Overview
- Hamlin, who won Sunday at Dover, passed Chase Briscoe with about 30 laps to go and won by 0.887 seconds, with Erik Jones, Austin Dillon and rookie Connor Zilisch completing the top five.
- The exhibition debuted a three-stage setup with 75-, 75- and 200-lap segments for a full 36-car field, an inversion of the top 26 after Segment 1, and advancement based on 19 locked-in spots, six on combined finishes, and one fan vote.
- A fiery Lap-2 crash involving Ryan Preece triggered a red flag and collected multiple cars, setting a chaotic tone that left several damaged entries off the pace for the rest of the day.
- With no backup cars permitted, some locked-in stars never made the 200-lap finale, including Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain, after their teams could not complete repairs.
- Post-race reaction centered on the long, daytime format that many said felt like a points event, and calls grew for NASCAR to return Dover to the regular-season schedule as officials map out 2027.