Each week of the season, Cup Series drivers set out with the intention of winning the pole for the weekend's race. This is something they may not want to do at Dover Motor Speedway.
In fact, no driver in the last 24 trips to the 1-mile concrete track has started from the pole and then won the Cup Series race.
Back in 2010, Jimmie Johnson won the pole for the Sept. 26 AAA 400. He led 191 of the 400 laps and scored his sixth win of the season en route to his fifth consecutive championship. He was the last driver to win the pole and the race at Dover Motor Speedway.
Johnson returned to the Delaware track the following May, and he started from the pole once again. He finished the race in ninth place after leading 207 laps. Matt Kenseth, who started 24th, won after leading 33 laps.
This trend continued later in 2011 as Martin Truex Jr. started from the pole but finished 30th. Kurt Busch won the race after starting second.
The list continues with Mark Martin (2012), Denny Hamlin (2012-13, 2015, 2019), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2013), Brad Keselowski (2014, 2016), Kevin Harvick (2014, 2016), Kenseth (2015), Kyle Busch (2017-18, 2023-24), Truex Jr. (2017, 2021), Kyle Larson (2018), Chase Elliott (2019), and Chris Buescher (2022) all falling short of the win after starting first.
Elliott and Matt DiBenedetto both started from the pole at Dover Motor Speedway during the 2020 season, but this season did not feature qualifying sessions. Neither won the races for which they started up front. Busch started from the pole position in multiple races due to rain washing out qualifying.
This lack of wins from the first position in the starting lineup in the past 15 years does not mean that the pole-winner on Saturday will fail to win the race. Yet, it's difficult to ignore this interesting trend.
Of course, these drivers could see this statistic and view it as a challenge. They could see an opportunity to snap a streak dating back to Johnson's time dominating in the Car of Tomorrow. That would provide some unique bragging rights.