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Who is hot and cold entering the Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America Roval 400

CHARLOTTE, NC - SEPTEMBER 30: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford, races during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on September 30, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

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The Cup Series begins the second round of its playoffs this weekend with the Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Teams take to the 1-mile track coming off Ryan Blaney’s dramatic win in the inaugural race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

Here’s a look the drivers who are on hot and cold streaks enters this weekend’s race (2 p.m. ET on Sunday on NBCSN).

Who is Hot

Kevin Harvick
• Finished 9th at Charlotte Roval (12th in Stage 1, 14th in Stage 2)
• Advanced to Round of 12 for 5th consecutive season
• Finished in top 10 in 10 of last 11 races
• Won 7 of last 28 races
• Twenty-nine races in 2018: 24 top 10s (including 7 wins) & 5 finishes of 19th or worse
• Last 7 Dover races: 4 top 10s (2 wins, including in May) and 3 finishes of 15th or worse
• Started 9th, 8th in Stage 1, 23rd in Stage 2, finished 17th in this race one year ago

Chase Elliott
• Finished 6th at Charlotte Roval (5th in Stage 1, 6th in Stage 2)
• Advanced to Round of 12 for 3rd consecutive season
• Finished 6th or better in last two races
• Finished in top 10 in 8 of last 10 races
• Finished in top 5 in 4 of 5 career Dover starts (12th in May)
• Started 12th, 7th in Stage 1, 3rd in Stage 2, 138 laps led, finished 2nd in this race one year ago

Ryan Blaney
• Won at Charlotte Roval (10th in Stage 1, 1st in Stage 2, 16 laps led); damaged in multi-car accident in Turn 1 on Lap 104; took lead in final corner after Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr spun racing for lead.
• Advanced to Round of 12 for 2nd consecutive season
• Finished in top 5 in 2 of last 3 races
• Five career Dover starts: 2 finishes of 8th and 3 finishes of 23rd or worse (8th in May)
• Started 11th, 21st in Stage 1, 24th in Stage 2, finished 23rd in this race one year ago; trapped 2 laps down when caution came out during green flag stops on Lap 88

Clint Bowyer
• Finished 3rd at Charlotte Roval (3rd in Stage 1, 5th in Stage 2)
• Advanced to Round of 12 for first time in career
• Finished in top 10 in last two races and 3 of last 4
• Last 6 races: 4 top 10s and 2 finishes of 23rd or worse
• Finished outside the top 10 in 8 of last 12 races
• Finished 6th or better in the last 2 Dover races and in Top 10 in 11 of last 15 (2nd in May)
• Started 19th, 14th in Stage 1, 10th in Stage 2, finished 6th in this race one year ago

Who is Cold

Austin Dillon
• Finished 39th at Charlotte Roval (35th in Stage 1, 7th in Stage 2); DNF – hit wall in oval Turn 4 on Lap 58 to avoid Chris Buescher while running 24th; hit front stretch wall on Lap 65 and destroyed car
• Eliminated in Round of 16 for 2nd straight year
• Finished outside the top 10 in 5 of last 6 races
• Finished outside top 10 in 24 of 28 races since Daytona 500 win
• One finish better than 13th in 10 career Dover starts (8th – Oct. 2016)
• Started 23rd, 24th in Stage 1, 20th in Stage 2, finished 16th in this race one year ago; trapped 2 laps down on Lap 88 after caution came out during green flag pit stops

Denny Hamlin
• Finished 12th at Charlotte Roval (19th in Stage 1, 17th in Stage 2); started in rear after going to a backup car; pit for flat left-front tire on Lap 5; wheel hopped into Turn 1 on Lap 16 and made contact with Erik Jones
• Eliminated in Round of 16 for first time in career
• Finished 12th or worse in 3 straight races
• Last 8 races: 3 top 10s and 5 finishes of 12th or worse
• Finished top 10 in 4 of last 5 Dover races (7th in May)
• Started 6th, 10th in Stage 1, 6th in Stage 2, finished 35th in this race one year ago; DNF – broke axle on Lap 374 while running 17th

Ricky Stenhouse Jr
• Finished 37th at Charlotte Roval (18th in Stage 1, 29th in Stage 2, 2 laps led); DNF – went off course in Turn 4 from the lead on Lap 72; missed Turn 17 on Lap 81 while running 11th and had to stop on frontstretch; spun in Turn 1 on Lap 101 and hit wall hard
• Finished outside the top 10 in 18 of last 19 races
• Finished 14th or worse in 23 of 29 races in 2018
• Finished outside the top 10 in 5 straight Dover races (15th in May)
• Started 15th, 4th in Stage 1, 18th in Stage 2, finished 19th in this race one year ago

Daniel Suárez
• Finished 21st at Charlotte Roval (20th in Stage 1, 28th in Stage 2); damaged left-front fender on Lap 2
battling Michael McDowell for 16th
• Finished 17th or worse in 2 straight races and 5 of last 6
• Finished top 10 in all 3 career Dover starts (3rd in May)
• Started 5th, 15th in Stage 1, 13th in Stage 2, finished 8th in this race one year ago