The 2017 Use Your Melon. Drive Sober 200 was the 28th stock car race of the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, the second race of the Round of 12, and the 32nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, September 30, 2017, in Dover, Delaware at Dover International Speedway, a 1 mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. At race's end, Ryan Blaney, driving for Team Penske, would dominate for most of the race to win his sixth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.[1] To fill out the podium, Justin Allgaier and William Byron, both driving for JR Motorsports, would finish second and third, respectively.
Dover International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover 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.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
The first practice session was held on Friday, September 29, at 12:00 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes.[2]Ryan Blaney, driving for Team Penske, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.335 and an average speed of 154.275 mph (248.282 km/h).[3]
The final practice session, sometimes known as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, September 29, at 2:30 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes.[2]Ryan Blaney, driving for Team Penske, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.580 and an average speed of 152.672 mph (245.702 km/h).[4]
Qualifying was held on Saturday, September 30, at 11:35 AM EST.[2] Since Dover International Speedway is under 2 miles (3.2 km) in length, the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included three rounds. The first round was 15 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 15 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 24 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Round 3 consisted of the fastest 12 drivers from Round 2, and the drivers would have 5 minutes to set a time. Whoever was fastest in Round 3 would win the pole.[5]
William Byron, driving for JR Motorsports, would win the pole after setting a time of 23.046 and an average speed of 156.209 mph (251.394 km/h) in the third round.[6]
