Overview
- The 2026 All‑Star Race at Dover used a new format in which all 36 cars started and the field was progressively cut to 26 for a final 200‑lap segment, a change announced and run by NASCAR before the event.
- A multi‑car crash on Lap 2 and further incidents during the early segments damaged many locked‑in cars, forced lengthy garage repairs, and left several prequalified stars unable to contest the final segment.
- Observers from Fox Sports, Motorsport.com, Frontstretch and others sharply criticized the format as confusing and unfair, calling for the Open — a short qualifying race that traditionally lets outsiders race into the main event — to be reinstated.
- Denny Hamlin won the Dover All‑Star Race and the $1 million prize, and the broadcast averaged about 1.80 million viewers on FS1, but the post‑race conversation centered on format failures rather than the result.
- Commentators and former drivers proposed concrete fixes, including returning the Open with a single qualifying winner plus a Fan Vote, reducing the main‑event field, and moving the All‑Star Race back to Charlotte as NASCAR plans its 2027 schedule.