage with Casey Mears. He’s not afraid to take a chance, and that is a great quality in a crew chief.”
MCREYNOLDS SAYS IT WAS NO SURPRISE KYLE BUSCH WAS STRONG OUT OF THE GATE IN HIS FIRST POINTS RACE BACK FROM INJURY LAST WEEK AT CHARLOTTE:
“It was no surprise at all Kyle Busch well because he’s an extraordinary driver, athlete and person. Although he qualified 17th, I thought he had a top-five car most of the night. He had to pit with 20 laps to go, but in my book, that was another victory for Joe Gibbs Racing in just his second time back in a car and a race four times the length of the All-Star Race. Now we’re headed to Dover, where Kyle Busch has two Sprint Cup wins.”
WALTRIP ON WHETHER MARTIN TRUEX JR. AND TEAM WILL BECOME DISCOURAGED AFTER COMING SO CLOSE TO A VICTORY BUT IT ELUDING THEM SEVERAL TIMES:
“Hopefully they don’t buy into that ‘poor pitiful me’ thing because that will bite you. If you have that attitude, chances are you won’t win a race. I don’t see that in Martin Truex Jr. and his team, though. As long as they show up and show out as they’ve been doing, they’ll win one. He is great at Dover, and as well as the car is running, he could win this weekend. He’s driving the best I’ve ever seen him drive, and the car is the best it’s ever been. Truex is a Chase contender for sure. He and Cole Pearn have to win at this point – they don’t need points because they’re probably going to get in on points. They need to concentrate on a win by taking a chance. Gamble a bit. Don’t be ridiculous and do something that makes no sense. But if there’s a reasonable chance, race for the win. Don’t race to keep from losing.”
MCREYNOLDS ON THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF MARTIN TRUEX JR. AGAIN LEADING THE MOST LAPS BUT FINISHING FIFTH LAST WEEKEND AT CHARLOTTE:
“That’s been the case a lot in 2015. But in talking to that team Sunday morning in the garage, based on their confidence in their car, leading the most laps in the 600 was not a big surprise. There were a lot of comers and goers but what I saw from Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 78 car was they were good in the beginning, middle and the end of the race. That’s two races in a row they’ve led the most laps. I’m not saying they had the wrong strategy – rather they did not have the race-winning strategy — but the way they’re running, I’m confident they will make it to Victory Lane, possibly this week at Dover.”
NASCAR ON FOX & FOX SPORTS 1 AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE
*All times live/Eastern unless otherwise indicated & subject to change
Friday, May 29
NASCAR XFINITY Series practice (10:00-11:00 AM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (11:00 AM-12:30 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying (12:30-2:00 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice (2:00-3:30 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying (3:30-5:00 PM ET) (FS1)
NCWTS SETUP (5:00-5:30 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing (5:30-7:30 PM ET) (FS1)
Saturday, May 30
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (10:00-11:00 AM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying (11:00 AM-12:30 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR RACE HUB (12:30-1:00 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice (1:00-2:00 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR XFINITY Series racing (2:30 PM ET) (FOX)
Sunday, May 31
NASCAR RACEDAY (11:30-1:00 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing (1:00-4:00 PM ET) (FS1)
FOX SPORTS LIVE (4:30-5:00 PM ET) (FS1)
