Everything To Know About The 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race

The NASCAR All-Star Race has a new venue for 2026. The 1-mile concrete oval at Dover Motor Speedway will play host to the $1 million-to-win event. It also has a new format, one designed for fans who are used to seeing the drivers compete for 400 laps in a points race. So we’ve tried to answer your questions about the event, which will go green with the first segment on Sunday, May 17 at 1:05 p.m. ET on FS1. Basically, what is the format? It is a three-segment race with a 36-car field for the first two 75-lap segments and then only 26 cars in the final 200-lap segment, which will include a competition caution around Lap 75. Who is locked into the final segment? There are 19 drivers locked into the final segment. There are 17 race winners from 2025-26: Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Carson Hocevar, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen and Bubba Wallace. There are also two former Cup champions: Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski. Who are the 17 drivers competing for the final seven spots? AJ Allmendinger, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, Cole Custer, Ty Dillon, Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson, Riley Herbst, Erik Jones, Michael McDowell, John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Preece, Zane Smith, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez, Cody Ware, and Connor Zilisch. How does qualifying work? Qualifying will be three laps. At the end of the second lap, drivers will come down pit road at pit-road speed for a four-tire pit stop (mock fueling but with no actual fuel) and then do another lap. The total time of the three-lap run will set the starting order for the opening segment. The time of the pit stop (in that timing section of pit road) will determine the pit-stop competition champion and pit stall selection order for the race. If there is a crew penalty for an infraction — like getting over the wall too soon or having a loose lug nut — there will be a 10-second penalty for the qualifying time and pit-stop competition. If there is a driver penalty for something like speeding or driving through an extra pit stall on entry or exit, that will be a 10-second penalty and will only be applied to the qualifying time and not the pit-stop competition. How will the final seven spots be determined? After the first 75-lap segment, the top 26 will be inverted for the second 75-lap segment. The drivers’ average finish of the first two segments will determine the starting order for the final 200-lap segment. The average finish of the first two segments will also determine six drivers among those who aren’t already locked in, and then the fan vote winner from the drivers remaining will get a spot in the field. Any ties will be broken by best finish. If two drivers had the same two finishes, the finish of Segment 1 will be the tiebreaker. What if a driver is qualified for the final segment but is out of the race? The field for the final 200 laps will be 26 cars. If any of the 19 drivers who had automatically qualified are out of the race, additional cars will be added based on average finish of the first two segments to get the field to 25 cars. And then of the remaining drivers, the fan vote winner is determined for the 26th spot. What other notable items are there for this race? — All laps count, green and yellow. — If a driver is a lap down after any of the segments, they are no longer a lap down at the start of the next segment. — There is no overtime in the first two segments and the event must end under green-flag conditions. NASCAR will have the option not to open pit road if the caution comes out in an attempt to end a segment under green. — Drivers have eight sets of tires for the event — six sets of sticker tires and two sets of scuffs from qualifying. They must start each segment on sticker tires and they will have only four sets of tires — all stickers — for the final 200-lap segment. — Teams will keep their pit stalls for the entire event. There won’t be any moving into a pit stall of a team that was eliminated after the second segment. What does the winner get? The winner of the race earns $1 million. The overall purse of the event, at $3,093,000, is about $8 million less than an actual race event. The pit-crew challenge winners earn $100,000. All charter teams must participate.