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NASCAR revamps format for first All-Star Race at Dover

By Thomson Reuters Feb 25, 2026 | 9:32 PM

A change in venue isn’t the only difference on deck for NASCAR’s All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway ​this season, the league announced on ‌Wednesday.

The 350-lap marathon is set to take place at the “Monster Mile” in Delaware on May 17, with a $1 million purse at stake, a move from ‌North ​Wilkesboro, N.C., where the event ⁠took place the ⁠past two seasons.

North Wilkesboro instead will host a race on July 19.

The race at Dover will be broken into three segments, ​consisting of two sections of 75 laps apiece and a 200-lap final leg.

The ⁠top 26 finishers of ⁠the first leg invert position for ​the next segment. The results from each of ​the first two segments will be ‌averaged together to help determine the field for the 200-lap finish, which also will feature Cup Series winners from the past two ⁠years, ex-Cup Series winners still with a full-time ride plus a fan vote winner.

Seventeen drivers are ⁠already locked ‌into All-Star Race berths: Christopher ⁠Bell, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Chase ​Briscoe, ‌Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross ​Chastain, Austin ⁠Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen and Bubba Wallace.

Bell took the checkered flag at the 2025 All-Star Race.

–Field ​Level Media