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The NASCAR Cup Series drivers took on Dover Motor Speedway for the first time with the Gen 7 cars on April 30. They did not have the smoothest start considering that multiple drivers had to visit the infield care center after crashes in practice.
William Byron, Josh Bilicki, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland, and Tyler Reddick all had issues during their practice sessions. The driver of the No. 24, in particular, slammed hard into the outside wall and sustained a considerable amount of damage. His team had to pull the backup out of Chase Elliott’s hauler and focus on prepping a car instead of turning their attention to qualifying.
Bilicki had major issues of his own during his practice session. He spun around while driving in front of Denny Hamlin, and he slammed hard into the wall. The No. 77 rebounded back into the lane with major damage to the front end. Like Byron, Bilicki was unable to post a qualifying lap due to the amount of damage suffered in the incident.
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Reddick avoided significant damage during his incident. He scratched up the rear of his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, but he was still able to go out and post a qualifying lap with the other drivers in Group B.
Burton Expressed Frustration About His Incident
Burton, who drives the famed No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing, has dealt with numerous issues during his rookie season. He has three DNFs in the first 10 weeks and only four finishes inside the top 20. However, he had plans to make some positive strides during his trip to Dover Motor Speedway.
“Got through [Turns] 1 and 2 really good on that lap and felt confident going into [Turns] 3 and 4 that I could get some entry speed and be aggressive there,” Burton told FOX Sports’ Jamie Little. “As soon as I turned into the corner, I just lost the back of the car. I don’t know. It just snapped around really quick.”
Burton continued and explained that he was upset about losing control and hitting the wall. He explained that Dover is one of his better tracks and that he was hoping for a good weekend. This statement is accurate considering that Burton made four starts at the Monster Mile and he posted top-10 finishes in two of them. This includes a fifth-place run in 2020.
1 Driver Avoided Going To a Backup Car
Byron and Bilicki both had to go to their backup cars, which dropped them to the rear of the field for the Cup Series race at Dover. Gilliland, for comparison, did not have to fully utilize his backup at the Monster Mile.
The No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team pulled the backup car out of the hauler after Gilliland damaged the rear of his Ford Mustang. However, the team only scavenged some parts off of the car. Gilliland’s main ride was in good enough condition that he could still use it for the Cup Series race.
The rookie will still have to start from the rear of the field after failing to post a qualifying lap, but his team will not have to spend the day trying to prep a backup car for inspection and the upcoming race. Instead, they can focus on just making some repairs.
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