1969 - Dover Downs opens as an
unique dual purpose facility, designed to accommodate both horse racing
and auto racing. First event on the speedway is a NASCAR Winston Cup
Series race on July 6, won by Richard Petty. USAC Championship Trail,
ancestor of the Pep Boys Indy Racing League, races on August 24 in
wreck-marred 200-miler won by Art Pollard.
1971 - All other motorsports events are dropped from schedule to
concentrate on two 500-mile NASCAR Winston Cup Series races per year.
This schedule will prevail, with few exceptions, for the next 26 years.
1982 - NASCAR Busch Grand National races, added as a Saturday attraction
on Winston Cup weekends, soon begin attracting large crowds.
1986 - Modest 3,200 seat grandstand addition begins expansion of
facility, which continued until 2001 - unequaled by any other NASCAR
track.
1994 - Delaware General Assembly passes legislation authorizing slot
machines at pari-mutuel horse racing facilities.
1995 - Dover Downs becomes NASCAR’s first concrete paved superspeedway.
Races become cleaner, faster, and more competitive. After summer and
fall of round-the-clock construction, Dover Downs Slots opens on
December 29.
1996 - Revenues from slot machines mandated by law to be paid in harness
racing purses raise Dover Downs’ stature to national leader in that
sport as well. Dover Downs Entertainment, Inc., parent company of all
Dover Downs activities, begins trading on New York Stock Exchange under
symbol DVD.
1997 - Change to 400-mile distance for NASCAR Winston Cup races is made
at fall event. MBNA America Bank NA signs to sponsor both NASCAR Winston
Cup weekends through 1999. Dover Downs and Indy Racing League announce
return to major league open-cockpit racing on July 19, 1998. Dover Downs
Entertainment, Inc. acquires Nashville Speedway USA, operator of NASCAR
events at Tennessee State Fairgrounds, and announces plans for a new
superspeedway in the Nashville area. Open date is set for Easter weekend
in 2001.
1998 - Dover Downs Entertainment reaches agreement to acquire Grand Prix
Association of Long Beach, owners of Gateway International Raceway near
St. Louis and Memphis Motorsports Park, as well as operators of the
street race in southern California which bears its name. Pep Boys Indy
Racing League returns major-league open-cockpit racing to Dover Downs
for the first time since 1969. Tony Stewart sets track record over 185
miles per hour, Scott Sharp is race winner.
1999 - Innovative promotional programs like the Busch 6 Pack (now named
Dover Motorsports Club) are implemented to focus on Busch Series, making
200-mile Saturday events major-league attractions in their own right.
2000 - Fifteenth consecutive year of grandstand expansion places seating
capacity at 133,000 - largest seating capacity of any sports facility in
mid-Atlantic region. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series make debut at Dover’s
September race weekend with a 200 mile, 200 lap format. Kurt Busch wins
the race from the pole.
2001– Sixteenth consecutive year of grandstand expansion places seating
capacity at 140,000 - still the largest capacity of any sporting
facility in mid-Atlantic region. Dover holds first Winston Cup event
after terrorist attacks of September 11th on New York City, Washington,
D.C. and Pennsylvania. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. wins the race and takes the
American flag for a victory lap around the track.
2002 - Dover Downs International Speedway becomes Dover International
Speedway, as the gaming side of the company splits off and Dover
Motorsports, Inc. is created to exclusively oversee racing at the Dover,
Nashville, Memphis and St. Louis tracks, as well as the Toyota Grand
Prix of Long Beach, Grand Prix of Denver and Grand Prix of St.
Petersburg. The harness racing, slots operation and new hotel retain the
Dover Downs name. Dover Motorsports, Inc. puts on successful inaugural
Champ Car Grand Prix race in Denver, then opens the 2003 season with the
critically acclaimed Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
2003 – Ryan Newman sweeps both Winston Cup races to become the third
racer in the last four years to pull off that feat (Jimmie Johnson in
2002 and Tony Stewart in 2000). R.J. Reynolds tobacco and its Winston
Cup program run at Dover for the last time as the sponsor of NASCAR’s
premiere series. After 33 years as the title sponsor, Winston steps
aside as NEXTEL takes the reigns.
2004 – The DuPont Monster Bridge, a glass-enclosed seating structure
that extends over the track in Turn 3, is unveiled. The one-of-a-kind
structure creates the “Most Exciting Seat in Sports.” On June 6, Mark
Martin returns to Victory Lane at Dover International Speedway in the
“MBNA 400: A Salute to Heroes.” The race is held on the 60th anniversary
of D-Day, as fans pay tribute to the many soldiers who serve and protect
our country. The new-for-2004 “Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup” comes to
the Monster Mile in the fall, as Ryan Newman notches another Dover win
in the MBNA America 400 on Sept. 26.
2005 – Greg Biffle takes home the monster trophy in the MBNA RacePoints
400 on June 5. Biffle adds to his Dover success, adding a NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup win to his two previous Dover wins in the NASCAR Busch Series. The
second of the final ten races of the year in the “Chase for the NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup” sees Jimmie Johnson celebrate in Dover's Victory Lane. The
Sept. 25 win in the MBNA RacePoints 400 is the third career victory for
Johnson at the Monster Mile.
2006 – In a dramatic come from behind finish, Matt Kenseth passes Roush
Racing teammate Jamie McMurray with three laps remaining to win the
Neighborhood Excellence 400 presented by Bank of America on June 4.
After qualifying 19, Kenseth had previously led 79 laps before falling
out of the top spot. With just 55 laps to go, Kenseth, then running in
the fifth spot, ignored crew chief Robbie Reiser’s instruction to pit
for tires and gas during the race’s ninth caution. The gamble paid off,
and Kenseth collected his first ever Monster Trophy at Dover
International Speedway.
