2023 Würth 400 Explained

The 2023 Würth 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 1, 2023, at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Contested over 400 laps on the 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete speedway, it was the 11th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. The race was postponed from Sunday, April 30 to Monday, May 1, due to rain. This is the first Dover race broadcast on Performance Racing Network on radio after Speedway Motorsports purchased the track before the 2022 season but still aired on rival International Speedway Corporation's Motor Racing Network.

Report

Background

Dover Motor Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that held at least one NASCAR race each year since 1969, including two per year from 1971 to 2020. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1miles concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Speedway 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. In 2022, Speedway Motorsports purchased the track.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes the driver ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1		nowrap		Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
5			Chevrolet
6			Ford
7			Chevrolet
8			Chevrolet
9			Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
14			Ford
15	Brennan Poole (i)		Ford
16			Chevrolet
17			Ford
19			Toyota
20			Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
23			Toyota
24			Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
34			Ford
38			Ford
41			Ford
42	Noah Gragson (R)		Chevrolet
43			Chevrolet
45			Toyota
47	nowrap			Chevrolet
48	Josh Berry (i)		Chevrolet
51	J. J. Yeley (i)		Ford
54	Ty Gibbs (R)		Toyota
77			Chevrolet
78			Chevrolet
99			Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 22.690 seconds and a speed of 158.66mph.^[10]

Practice results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	6				22.690	158.660
2	5				22.809	157.832
3	24				22.815	157.791
Official practice results

Qualifying

Qualifying was cancelled due to inclement weather. Kyle Busch was awarded the pole for the race as a result of NASCAR's pandemic formula with a score of 3.500^[11]

Starting lineup

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	8			Chevrolet
2	20			Toyota
3	12			Ford
4	6			Ford
5	17			Ford
6	14			Ford
7	45			Toyota
8	24			Chevrolet
9	47			Chevrolet
10	9			Chevrolet
11	43			Chevrolet
12	4			Ford
13	11			Toyota
14	1			Chevrolet
15	99			Chevrolet
16	77			Chevrolet
17	19			Toyota
18	5			Chevrolet
19	10			Ford
20	2			Ford
21	51	J. J. Yeley (i)		Ford
22	78			Chevrolet
23	48	Josh Berry (i)		Chevrolet
24	54	Ty Gibbs (R)		Toyota
25	31			Chevrolet
26	22			Ford
27	7			Chevrolet
28	23			Toyota
29	16			Chevrolet
30	41			Ford
31	21			Ford
32	34			Ford
33	42	Noah Gragson (R)		Chevrolet
34	15	Brennan Poole (i)		Ford
35	38			Ford
36	3			Chevrolet
Official qualifying results

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage OneLaps: 120

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	10
2	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	7
5	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	5
7	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 130

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	10
2	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	6
6	54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	4
8	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	3
9	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	2
10	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage results

Stage ThreeLaps: 150

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	17	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	400	49
2	14	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	400	51
3	3	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	400	50
4	8	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	52
5	13	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	400	47
6	2	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	400	36
7	7	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	400	33
8	4	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	400	36
9	5	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	400	37
10	23	48	Josh Berry (i)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	0
11	10	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	28
12	28	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	400	25
13	24	54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	399	29
14	27	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	399	23
15	9	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	399	23
16	11	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	399	21
17	30	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	399	20
18	29	16	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	399	19
19	12	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	399	21
20	31	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	398	17
21	1	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	397	16
22	32	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	397	15
23	25	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	397	14
24	19	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	397	13
25	35	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	396	12
26	20	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	396	11
27	36	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	395	10
28	21	51	J. J. Yeley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	393	0
29	22	78	B. J. McLeod	Live Fast Motorsports	Chevrolet	381	8
30	6	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	378	7
31	26	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	375	6
32	18	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	359	5
33	34	15	Brennan Poole (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	79	0
34	33	42	Noah Gragson (R)	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	43	3
35	15	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	35	2
36	16	77	Ty Dillon	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	34	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 19 among 8 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 7 for 46 laps
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 27 minutes, and 47 seconds
• Average speed: 115.505mph

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered the race on the television side. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer and 1989 NASCAR Cup Series champion and two-time Dover winner Rusty Wallace called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled the pit road for the television side. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race and was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. This was the first Dover race covered by PRN as the radio rights was shifted from MRN Radio after the 2022 season. Doug Rice & Mark Garrow called the race from the broadcast booth when the field raced down the front straightaway. Pat Patterson called the race from atop a scaffold when the field raced thru turns 3 & 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, and Wendy Venturini called the race for PRN from pit lane.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
1	1	Ross Chastain	370
1	2	Christopher Bell	367 (–3)
	3	Kevin Harvick	332 (–38)
3	4	Martin Truex Jr.	330 (–40)
3	5	Ryan Blaney	326 (–44)
	6	Tyler Reddick	319 (–51)
3	7	Denny Hamlin	317 (–53)
3	8	Kyle Busch	306 (–64)
3	9	Brad Keselowski	303 (–67)
6	10	Kyle Larson	300 (–70)
3	11	William Byron	297 (–73)
4	12	Chris Buescher	277 (–93)
2	13	Joey Logano	274 (–96)
1	14	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	270 (–100)
6	15	Alex Bowman	270 (–100)
1	16	Chase Briscoe	250 (–120)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Chevrolet	417
	2	Toyota	382 (–35)
	3	Ford	372 (–45)

• Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

. – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2023 schedule . Jayski.com. . October 10, 2022.
2. Web site: Dover International Speedway. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. January 3, 2013. NASCAR.com. April 3, 2023. April 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170429053836/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/dover-international-speedway.html. dead.
3. News: NASCAR releases 2023 Cup Series schedule highlighted by new Chicago, All-Star race stops . Taranto, Steven . September 14, 2022 . March 29, 2023 . CBS Broadcasting Inc.
4. News: NASCAR unveils 2023 schedule for its national series . September 14, 2022 . March 29, 2023 . National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC.
5. Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 24, 2023. April 24, 2023.
6. Web site: Practice Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. April 29, 2023. April 29, 2023.
7. Web site: Starting Lineup. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. April 29, 2023. April 29, 2023.
8. Web site: Würth 400 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. May 1, 2023. May 1, 2023.
9. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 1, 2023. May 1, 2023.
10. Web site: Utter. Jim. Brad Keselowski leads eventful Dover Cup practice. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 29, 2023. Dover, Delaware. April 29, 2023.
11. Web site: Utter. Jim. Rain cancels Dover Cup qualifying, Busch on pole. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 29, 2023. Dover, Delaware. April 29, 2023.