Dover International Speedway, Autism Speaks and Heluva Good! will team up once again for the next Autism Speaks 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the Monster Mile. Now known as the Autism Speaks 400, presented by Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips & Cheese, the three partners will be working together all weekend to educate and increase public awareness of autism. Fans at the track on race weekend can also donate to Autism Speaks by purchasing limited-edition souvenir race pins.
NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Dover International Speedway, in Dover, Delaware, are usually unique, and the Autism Speaks 400 should be no exception. Sometimes the race may come down to fuel management or pit strategy, while other times it may be a side-by-side battle for the win. No matter how the race plays out, spectators can always count on one thing; 400 laps on the concrete Monster Mile oval will be a grueling event.
As host of the Autism Speaks 400, Dover is a high-banked one-mile concrete oval, and the track's high-grip surface allows drivers to be really aggressive and push the car, but possibly at the expense of tire wear. On a typical race day at Dover it is possible to see a number of different strategies play out; the race can be won by pushing and charging hard all day, by laying back and saving your tires for the finish, or even by strategically managing fuel usage. No one ever really knows what will determine the outcome at Dover until the very end.
The 2009 Autism Speaks 400 saw Jimmie Johnson's #48 Lowe's team chose a rather unique strategy, choosing the very last pit stall. This strategy played out perfectly as Johnson almost 75 percent of the race (298 laps), and took the win by passing Tony Stewart with three laps to go; after having come back from seventh place on the final pit stop under caution, which had cost them the lead earlier.
