DOVER, Del. (AP) — In the debut of the All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway, the Monster Mile lived up to its billing as one of NASCAR’s most treacherous tracks.
Even for winner Denny Hamlin, surviving Dover was a high-wire test for the $1 million prize.
Rebounding from a qualifying spin to start from the pole position, Hamlin steered clear of trouble on Sunday for his second NASCAR All-Star Race victory. He led the final 30 laps and outdueled Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe while avoiding the eight caution flags that involved 23 of 36 drivers in the field, which was inverted after the first 75-lap segment.
“It makes it a lot easier when you’ve got a car this fast,” said Hamlin, whose No. 11 Toyota led a race-high 103 of 200 laps in the last segment. “We strive to be No. 1, and we did it today. It really challenged us to have to go through traffic, but I definitely like the invert. Obviously, it caused some chaos there and took out some good cars, but overall, it’s a typical All-Star Race when that stuff happens.”
Briscoe finished 0.887 seconds behind Hamlin with a No. 19 Toyota that was heavily damaged in a practice crash Saturday.
“It was obviously a really fast car,” Briscoe said after his career-best second in the All-Star Race. “I’m just proud of our group. I knocked the wall down in practice, and we basically rebuilt the whole car. So for them to be able to just get the car back to where it was competitive, it says a lot about the guys.”
It’s the third consecutive win on the 1-mile oval for Hamlin, who won points races at Dover in 2024 and last year. He also started from the pole when he won the All-Star Race in 2015 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. At 45, Hamlin became the second-oldest winner of the All-Star Race after Mark Martin (who was 46 in 2005).
Erik Jones, who was involved in a nine-car crash to end the first segment, completed a top-three sweep by Toyota, followed by Austin Dillon and rookie Connor Zilisch.
Several crashes during the first two 75-lap segments collected more than half the 36-car field. There were 19 drivers locked into the 200-lap dash for $1 million, but Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain still were eliminated because their cars could not be repaired, and backups weren’t allowed.
The field was narrowed to 26 cars for the final segment. Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell started the last stage with cars that were damaged and slower than the rest.
Larson retired from the race with 60 laps remaining because of a power steering failure.
By winning an online fan vote, Daniel Suarez advanced to the final segment with a damaged car and finished four laps down.
Untimely exits
Elliott, voted eight times as the most popular driver in the Cup Series, was knocked out after his No. 9 Chevrolet was caught in two wrecks during the first segment.
“It was pretty wild,” said Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion and 2020 All-Star Race winner. “I hate to get caught up in that. I knew better. I saw it getting crazy. I should have bailed.”
Chastain was eliminated in a three-car crash on the sixth lap of the second segment.
“Bummer, because we thought we executed that first stage really well,” Chastain said. “We weren’t passing anybody, but we were able to maintain, which has not been the case for this downforce package. The car drove a lot better, so a lot to look forward to if we can take another step like that.”
Early crash
The event got off to a fiery start with a Lap 2 crash that involved three former All-Star Race winners. The wreck was triggered by Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver Ryan Preece, who came down the banking in Turn 1 and made contact with Todd Gilliland.
Larson, a three-time All-Star Race winner, hit the wall in his No. 5 Chevrolet after colliding with Gilliland’s No. 34 Ford. The pileup also included past All-Star winners and series champions Blaney and Elliott, as well as Daniel Suarez, John Hunter Nemechek and Michael McDowell.
Preece’s No. 60 Ford made a heavy impact with the outside wall, causing the rear end to erupt in flames. Preece climbed out unscathed and was quickly seen and released from the track’s infield care center.
“I’m fine, I seem to take big hits,” said Preece, who was involved in a memorable rollover in the August 2023 race at Daytona. “I don’t know what happened. But if it was anything, it was probably just too close on my part to go into Turn 1 and just got sideways. So if it was my fault, I’m sorry.”
Preece later took the blame in a social media post.
Up next
The Coca-Cola 600, the longest race of the season, will take place May 24 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chastain is the defending race winner (and is seeking his first victory since).