Who Is Miles the Monster®? The Story Behind Dover Motor Speedway’s Icon

For more than 25 years, Miles the Monster® has served as the unmistakable face of Dover Motor Speedway.

His cracked concrete exterior, glowing red eyes and permanent scowl have become synonymous with The Monster Mile. His likeness appears throughout the Speedway, race winners take home their own Miles the Monster® trophy, and his 46-foot-tall monument towers over Victory Plaza with a full-size stock car in one hand.

But Miles the Monster® didn't simply appear one day in Victory Plaza. His story goes back decades, beginning with the reputation of the racetrack itself and evolving from an early dinosaur mascot into one of the most recognizable characters in NASCAR.

THE MONSTER CAME FIRST

Dover Motor Speedway opened in 1969, and its one-mile oval quickly earned a reputation as one of NASCAR's toughest tracks.

With 24 degrees of banking in the turns and nine degrees on the straightaways, Dover creates a unique challenge for drivers, who drop into the corners before climbing back onto the straightaways. For much of the Speedway's history, NASCAR Cup Series races at Dover also stretched 500 miles, adding an endurance test to an already demanding afternoon.

Longtime Dover track historian George Keller traced The Monster Mile nickname to an exhausted driver who climbed from his car following one of those 500-mile races and described the track as "nothing but a monster." The description stuck.

Dover's identity became even more distinctive in 1995 when the Speedway replaced its asphalt racing surface with concrete. The combination of high banking, speed and an unforgiving concrete surface only strengthened the Monster reputation.

Eventually, the Monster needed a face.

BEFORE MILES THE MONSTER®

Longtime Dover fans may remember a very different Monster roaming around the Speedway before Miles the Monster®.

In the early 1990s, Dover's Monster was depicted as a green, Tyrannosaurus rex-like dinosaur. The character appeared in Speedway promotions and was even turned into a plush souvenir, an early attempt to give The Monster Mile nickname a personality of its own.

As Dover's identity evolved - particularly following the move to concrete - so did ideas for what the Monster should look like.

The Speedway experimented with concepts that tied the character more directly to its racing surface. One potential name considered during that process was The Concreture, a combination of "concrete" and "creature."

Ultimately, Dover went in another direction. In 2000, the modern Miles the Monster® was introduced.

Designer Randy Dickerson led the conceptual design and creative direction for Miles the Monster®, creating a character built around the "theme of concrete." Instead of a traditional furry sports mascot, Miles looked like he had been formed from the same surface NASCAR drivers battled every race weekend.

His gray, fractured exterior resembled broken concrete. He had an enormous frame, glowing red eyes and an expression that didn't exactly suggest Dover would be an easy afternoon.

It worked because Miles the Monster® represented something that already existed. The Monster Mile nickname had been around for years. The concrete surface was already part of Dover's identity. Miles simply gave the Monster a face.

A MONSTER WORTH WINNING

Miles the Monster® soon began appearing throughout Dover Motor Speedway, from tickets and merchandise to promotional materials and signage.

Then he became something NASCAR drivers could win.

In 2004, Ryan Newman became the first Dover winner to receive what would become the Speedway's signature Monster trophy. The trophy depicts Miles the Monster® holding a replica of the winning race car, creating an award unlike anything else on the NASCAR schedule.

The idea was perfectly Dover: Conquer The Monster Mile and take a Monster home with you.

Over the years, the Miles the Monster® trophy has become one of NASCAR's most recognizable pieces of hardware. NASCAR.com has called the integration of Miles throughout Dover so extensive that the mascot has become synonymous with the Speedway on race weekends.

Drivers seem to appreciate the hardware, too.

Jimmie Johnson, Dover's all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins leader with 11 victories, once said his Miles trophies "stand out" because of their size and the attention they draw. Kyle Busch has referred to his collection of Monster trophies as a "family," with his larger Cup Series Miles earning the title of "big daddy."

By the mid-2000s, Miles the Monster® had become much more than a mascot.

So Dover decided to build a much, much bigger one.

BUILDING THE MONSTER MONUMENT

Construction on the Monster Monument began in late 2007 as part of Dover Motor Speedway's multi-year "Monster Makeover," which included major improvements throughout the property and the creation of a new Victory Plaza.

The massive Miles the Monster® was fabricated in Pennsylvania before making the trip to his permanent home in Dover. Building and transporting a Monster of that size was no small undertaking: Miles had to be moved to Delaware in pieces before being reconstructed at the Speedway.

The completed Monster Monument was dedicated in May 2008 and today stands 46 feet tall and weighs approximately 40,000 pounds.

And despite his appearance, Miles the Monster® isn't actually made of concrete.

The monument was constructed around a steel framework with foam and fiberglass used to create Miles' familiar cracked-concrete exterior. The result makes him appear as though he emerged directly from Dover's racing surface, complete with glowing red eyes and a full-size stock car clutched in his right hand.

There's also a practical reason fans only see half of him.

The actual Miles the Monster® character has legs. When plans for the monument were developed, however, building a full-body Miles at that scale would have made him roughly 80 feet tall. Instead, designers settled on the familiar pose of Miles bursting through the ground.

Around the base of the Monster Monument, granite plaques recognize drivers who have won at Dover, putting the names of those who conquered The Monster Mile directly beneath the character created to represent it.

MORE THAN A MASCOT

Over the years, Dover has found plenty of ways to have fun with Miles the Monster®.

During the 2012 election year, the Speedway even launched a tongue-in-cheek presidential campaign for Miles under the slogan "Concrete Change in 2012," with longtime track historian George Keller serving as his campaign manager.

Miles the Monster® has appeared on apparel, die-cast cars, toys and other collectibles. The car in his hand has changed appearances through various promotions. In 2023, CBS selected the Monster Monument for a national Survivor promotion, wrapping Miles in a massive version of the show's signature Buff.

Yet those promotions aren't why Miles the Monster® has lasted.

His impact comes from how completely he fits the place he represents.

Dover's racing surface is concrete, so Miles looks like concrete. The track earned a reputation for being a Monster, so Miles looks intimidating. When drivers make mistakes at Dover, the Monster has "claimed another victim." When they win, they've conquered The Monster Mile and receive a Miles the Monster® trophy for doing it.

The mascot, trophy, monument, nickname and racetrack all tell the same story.

IS MILES THE MONSTER® NASCAR'S MOST ICONIC MASCOT?

Dover Motor Speedway might be a little biased on this one, but Miles the Monster® has a pretty strong case.

NASCAR tracks are filled with recognizable traditions and landmarks. Martinsville Speedway has its grandfather clock. Indianapolis Motor Speedway has the Yard of Bricks. New Hampshire Motor Speedway famously awards winners a giant lobster.

At Dover, it's hard to separate the tradition from the mascot because Miles the Monster® has become part of nearly everything.

The racetrack is The Monster Mile. The Speedway's shipping address is 1 Monster Mile Drive. Race winners receive a Miles the Monster® trophy. Fans entering Victory Plaza are greeted by a 46-foot Miles the Monster® monument. His appearance is modeled after the concrete surface beneath the race cars. And that's ultimately why Miles works.

He isn't a character that was simply attached to Dover Motor Speedway. He represents what racing at Dover has meant for generations of drivers.

The Monster existed first. Miles the Monster® simply brought it to life.

More than 25 years after his modern debut - and more than three decades after Dover's Monster looked like a green dinosaur - Miles the Monster® has become an unmistakable part of the Speedway's identity.

The dinosaur is part of Dover history. Miles the Monster® became The Monster Mile.