Anyone care to tangle at Dover?

Autoracing Betting Lines

05/10/2011 - Dover, DE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, May 15. Race: FedEx 400. Site: Dover International Speedway. Track: one-mile oval. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 400. Miles: 400. 2010 winner: Kyle Busch. Television: FOX. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

Boys, who's going to have at it this weekend at Dover International Speedway?

The last two weekends have featured the latest in a long streak of feuds in NASCAR. Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Newman clashed in Richmond and then Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick went at it in Darlington.

NASCAR on Tuesday fined Busch and Harvick $25,000 each and placed both of them on probation until June 15 following their post-race skirmish on pit road at Darlington.

Last Friday, Montoya and Newman reportedly had a physical altercation while meeting with race officials in the NASCAR hauler to discuss their incident at Richmond. Both drivers neither confirmed nor denied an altercation took place in the hauler. NASCAR has not assessed any penalties towards them.

A lot of attention is going to be focused on Busch and Harvick, as well as Montoya and Newman, this weekend at Dover.

"I haven't really paid much attention to the details of everything that's going on," Points leader Carl Edwards said after last Saturday's race at Darlington."I've been involved with my fair share of that stuff. I guess I'll just sit back and watch like everybody else and see what happens."

Edwards and Brad Keselowski were in the thick of things last year. Edwards received a three-race probation period after he intentionally wrecked Keselowski in the closing laps of the 2010 spring Cup race Atlanta.

The feud between the two didn't end there. In July, Edwards wrecked Keselowski again when they were battling for the win during the final lap of the Nationwide race at St. Louis. Edwards won while Keselowski slid across the finish line before Shelby Howard plowed into him.

Days later, NASCAR slapped Edwards with a $25,000 fine, a loss of 60 points and probation until December 31. Keselowski was placed on probation for the remainder of the year but did not receive a monetary fine or loss of points.

Ironically, Edwards and Keselowski finished second and third, respectively at Darlington.

Busch and Harvick's brawl overshadowed Regan Smith's stunning win at Darlington. Smith held off Edwards during a green-white-checkered finish to win his first race in his 105th Sprint Cup start.

Despite sitting 27th in the point standings, Smith has now placed himself in contention to qualify for this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Per NASCAR's new Chase format, the top-10 drivers in points will be locked in the playoffs after the fall race at Richmond (the 26th event on the season schedule). Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase field will go to the drivers who have the most wins, provided they are in the top-20.

Smith is just 29 points outside the top-20.

"I personally think it's going to take two wins at least to get in based on that system," Smith said." But this is all new to everybody. You never know. It might not take two wins to do that. It might only take one, so we're certainly going to have to focus on that. At the same time, we're going to focus on getting another win and taking chances to make that happen."

Prior to his win at Darlington, Smith had scored only one top-10 finish in his Sprint Cup career, which came in the February 20 Daytona 500. He finished seventh in that race.

Busch, currently third in points, comes to Dover as the defending race winner. Harvick and he are the only drivers with multiple victories so far this season.

Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers with six wins at Dover, including one here last September.

"It's a fun racetrack," Johnson said. "I think it's a track that suits my style, and the stats show it."

Johnson is one victory away from tying Bobby Allison and Richard Petty for most all-time wins at Dover.

It would be extra special for Johnson if he wins here on Sunday, since the State of Delaware is proclaiming May 15, 2011 as "Jimmie Johnson Day."

Johnson, the five-time defending series champion, is presently 23 points behind Edwards.

Forty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for the FedEx 400.