The calendar has flipped to June. In the world of Sprint Cup Series racing, it's Tony Time.

"When it starts getting hot and humid and the tracks get hot and slippery, that's what we like," two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart said.

“

We've had a good car every week, but we just seem to have something bite us. I think we need some new mojo -- and Dover is the place to get it.

”

-- MARTIN TRUEX JR.

Stewart is winless in 2008, but he has been down this road before. Seven times in his 10-year career he has been winless in the first four months of the season. The first Cup race of June, the Best Buy 400, is Sunday at Dover (1:30 p.m. ET on FOX).

"When guys can't hold it wide open and they can't sit there on high-grip tracks and they actually have to drive these things -- that's when we start getting fast," said Stewart, whose first victory of the 2000 season was at Dover.

Stewart won both races at Dover that year, the highlight of a stretch from 1999 to 2004 when he finished in the top 10 in 11 of 12 races and led nearly a quarter of the laps. In the six races since, though, Stewart has one top 10.

Stewart said his ability to "start getting fast" is challenged by the new racecar, which was used in both Dover races in 2007 when he finished 40th (crash) and ninth.

"It's getting like IndyCar and Formula One racing," Stewart said. "The technology and the engineers in the sport make it harder for the drivers to be the deciding factor. In this day and age, it's a 3,400-pound car, and it's either right or it's wrong. If it's not right, it's hard to carry a 3,400-pound race car and make it do what it doesn't want to do.

"In sprint cars and midgets, because they're lighter, it's easier to throw them around and you can kind of make them do what you want. But in this day and age with NASCAR being as advanced as it is technology-wise, it's harder for the drivers to make the difference."

Martin Truex Jr. had little trouble with the new car last June, leading a race-high 216 laps en route to his first Cup victory. Truex considers Dover to be his home track and is not intimidated by the track they call the Monster Mile.

"I grew up watching races there, so maybe that helped me once I actually got out on the track," Truex said. "Plus, I have a lot of my family and friends show up for this race, and I think that helps me relax."

Truex's victory was a real breakthrough. He followed it with finishes of third and second, which helped propel him into the Chase. He was 16th in points last year before his win. He is 15th this year.

"This is where we turned our season around last year and started making our move to get into the Chase," Truex said. "It would be nice to get on that type of roll again. I've been thinking about Dover for a couple of weeks, especially with the luck we've been having.

"Last week was a perfect example. We had just gotten our car to where we liked it and we got wrecked on a restart. It's not like we have been bringing bad cars to the track. We've had a good car every week, but we just seem to have something bite us. I think we need some new mojo -- and Dover is the place to get it."

A look at the top five in points and five drivers to watch at Dover.
All statistical references are for Cup races at Dover unless otherwise indicated.

1. Kyle Busch, 101.5 Driver Rating
Busch earned the fifth-best driver rating with four top fives in his six races. He hasn't qualified well, 20.5, but that doesn't seem to have affected his ability to compete.

2. Jeff Burton, 90.6 Driver Rating
Tell me if these numbers aren't vintage Burton: In his last six races at the Monster Mile, his average start is 22.3, he's 13th halfway in and his average finish is 7.8. His only win in 28 starts came in September 2006.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 86.7 Driver Rating
Earnhardt won here in 2001. Despite being winless this season, Earnhardt has led laps in 10 of 12 races, including the last seven. At Dover, he has led two laps since 2003, a stretch of eight races.

4. Denny Hamlin, 86.2 Driver Rating
Hamlin led 61 laps last fall at Dover before running into the back of Kyle Petty. That touched off some great theater, including Petty going over to Hamlin's car, lowering his netting, yelling at him and then slapping him on the helmet.

Said Hamlin: "Kyle gets run over a lot, and a lot of the reason is that he's so far off the pace."

Petty: "He just drives stupid sometimes. That was a stupid move."

Hamlin finished 38th.

5. Clint Bowyer, 93.6 Driver Rating
Bowyer has two top 10s in his four races. Like Burton, Bowyer hasn't qualified well, 23.8, but his average finish is 11.2.

Five to watch:

6. Carl Edwards, 98.9 Driver Rating
Edwards is on a phenomenal run at Dover, with finishes of second, third and first (last fall).

11. Greg Biffle, 113.7 Driver Rating
Biffle has made some noise the past two weeks with second-place finishes in the all-star race and Coca-Cola 600. He has the best driver rating at Dover. In the past six races at the track, Biffle has five top 10s and a win. He finished second to Edwards last fall.

12. Kasey Kahne, 73.2 Driver Rating
Kahne has one top 10 in eight races, which is understandable when you consider he has five DNFs, four for crashes, including last fall.

14. Ryan Newman, 101.0 Driver Rating
Newman started 24th last fall, which snapped a string of 10 consecutive starts in the top five, including four poles. He has three wins and six top fives in 12 races but only one top five the past two years.

16. Matt Kenseth, 111.9 Driver Rating
Kenseth's driver rating is second to Biffle's. Kenseth won the June 2006 race and led 215 laps in the fall race before running out of gas on the last lap. Last fall he led 192 laps before bowing out with engine failure. If he can avoid the perils of racing, Kenseth should continue his climb in the points standings.

• Loop Data statistics