Jeff Gordon scored his 92^nd career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win on Sunday afternoon. In the final race of the first round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Gordon drove his No. 24 Chevrolet to Victory Lane for the fourth time in the 2014 season with a win at Dover International Raceway.

In a race dominated by Kevin Harvick, Gordon took advantage of his bad luck to take away another win. The left inner valve stem of the No. 4 car was knocked out, which caused Harvick to have a tire go down after Lap 250. Earlier in the race, he had reported that there was something wrong with the left-front of his car. His splitter received major damage and the team worked extensively during the caution period to fix it.

Harvick ended the day in 13^th-place after the chaos. Leading 223 laps – it was the fourth time this year he led 195 or more laps.

Gordon had to hold off Brad Keselowski late in the race. Just laps before the final set of green-flag pit stops, the two drivers had an intense side-by-side battle for the lead. The No. 24 car prevailed and set sail after that. Keselowski finished second, but was over three seconds behind Gordon.

Jimmie Johnson had his strongest race in several weeks. After dominating the Dover race in June, he finished in the third position in the No. 48 Chevrolet. Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five.

Dover marked the end of the Challenger Round to start the Chase Grid. Kasey Kahne went from four laps down at one point in the race following an unscheduled green-flag pit stop to finish 20^th on Sunday. The top-20 result was barely enough to edge out AJ Allmendinger to make it into the Contender Round. Allmendinger’s No. 47 Chevrolet was just two points behind Kahne after being an underdog entering the Chase.

Greg Biffle was eliminated from the Chase along with fellow Ford driver Aric Almirola. The No. 16 car struggled throughout the day as he ran outside of the top-20. However, Biffle came back inside of the top-15 for approximately 150 laps, but fell back to 21^st in the final stages of the race. He didn’t finish higher than 16^th in any of the first three Chase races. Almirola struggled mightily at Dover after having a fast car throughout the practice sessions over the course of the week. He finished 28^th – two laps down in the No. 43 car.

The Sprint Cup Series starts the Contender Round at Kansas Speedway next Sunday. With 12 drivers battling to keep their championship hopes alive, they will need to run well at Kansas, Charlotte and Talladega in order to be one of just eight drivers to move onto the Eliminator Round at Martinsville.

Jamie McMurray was probably the unluckiest driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday afternoon. On Lap 159, McMurray drove directly into a piece of cement which flew off of the front-end of his No. 1 Chevrolet.

When McMurray hit the cement, a piece of it went flying up in the air – hitting a part of the walkway which sits approximately 30 feet above the race track. After a delay of 22 minutes and 22 seconds, the caution flag flew back out. However, as the race continued, concerns grew about whether or not the patched-up area could withstand over 200 more laps.

Multiple drivers reported that they say a problem with that area heading into Sunday’s race, but NASCAR completed a track walk in the morning, and they could not find anything wrong with the previous patch which stood at that spot.

“There’s a staff at every racetrack that goes and walks and checks for things like that. When they did their check, either post-race or this morning, they did not see a problem with that,” Pemberton said.

“We have equipment and we have products at every facility. It is an epoxy type filler that we use, and it’s basically the same filler that’s used any time we make a repair at the track, whether it be asphalt or concrete.”

But after this situation, questions have risen about possibly repaving Dover. The speedway has not been repaved since 1994 where it changed over from asphalt to concrete. While walking across the track, there are visible creases on the pavement.

There is always the argument that older tracks provide better racing. However, it is comparable to Pocono which repaved a patch in Turn 3 for a year, and eventually opted to repave the entire track. Since the repave, the racing has gotten better, and more fans have been going to Pocono since.

“You always have to be ready for the emergencies. Everybody wants to have the same perfect race day as they can.”

A race that featured a pothole ended with NASCAR’s most dominant driver going back to victory lane for his second straight victory. Jimmie Johnson earned his second win a row as he led 272 of the 400 laps run in Sunday’s FedEx 400 at Dover.

Johnson has now won nine times at the Monster Mile, extending his record for having the most wins at the track. The win marks Johnson’s 68^th career victory on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit. On a restart with less than five laps to go, the No. 48 Chevrolet was able to hold off a hard charging Brad Keselowski for the win after passing Matt Kenseth who spun his tires on the restart.

“Our whole day, we were in a range and we were balanced pretty well, just couldn’t run that fast," Kenseth said in a post-race press conference. “If we tried running fast, we just couldn’t run that quickly. We just started off too tight and if we started out decently, we would be too loose at the end of a run. We were just trying to keep up with track position.”

"The first run or two, I didn't think we were in a dominant position, but towards the end of the first run, things started coming around and I felt like we were in great shape," Johnson said. "It was an awesome racecar. The first run wasn't sure we were really going to have the normal Dover magic here.

However, the win did not come easy as the entire field was thrown a curve ball before the half-way point of the race.

Suddenly, a piece of debris went flying into the air. There was thought that it was a can at first, but conclusions came that one of the strangest incidents occurred.

Jamie McMurray was running 16^th when his No. 1 car suddenly hit a piece of the track. As he was coming out of Turn 2, McMurray hit a piece of concrete which sent his Chevrolet into the wall on the backstretch. The race was red flagged as track officials worked on repairing the hole in Turn 2 which was approximately six inches according to team radios.

“We will do the best job that we can and see what we can get,” McMurray’s crew chief, Keith Rodden said after NASCAR wouldn’t enable them to work on the car during the red flag.

NASCAR Vice President of Competition, Robin Pemberton said after the race that it was against the rules, but there has been exception to that specific rule in the past. Pemberton referenced the cable issue at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2013 as an example of when NASCAR would enable teams to work on cars under red flag conditions. Pemberton also stated that an epoxy-type solution was used to patch up the hole.

Besides having damage to the pavement, the cross-over bridge above the turn was also bruised in the incident. A piece of glass on the bridge’s outer part shattered as the concrete flew up into the air. The bridge is approximately 30 feet above the track surface according to a track spokes

Kevin Harvick stated that some guys were looking at that area on Saturday after the NASCAR Nationwide Series event. He noticed the track was coming up, but it was not worked on.

“I saw it this morning on the way to the driver's meeting," Johnson said over the radio to his crew during the red flag. "It was already coming up. I was wondering if they'd seen it."

The red flag lasted just over 22 minutes as a speedy-dry type of concrete was used to fill the hole.

As pit stops were about to start, Alex Bowman blew out a tire to throw out the first caution of the day, but A.J. Allmendinger attempted to short pit and was caught a lap down with just 25 cars on the lead lap after 65 laps.

Clint Bowyer was attempting to pass Kyle Busch in Turn 4 when he got into Busch’s No. 18 Toyota, sending him into the wall. He successfully got around Busch, but then he went right into the fence. After the wreck, Busch stalked Bowyer’s car during the caution, attempted to give him a tap, and then went into the garage with his beat up car.  Busch rushed over to his motor home where he could not be reached for comment.

Allmendinger got into Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who then hit his teammate, Greg Biffle. The rear end of the No. 16 Ford was destroyed, and the entire right side of Stenhouse’s car had to be cut off in the garage after he hit the inside wall on the backstretch.

“I didn’t see it coming," Biffle said in the garage area. "They were about two and a half groove up on the top and it looked like A.J. tried to squeeze Ricky there. When he came up off the bottom, he turned right into me. It really sucks. We were racing hard there, and that’s what happens when you are back there.”

As he was leading the race, Harvick blew a right-side tire following the restart after the red flag. Bowman got into the will two more times following his initial wreck, and went to the garage after blowing a tire on Lap 221.

Ryan Newman was working his way inside of the top-10 after running approximately 20^th for the first half of the race, but had a transmission failure which forced his No. 31 crew to go to the garage. Newman was mandated to a 31^st-place finish.

Entering Dover, four-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon was leading the points standings. Gordon was contending for a top-five spot the majority of the day. Evidently, the handling gave out on the No. 24 Chevrolet, ending the day in 15^th.

After the 400-mile race, Gordon relinquished the points lead to Kenseth, who has yet to win a race this year. Kenseth leads the standings by two markers over Gordon with Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson with Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounding out the top-five.

After 13 races, 10 drivers are all but locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup with Kenseth, Larson, Newman, Vickers, Menard and Dillon being the remaining six drivers who are high enough in points to race in the Chase as of now.

Here are some notables from the FedEx 400:
- Clint Bowyer earned his first top-five finish of the year at a non-restrictor plate track by crossing the stripe in the fourth position.

-Martin Truex Jr. recorded his best finish of the young season on Sunday afternoon by finishing in sixth.

-Tony Stewart made a hard charge for the lead late in the race, but after the late-race caution, Stewart fell back to the seventh position.

 -Finishing 11^th, Kyle Larson was the Rookie of the Race. Larson started at the rear of the field for an engine change, but sporadically made his way up through the field.

-Making his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut – Brett Moffitt finished 22^nd in the No. 66 Toyota Camry for Identity Ventures Racing.

-Danica Patrick finished 23^rd on Sunday – her best career finish in four starts at Dover.

-After experiencing fuel pickup issues throughout the day, David Gilliland ended the day in 29^th.

-Blake Koch recorded a career-best finish of 30^th in the No. 32 Ford. Making his fourth Sprint Cup Series start, Koch outran his previous best finish of 35^th during this year’s Coca-Cola 600 where he finished 35^th.

-J.J. Yeley had his third engine failure for the third consecutive time this year.

 -Paul Menard earned his seventh top-10 of the season with a 10^th-place finish at Dover. Menard's career-best years in 2012 and 2013 consisted of nine top-10s each. 

The Sun is shining down on the Dover International Speedway. With fans taking selfies by Miles the Monster, everyone is gearing up for the FedEx 400.

Entering Sunday’s event at Dover, there have been 34 different drivers to cross the finish line ahead of the rest of the field in the 88 Sprint Cup Series races that have been run at the one-mile speedway. In Sunday’s race, 12 of those drivers will be fighting for the checkered flag once again.

Jimmie Johnson enters Dover as the all-time wins leader at the Monster Mile, and he scored his first victory of the season during the Coca-Cola 600. If Johnson were to win on Sunday, it would be his ninth victory at the track in what will be his 25^th start. Johnson will be starting fourth for the FedEx 400, but was arguably the best car during Happy Hour as teams were discussing how to beat the No. 48 team.

Kyle Busch has won both races at Dover to start the weekend, but can he keep up his dominance? Well, albeit he did not post a stunning lap time during either of Saturday’s practice sessions, Busch was moderately quick during his run of 10 consecutive laps during the morning session. A win on Sunday would mark Busch’s 30^th career win in NASCAR’s top-tier division.

Brad Keselowski will start on the pole for the FedEx 400 as Team Penske continues their dominance with the new qualifying format. Keselowski is roughly around where he was at this point last year, but has a win which is evidently the difference maker for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. He won at Dover back in 2012, and was inside of the top-two throughout the Saturday practice sessions.

Entering Dover, there have been 10 different winners in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in just 12 races this year. With only six spots remaining in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, drivers such as Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle are still winless as they attempt to get adjusted to the new aero package which NASCAR has thrown at the teams.

Joey Logano lost his first Nationwide Series race at Dover on Saturday as he attempted to win his fifth straight race at the speedway. However, Logano just could not hold off Busch who was extremely quick throughout the entire 200-mile race.

A.J. Allmendinger will start 11^th in the No. 47 Toyota for JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger led a large portion of the 2010 version of the fall race at Dover, but has just one top-10 since then. Allmendinger has three top-10s this season as the team has taken advantage of their alliance with Richard Childress Racing.

Speaking of RCR, they have yet to score a victory this season. After scoring a top-10 at Daytona to start the year off, Austin Dillon has yet to crack the top-10 at any race since, and his teammate have been running well, but once again – the numbers show they are not contending for wins. Ryan Newman has led just 10 laps this year, but has four top-10s as he has been consistent enough to hold a spot inside of the top-10 in points. However, Paul Menard has arguably been the strongest car in the RCR camp. Menard was close to a victory at Las Vegas, which happens to be the only top-five RCR has recorded this season. 

Rowdy has been hot as of late. Kyle Busch has won the Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series events at Dover International Speedway, and there has been no one to stop him.

After leading 75 percent of the laps during the Truck Series race, Busch conquered the Nationwide Series circuit, pacing the field for 124 of the 200 laps in the Buckle Up 200. The dominating efforts are no surprise as Busch has had extensive success at Dover in each of NASCAR’s top-three divisions since he joined the Sprint Cup Series with Hendrick Motorsports in 2005.

Busch has two Sprint Cup Series victories at Dover entering Sunday’s 400-mile spectacle. After leading 150 or more laps in two of the last three Dover races, Busch has a realistic shot at getting the broom stick out for his second career weekend sweep. Starting in the second position, Busch will have to battle pole sitter, Brad Keselowski, as well as Jimmie Johnson – who has the most career victories at Dover with eight.

During practice for the FedEx 400, Busch did not put up any stunning single lap speeds, but he had a fast car on the long run. Even though he was 15^th in practice, Busch was fifth in the 10 consecutive lap averages in the second practice. However, as the track heated up early Saturday afternoon, Busch’s No. 18 Toyota was 18^th of 29 cars to run 10 consecutive laps on the track.

With his pair of victories at Dover, Busch is deemed to get another Monster trophy on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, Busch joked about how many Dover trophies he now has – comparing it to his collection of 16 trophies at Bristol.