Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) The Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover International Speedway kicks off Round 2 of the playoffs and with Talladega looming next week, the stakes are high. Last year, Kyle Busch passed Chase Elliott coming to the white flag and punched his ticket to the next round. Here’s all the info you need for today’s race. (All times are Eastern) START: Tamara Ward, executive vice president of corporate development, Camping World Holdings, Inc. will give the command to start engines at 2:07 p.m. The green flag is scheduled to wave at 2:16 p.m. DISTANCE: The race is scheduled for 400 miles (400 Laps) around the 1-mile course. STAGES: Stage 1 ends on Lap 120. Stage 2 ends on Lap 240. PRERACE SCHEDULE: The garage opens at 8 a.m. The driver/crew chief meeting is at noon. Driver introductions are at 1:20 p.m. NATIONAL ANTHEM: The Calvary Baptist Choir from Dover will perform the anthem at 2 p.m. TV/RADIO: NBCSN will broadcast the race beginning at 2 p.m. Coverage begins with Countdown to Green at 1:30 p.m. on NBCSN. Motor Racing Network’s radio broadcast begins at 1 p.m. and also can be heard at mrn.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will have MRN’s broadcast. FORECAST: wunderground.com calls for a high of 80 degrees, partly cloudy skies and a 5 percent chance of rain at the start of the race. STARTING LINEUP: Click here for the complete lineup<doc-sep>There will be a very distinct blue oval look as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs moves into the second round. Twelve drivers remain in contention for the 2018 championship, and seven of those drivers carry the Ford logo. Stewart-Haas Racing advanced all four of its drivers to the Round of 12, and Team Penske saw its entire three-driver stable move forward. But that’s only the first piece of good news for the manufacturer. Ford drivers have won 15 of the 29 races this season, outpacing rivals Toyota (12 wins) and Chevrolet (two). Three of those 15 victories came in consecutive races in late April and early May, and now the series returns to those same three tracks — Dover International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and Kansas Speedway. SHR’s Kevin Harvick scored wins at Dover and Kansas, and Penske’s Joey Logano took the checkered flag at Talladega. First up is a visit to the one-mile concrete oval at Dover for Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN), a prospect which should have the Ford drivers salivating. While Harvick was celebrating a runaway win at the Monster Mile on May 6 — he led 201 of 400 laps — his closest competition came from his fellow Ford drivers. Blue oval drivers took five of the top eight spots and seven of the top 13 in the spring race — the same seven that advanced to the Round of 12. “We had a really good car all weekend long back in May,” said SHR's Clint Bowyer, who finished second behind his teammate Harvick. “We were very good in terms of sheer speed, but Kevin was a little bit better." Kurt Busch, who won at Dover in 2011, finished fifth in May, one spot ahead of Brad Keselowski, who led 108 laps this spring and scored a Dover win in the 2012 playoff race to propel him to the championship. Last week's winner Ryan Blaney (eighth in May), Aric Almirola (11th) and Logano (13th) round out the contingent of Ford drivers in the second round. Still, don’t count out the Toyota and Chevrolet drivers on Sunday. Toyota drivers have won the last two playoff races at Dover and three of the last five overall. Reigning series champion Martin Truex Jr. won in October 2016 and Kyle Busch, the 2015 Cup champion, won last October. Busch hits the second round atop the playoff standings, while Truex sits third behind Harvick. “I love that place," Busch, who also won at Dover in 2010, said of the Monster Mile. "You carry so much speed at that racetrack. … It’s definitely a roller-coaster ride and you need to treat it like it’s fun and not be scared of the place." Chevrolet will have its own set of playoff contenders who can conquer the monster. Chase Elliott has four top-five results in five career Cup races at Dover and was the runner-up in last year’s playoff race. Kyle Larson has four top fives in nine starts and was runner-up in the spring of 2016 and 2017. And then there’s all-time Dover wins leader Jimmie Johnson. While the seven-time Cup Series champion was eliminated from championship contention last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway while racing for the win on the final lap of the roval, don’t expect him to roll over for the remaining playoff drivers. Johnson, who has 11 career wins at Dover, will be as hungry for victory as anyone especially after the heartbreak at Charlotte which stretched his winless streak to 52 races. His last victory, however, came at Dover in the spring of 2017, and Johnson’s longtime crew chief Chad Knaus sees an imminent return to victory lane. When asked on Fox Sports’ Race Hub if a 2018 winless driver will prevail at one of the three second-round races, Knaus said, “Of course there’s going to be another first-time winner. It’s going to be the 48 (Johnson) at Dover this weekend.”<doc-sep>
Kyle Busch will lead the field to green for Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). There were two practice sessions this weekend, giving players plenty to digest. We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration as you make roster decisions. PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the playoff game works Remember that the garage locks at the end of Stage 2. Also, your garage play can only be swapped for a driver of similar classification. (A playoff garage driver can only be swapped for a playoff driver in your lineup; a non-playoff garage driver can only be swapped for a non-playoff driver in your lineup.) Cars to the rear: Bubba Wallace (failed pre-race inspection three times) RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race-day at Dover: Playoff driver 1: Kevin Harvick Playoff driver 2: Kyle Larson Non-playoff driver 1: Jimmie Johnson Non-playoff driver 2: Erik Jones Garage: Martin Truex Jr. MORE: Fantasy analysis for Dover | Driver stats | 10-lap averages | Lineup Analysis: The Fantasy Live Playoff Game is in Week 4! These five drivers made up my original lineup and I am sticking with them. Larson topped both practice sessions and led the way in the 5, 10 and 15-lap boards in the final session (h/t @SteveLetarte). He’s been very fast all weekend and has a strong Dover history, so I like staying with him. Harvick has been strong on the long run and dominated this race in the spring. I favor Truex’s recent Dover history — four straight top-four finishes over the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Kyle Busch’s recent Dover record — three top-two finishes but also four finishes outside the top 15 over the past seven races at the “Monster Mile” — so, I am keeping the defending champion in the lineup, but moving him to the garage. WATCH: Why Larson’s a good play | Which ‘Big 3’ driver to start? | Non-playoff picks For the non-playoff plays, hard to argue against the 11-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson. Even more so, when he’s fourth on the 15-lap board and looking for redemption after last week’s final-turn mistake cost him a shot at advancing. Erik Jones has the most upside of any non-playoff driver and while his Dover numbers are pedestrian (a 15.0 average finish in three starts), I like the speed he’s had there. For the bonus picks, I’m taking Harvick for Stage 1 and 2 with Larson for the win. The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet seems primed to make the most of his second life in the playoffs.