Hamlin Wins All-Star Race at Dover!

Denny Hamlin celebrates his big win burning it down! ( Justin Horacio | Motorsports Today )

DOVER, D.E. - The NASCAR Cup Series had its final planned exhibition race of the 2026 season, Sunday, May 17, as the series took on the "Monster Mile" known as Dover Motor Speedway for the All-Star Race. With one million dollars on the line and an added resin from top to bottom groove of the track, the race was anything but tame.

Segment One:

Chaos caught the race immediately as it only took a single lap before the first caution of the race came out. Coming out of turn four Roush Fenway Keselowski's Ryan Preece spun off the nose of Front Row Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland, triggering a nine car crash.

Also involved in the crash were three race favorites, the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott both were involved, along with Penske Racing's Ryan Blaney.

All three of these drivers continued on after the crash, but only Blaney and Larson finished the race. Elliott's day ended in the closing laps of segment one after teammate Alex Bowman made contact with 23XI racing's Riley Herbst triggering an eight car incident.

As result of the crash 23XI caught some brief luck as Bubba Wallace secured the segment one victory, but his luck quickly dwindled away in the second segment.

Segment Two:

Due to the inversion, Wallace had to start in the back of the field. On lap seven of segment two, RFK's Brad Keselowski and Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain tangled also involving Wallace as an innocent bystander in the crash.

Wallace went to the garage for repairs, but wouldn't show any pace when he returned to the race in the third segment.

As for the winner of segment two, heading into the weekend Wallace's teammate Tyler Reddick had never led a single lap at the Monster Mile despite averaging a finish of 14th at the track in seven races. But, that all changed as once the cautions calmed down, Reddick found his #45 in the lead, allowing 23XI to sweep the segments.

With multiple cars that were locked into the third segment out of the race, more cars who had to race their way in had opportunity to advance. As a result, none of the open drivers inside the advertised top five of fan voting found themselves advancing to the show through the provisional. Rather, it went to the next best in votes, Daniel Suarez who found himself damaged back on the lap two caution in segment one.

Suarez had a unique look during the race as his damage caused the team to tape a makeshift #7 on his left door, so NASCAR was able to read his number. Fittingly with the chaos, everybody's favorite amigo got a second chance and finished 21st.

Segment Three:

The final segment became a fairly competitive race after the competition caution came out on lap 75. The battle for the win consisted of two JGR teammates, as it was a replay of the summer previous as both Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin duked it out for the win.

Briscoe led most of the way, but in the closing laps it was too hard to deny the Progressive Toyota, as Hamlin powered around Briscoe on the outside cruising his way to victory.

Tyler Reddick caught bad luck as with 32 laps to go he found himself on pit road after having a mechanical issue. He finished 32nd.

As for the rest of the top five, it consisted of great stories!

Legacy's Erik Jones recorded his best finish at Dover with a strong day and a third place result. Austin Dillon collected his first top ten finish the weekend previous, earning a 4th.

Lastly, Connor Zilisch has had a tough 2026 rookie campaign, but he was simply an all-star on Sunday. Outside of the 19 and 11, Zilisch had arguably the best car on the long run. Zilisch showed speed all day long proving his potential leading into the most crucial portion of the season.

RESULTS:

Results Provided Via NASCAR Timing and Scoring

Up Next:

The NASCAR Cup Series heads home for its longest scheduled mileage race of the season in 2026, as the series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. Green flag is slated for 6:00 PM E.T. as the series caps off another three race weekend. Coverage switches over to Amazon Prime, as the network will begins its portion of coverage. Radio coverage can be found via MRN.

Last season Ross Chastain took home the Crown Jewel victory, stunning the field after passing William Byron in the closing laps of the race. Chastain looks to defend his crown in efforts of turning his season around. The race is also unique for another purpose, as it will be the only race of the season with four stages.