NASCAR All-Star Race Preview: New All-Star Race

NASCAR takes a break from the regular season schedule this Sunday afternoon to hold its annual All-Star Race festivities. Most fantasy racing leagues don't recognize this event in the fantasy racing season, but some do along with daily fantasy racing and many racing pools that form specifically for this event and its unique format. After a three-season stint at North Wilkesboro Speedway for this exhibition race, NASCAR has moved the event to Dover Motor Speedway. Not only do we have a new venue for this season's All-Star exhibition, but we also have a totally new format for the event itself. Gone is the All-Star Open (qualifying race) and now we only run a single event this weekend with all chartered teams making the field. That is not the only change to the format, as we'll explain further.  

This exhibition weekend begins on Saturday afternoon with pole qualifying. This will be a combination of single car runs and the pit crew challenge to determine the starting order for Sunday's race. Once the starting order is determined, the main event is Sunday afternoon and is broken down as follows: 350 total laps of the one-mile Dover oval broken down into three segments. The two opening segments are 75-laps each with a Top-26 field inversion between them. Then the final segment of 200 laps which only 26 drivers will advance into to battle for the win. Eligibility for the final segment is as follows: Race winners from the 2025-26 seasons, full-time past Cup Series champions, winner of an internet fan vote and the highest average finishers from the opening two segments. The stakes for this exhibition race are pretty high with a one million dollar purse going to the victor.  

Since this is an exhibition racing event and a departure from NASCAR's normal racing format, as well as a new track for the All-Star Race, we have to look at performance statistics a bit differently this week. We have opted for the recent standard statistics from the last five points races at the Monster Mile. This recent sampling will be the basis for our analysis this week as well as the drivers who have performed well on the smaller ovals (one-mile in size or less) thus far in the 2026 season. The stats below are the standard scoring stats from the last five races at Dover Motor Speedway.

This weekend's race is unlike any of the normal Cup Series events, so we'll handle the prognostications a bit differently as well.  We'll give you our top picks for those who'll contend for the win in the Cup Series All-Star Race.

The All-Star Contenders – Drivers in the Hunt for the Win

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 2:30 PM ET Wednesday

Chase Elliott (+650) – Elliott is the 2020 All-Star winner and he has a track record of performing well in these exhibition races despite the fact that they've moved venues in recent seasons. That 2020 victory is noteworthy because it too came on a short track in Bristol. Elliott has finished fifth-, eighth- and fifth-place in his last three All-Star attempts which came on the short oval in North Wilkesboro. The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet is a two-time winner already this season and he's also a two-time winner at the Monster Mile. In his last race at Dover, Elliott won the pole and led a staggering 238 laps before finishing sixth-place last July. We believe he'll be one of the top drivers to beat this weekend in this unique All-Star clash.    

Denny Hamlin (+370) – Hamlin has been strong on the short tracks dating back to last fall. The Joe Gibbs Racing star has two pole positions, a runner-up finish, two Top 5's and four Top 10's in his last five starts on ovals one-mile in size or less. Over that span he's led a series-best 505 laps. That's a lot of time spent up front on the small ovals. Hamlin is a one-time All-Star victor (2015) and he's finished runner-up twice in this exhibition event since 2022 which has been the recent short track focus of the All-Star Race. He's won the last two points races at Dover Motor Speedway and has three-career wins at this track to his credit. That makes this driver and team incredibly dangerous in Sunday's All-Star exhibition at the Monster Mile.  

Kyle Larson (+550) – The three-time All-Star winner and two-time Open winner checks in near the top of the contenders list this week. Larson has been a real performer in these exhibition races with three All-Star wins, one runner-up All-Star performance and two victories in the All-Star Open. He dominated this event three seasons ago on the North Wilkesboro oval and carries that experience into this weekend. The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet has been one of the top performers in short track racing recently. His last five starts on ovals one-mile in size or less has netted four Top-5 and five Top-10 finishes. That dazzling 4.6 average finish over the span is difficult to ignore. Couple that with his history of performing well in this exhibition race, and you have the makings of a top contender to win.

Ryan Blaney (+850) – The Penske Racing star won the 2022 All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in the event's last appearance at that oval before moving to North Wilkesboro. Blaney has been arguably the top short track performer dating back to last fall. The driver of the No. 12 Ford has two victories and two runner-up finishes on the short track circuit in his last five starts. The 417 laps led over that span tell the true story of his dominance. Blaney has not been a career-long performer at Dover Motor Speedway so we've pushed him down the list this week just a bit. However, he does ride a three-race Dover Top-10 streak into this weekend's action and that shows how much he's improved recently at this track.    

Christopher Bell (+900) – Last season's All-Star victor was the first time Bell had collected the win in this prestigious exhibition race. The Joe Gibbs Racing star won in a strong performance at North Wilkesboro Speedway last season. For an encore he comes to the Monster Mile this weekend to defend his event crown. Bell has been a mixed bag performer at the Dover oval but he has qualified very well here in recent races and Bell even led 67 laps in last season's Dover points race. The driver of the No. 20 Toyota has been pretty zeroed-in on the small ovals the last several attempts. He has three Top-10 finishes (60-percent) in his last five small track races and a steady 10.8 average finish over that span. If you're looking for a driver that could upset some of the bigger names this weekend, Bell is likely it.  

Tyler Reddick (+1300) – Reddick has yet to win his first All-Star race in four attempts but he's seemingly inching closer. A third- and seventh-place finish in the last two at North Wilkesboro are good indicators of improvement. The 23XI Racing star has been turning all things to gold thus far in this storybook season for this driver and team. Reddick has not been a big Dover performer in recent trips to the Monster Mile, but he has been decent with a 40-percent Top-10 rate and 13.6 average finish dating back to 2021. He has qualified well though and for a shorter exhibition race, which may just do the trick. Reddick recently qualified on the outside pole and finished fourth on the high banks of Bristol and that's a great indicator for success.        

Ty Gibbs (+1200) – The young driver of the No. 54 Toyota has been pretty stout in recent short track races. Gibbs grabbed a win at Bristol earlier in the season and rides a three-race Top-5 streak on short tracks into this weekend's All-Star Race. He's not been a big performer in this exhibition event yet with only two starts in this race. However, Gibbs has been impactful by winning and finishing runner-up in two of the last three All-Star Open's at North Wilkesboro. That's a good look going into Dover Motor Speedway for this All-Star Race. Gibbs has finished 10th- and fifth-place in his last two points races at Dover Motor Speedway, so the improvement in his performance here has been obvious.       

Alex Bowman (+1100) – While Bowman is still trying to get his momentum going after a brief spell out of the car earlier this spring with vertigo symptoms, we simply can't overlook how good he's been at the Monster Mile in recent years. The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet has one victory, three Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes in his last five races at Dover Motor Speedway. The 4.3 average finish over that five-race span leads all drivers. In his last race at the track last July, Bowman started mid-field and raced to an impressive third-place finish. He's never won the All-Star Race, but this change of venues could be the catalyst that makes that happen. Bowman sports a five-race All-Star Race Top-10 streak going into this weekend's action.