DOVER, Del. — Chase Elliott took advantage of heavy rain at Dover Motor Speedway to earn the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.

Elliott and the rest of the field never got to turn a scheduled practice or qualifying lap on Saturday because of rain that pounded the concrete mile track. Dover is scheduled to hold its first July race since the track’s first one in 1969.

Elliott has two wins and 10 top-five finishes in 14 career races at Dover.

Chase Briscoe starts second, followed by Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and William Byron. Shane van Gisbergen, last week’s winner at Sonoma Raceway, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch complete the top 10.

Logano is set to become the youngest driver in NASCAR history with 600 career starts.

Logano will be 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits No. 600 on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. He will top seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months.

The midseason tournament that pays $1 million to the winner pits Ty Dillon vs. John Hunter Nemechek and Reddick vs. Gibbs in the head-to-head challenge at Dover.

The winners face off next week at Indianapolis. Reddick is the betting favorite to win it all, according to Sportsbook.

All four drivers are winless this season.

No one knows how to party like Dale Earnhardt Jr. Another win for his JR Motorsports Xfinity Series team today at Dover has the Busch Lights out. Connor Zilisch wins his second race in a row and his first-ever NASCAR Xfinity race at Dover.

What a win for Connor Zilisch. This race was shortened by rain, and had 66 laps left to go. However, Zilisch had firmly taken control of the race by that point, led 77 laps total, and looked like the best driver on the track.

Four wins this season, Zilisch is showing why he’s at JR Motorsports. Yes, he’s ultimately going to end up at Trackhouse Racing, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. is enjoying his time as the team owner for the young phenom.

After the race was called, Dale Jr. was spotted on The CW broadcast. It was like he spawned on pit road with two Busch Lights in his hands. This screenshot from Steven Taranto of CBS Sports captured the moment.

It was a surprisingly clean NASCAR Xfinity race at Dover Motor Speedway, and it never made it to the scheduled distance. When the rain arrived, Connor Zilisch was out front of the field. With more rain around daylight fading at a track without lights, NASCAR was forced to call it.

Driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Zilisch collected his fifth career Xfinity win and his fourth of the 2025 season. He surpasses Kyle Busch as the youngest driver to reach five career wins, doing it all before his 19th birthday.

Aric Almirola finished second, Brandon Jones third, Justin Allgaier fourth, and Jesse Love fifth. Ryan Sieg, Taylor Gray, Sheldon Creed, William Sawalich, and Christian Eckes filled out the remainder of the top ten

Gray led the race from pole position, winning the opening stage without issue. However, a messy pit stop cost him a lot of his track position with Zilisch emerging as the new race leader. 

Zilisch dominated Stage 2 and while Almirola got close near the very end, he was not able to mount a true challenge.

At the start of the third stage, both Ross Chastain and Nick Sanchez fell out of the race with mechanical issues. Chastain said “the gear broke” when asked by The CW what happened. Chastain ended up finishing last (38th) in his worst NXS result since 2017.

Kyle Sieg stayed out for the final stage, but he was quickly swallowed up by those who chose to pit at the end of the stage.

Zilisch continued to lead as rain approached, forcing a yellow flag with 69 laps to go. NASCAR chose to red flag the event a few laps later, bringing the entire field down pit road.

This is the first NASCAR Xfinity race to be shortened by rain since the Chicago Street Course in 2023.

Photos from Dover – Race

The 2025 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 from Dover Motor Speedway has a wide-open field considering the recent history at the 1 mile oval track. The last five races have been won by five different drivers, so you may be able to find a 2025 NASCAR at Dover longshot anywhere within the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 odds board. While Ross Chastain isn’t one of those victors, he is among a handful of drivers with multiple top 5s over this span, with his runner-up and third-place both coming since he linked up with Trackhouse Racing. Even with that, Chastain is a +1400 NASCAR sleeper for Sunday’s race at 2 p.m. ET. He is being undervalued by sportsbooks, but SportsLine’s model, which has nailed eight winners just this year alone, likes Chastain at his long NASCAR Dover odds.

Before entering any 2025 Dover NASCAR picks, be sure to see the latest 2025 NASCAR at Dover predictions from SportsLine’s proven projection model. Developed by SportsLine predictive data engineer Mike McClure, the proprietary NASCAR prediction model simulates every race 10,000 times and has nailed a whopping 26 winners since 2021, including eight winners in 2025.

SportsLine simulated the NASCAR Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 10,000 times. Here are the three NASCAR longshots to target, according to the model:

Best NASCAR at Dover longshots (odds subject to change):

• Ross Chastain (+1400)
• Tyler Reddick (+1400)
• Joey Logano (+2600)

Ross Chastain (+1400)

Ever since Trackhouse acquired Chip Ganassi Racing in 2022, Chastain has been a different driver at Dover. He never finished better than 15th across seven Dover starts while with Ganassi, but has since placed second, third and 12th in three starts with Trackhouse. Chastain led for 86 laps in the 2022 race at Dover Motor Speedway before placing third and then led for 98 laps — and winning Stage 2 — at the 2023 race before finishing second. Coincidentally, he also had second and third-place finishes in his last two Dover starts (2020) on the Xfinity Series. Chastain has finished among the top dozen drivers in five of his last six starts on 1-mile tracks, as a whole, as he’s quite comfortable on intermediate circuits. You can also use DraftKings promo code on Chastain, which would allow you to get $150 in bonus bets after a $5 initial wager. Claim that promo right here.

Tyler Reddick (+1400)

After finishing sixth (2023) and fourth (2024) in NASCAR standings over the last two years, Reddick is again in contention for his first Cup Series championship. He’s currently fourth in points thanks to a recent surge over different track types. Three weeks ago, he won a stage and finished fourth overall on the quad-oval of Atlanta and followed that up with a third place — and posting the fastest lap — on the streets of Chicago. Then last week, Reddick notched a sixth-place finish at Sonoma’s road race, showing his versatility on various circuits. He has three top-six finishes over his last four starts on 1-mile tracks overall and is poised to outperform his NASCAR Dover odds.

Joey Logano (+2600)

Logano established his name on the Xfinity Series due to his success at Dover, sweeping both races at the track in both 2012 and 2013. His four Dover victories on that series are the second-most in NASCAR history, and while he’s yet to claim a checkered flag at the track on the Cup Series, he’s been in the running many times over. His 15 top 10s at Dover Motor Speedway are the third-most amongst active drivers, and over his last nine starts at Dover, he’s placed in the top 10 more often than not. Add in that he has a pair of victories at a comparable track in Phoenix within the last three years, and Logano is a steal as a +2600 NASCAR sleeper which can be wagered on with a FanDuel promo code, which you can apply right here.

More top NASCAR at Dover expert picks, longshots revealed

You’ve seen the NASCAR longshots from the model. Now, see the full 2025 NASCAR Dover leaderboard, including forecasts for who finishes first. Visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed 26 winners, including Elliott’s victory at Bowman Gray, Larson’s win at Miami, Bell’s All-Star victory, Hamlin’s Michigan win, van Gisbergen’s Mexico triumph, Elliott in Atlanta, and van Gisbergen again in Chicago and Sonoma.

You can also view expert advice before locking in your NASCAR at Dover picks. Visit SportsLine now to see expert Steven Taranto’s picks, including an epic longshot of over 50-1, all from an expert who has nailed 17 NASCAR winners. 

Visit SportsLine now to see McClure’s top NASCAR DFS picks, all from the daily Fantasy professional who has won more than $2 million playing DFS. 

2025 NASCAR Dover odds, drivers, lineup

(odds subject to change)
Denny Hamlin +500
Kyle Larson +550
Ryan Blaney +850
William Byron +850
Christopher Bell +1200
Chase Elliott +1200
Ross Chastain +1400
Tyler Reddick +1400
Chase Briscoe +1600
Kyle Busch +2200
Alex Bowman +2200
Carson Hocevar +2600
Chris Buescher +2600
Joey Logano +2600
Ty Gibbs +2800
Brad Keselowski +2900
Austin Cindric +3700
Ryan Preece +5000
Josh Berry +5000
Bubba Wallace +6000
AJ Allmendinger +6000
Erik Jones +6000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +9500
Michael McDowell +11000
Shane van Gisbergen +11000
Daniel Suarez +12000
Noah Gragson +19000
Cole Custer +21000
John Hunter Nemechek +21000
Justin Haley +21000
Zane Smith +21000
Austin Dillon +34000
Ty Dillon +34000
Riley Herbst +34000
JJ Yeley +34000
Cody Ware +34000
Todd Gilliland +34000  

The drivers hit the track in Toronto, Friday afternoon and Saturday, for practice 1 and 2. It gives drivers a chance to figure out the setup, decide which tires work best, and overall see how the track feels ahead of the all-important qualifying and the race

Takeaways From Honda Indy Toronto’s Practice Sessions

Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood, who has seen success on this season’s street courses, was atop the speed chart in Friday’s opening practice with a lap of 1 minute, 1.2054 seconds in the No. 27.  While Andretti teammate and last year’s winner Colton went fastest in session two with a lap time of 1 minute, 0.0578 seconds.

A few things have stood out in these sessions that could make things a little bit more complicated. Here are three takeaways from the two practice sessions.

Very Low Grip

Kyle Kirkwood said it’s ‘probably the lowest amount of grip I’ve driven in INDYCAR in a very long time’ and that was evident all throughout the first session. 

Christian Lundgaard started it off with a moment with the wall on the exit of turn 11. Championship leader Alex Palou also had a couple of brushes against the wall.

Turn 8 also proved tricky. In one instance, the cars of Scott McLaughlin, Pato O’Ward, and Santino Ferrucci ended up there at the same time; luckily, there was no contact.

The lack of grip could be attributed to the snowy winter weather and the fact that there aren’t many support series here, so when the drivers hit the track, they’re running over the dust.

The New Bump:

Any street track is bumpy, but a new bump has appeared in the streets of Toronto that could cause a problem for drivers.

Team Penske’s Will Power, who had the fifth-quickest lap overall, highlighted the bump

“There’s a massive new bump at the end of the straight into (Turn) 3,” he said. “It actually hurts (and it’s) right in the braking zone”

Turn 3 is usually one of the more easier overtaking spots in Toronto, but with the new heading into 3, drivers will begin to feel apprehensive up the inside during the race.

The bump was created after a bit of repaving due to the removal of a bridge. Will Power even suggested grinding the sport ahead of Sunday’s race, which was Friday night

Green Tires Are Too Soft:

After the first practice session, the Firestone Firehawk alternate green race tires that are provided for all temporary street course races seemed to be too soft around the streets of Toronto.

Power said it feels like it will for sure be a three-stop race. With all these questions about how the tires will perform, more questions arise as to what tires to use in quali and the race. Do they maximize track position in qualifying and use multiple green or do they save those tires for the race?

Andretti Looks Fast Again:

Last year in Toronto, Andretti finished 1-2 with Herta and Kirkwood, and from the first two practice sessions, they look to be fast again

Today, Kirkwood followed his impressive practice 1 time with the second-fastest time in practice two. He finished behind his teammate Herta. The two drivers are about a half-second faster than the next-best driver.

“These Andretti guys are freaking fast,” Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward said after the session.

Next on the schedule is NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 90-lap race will be at noon ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Main Photo: Joe Skibinski, Penske Entertainment

Recording Date: 7/19/2025