Richard Petty won the first race held at Dover International Speedway on July 6, 1969. He finished six laps ahead of Sonny Hutchins, a part time Cup driver from Richmond, Virginia, in the Mason-Dixon 300.

The track was known as Dover Downs International Speedway back then and drivers quickly became aware of how grueling race day on the one mile oval with five story high banking could be. The fact that Dover is so hard on race cars has earned the track the nickname “The Monster Mile.”

Through the years there have been many exciting races held at the Monster Mile.

The late Neil Bonnett passed Cale Yarborough with three laps remaining to win the Mason-Dixon 500 in only his third start for the Wood Brothers on May 20, 1979.

Jody Ridley, piloting the popular Junie Donlavey Ford, surprised everyone on May 17, 1981 by winning the Mason-Dixon 500. It was Ridley’s first Cup victory and likewise for Donlavey, who had fielded Cup cars since 1950.

Richard Petty outran Tim Richmond by four seconds to score victory number 199 of his career on May 20, 1984 at Dover.

Ricky Rudd claimed his first career speedway victory in the Delaware 500 on September 14, 1986. He beat Neil Bonnett to the line by 5.08 seconds.

Kyle Petty won his last race to date on June 4, 1995 from the 37th starting position. He crossed the finish line one car length ahead of Bobby Labonte.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. visited Dover’s victory lane on September 23, 2001 after leading 193 laps of the Cal Ripken, Jr. 400. It was a historical day as more than 140,000 hardcore race fans descended upon the Dover International Speedway only twelve days after the 911 attacks in New York to record the single largest gathering of people in one place since the attacks. Dale, Jr. carried a large American flag on his victory lap in front a roaring crowd.

Mark Martin won the MBNA 400: A Salute To Heroes on June 6,2004, the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Dover hosted a huge celebration as fans paid tribute to the many soldiers who protect our country.

Jeff Burton took the checkers in the Dover 400 on September 24, 2006 to break a 175 race winless streak. Burton edged out his former Roush teammate Carl Edwards for the win.

Martin Truex, Jr. won his first Cup Series race at Dover, his home track, June 4, 2007. Truex finished more than seven seconds ahead of pole winner Ryan Newman. Carl Edwards came in third.

Carl Edwards drove to victory in the Dodge Dealers 400 on September 23, 2007. Edwards' Roush Fenway Racing Ford did not pass post race inspection after having been fast all day. NASCAR officials found his right rear fender to be to low. Ironically, most industry insiders and experts agreed that the low fender actually created a disadvantage for Edwards, who was fined and docked valuable championship points for the infraction.

These are my favorites from the long list of races that have been run at Dover. This weekend Dover will host the Best Buy 400 and I will be tuning in to Fox at 1:30 ET to watch all of the action live.