We’ve reached NASCAR All-Star Race weekend, and it’s already a weird feeling with the race being contested during the day and at Dover Motor Speedway of all places. But to top it all off, we have one of the strangest formats in the history of the All-Star Race — which is saying something as NASCAR’s mid-season exhibition event has had some real doozies over the years format-wise.
But this season, 19 drivers come into Sunday’s All-Star Race knowing that they are locked into the final segment of the All-Star Race, where $1 million is on the line. And while those drivers usually don’t have anything to worry about as the remainder of the field fight it out for a chance to advance to the big-money race through the All-Star Open, there is no All-Star Open Race this year.
All-Star Race Entry List: Which 19 Drivers Are Locked Into the All-Star Race Final Segment? And Which 17 Are Still Fighting For a Spot? | 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race Format
Instead, the NASCAR All-Star Race will feature a 36-car field through the opening two 75-lap segments of the race. At the conclusion of the opening two segments of the race, six drivers will advance to the final segment of the All-Star Race by way of their results from the opening two segments, joining the 19 other drivers, who are already locked into the final segment.
One more driver will make it into the final segment, a 200-lap battle for $1 million, through a fan vote.
For drivers, like Ryan Blaney, who are already locked into the final segment, what is the thought process going into Sunday’s All-Star Race, where 17 other drivers, who are desperate to make it into the final Stage, will be duking it out alongside them for 150 laps?
“Hope you don’t get run over by some of those guys that need to get in,” Blaney said in a Zoom call with media on Tuesday.
But it’s not as simple as just steering clear of the 17 desperate drivers in the field. A driver like Blaney can’t just drop to the rear of the pack and wait for the final segment of the All-Star Race.
Well, I guess they could… but then they would be in a horrible spot to chase for the $1 million in the final segment, as the starting lineup for the final segment of the race is based on a driver’s average finish through the opening two segments of the All-Star Race.
So, if you want to maximize your chances of taking home the $1 million prize, you can’t putt-putt around at the back. So, the locked-in guys will have to keep tabs on who they are racing around all day long on Sunday.
“I mean, we’re going to be aware, I’ll be aware of who is not locked in,” Blaney explained, “and then you just take into account that this person might be desperate to get in, which you know, they have to do everything they need to do to go try to race for a million dollars. You just take all of that into account of who you’re racing around, and the situation that you’re in.”
It’ll be an interesting dynamic through the opening 150 laps of Sunday’s All-Star Race to see how the locked-in All-Star drivers navigate running around the drivers looking to get into the final segment, and it’ll be intriguing to see if anyone steps over the line in their pursuit of making it into the final segment through the opening two segments of the race.
With Dover Motor Speedway being a “self-cleaning race track” where single-car incidents quickly evolve into track-blocking pileups, carnage could ensue in segments 1 and 2.
Sunday’s All-Star Race will be either the most chaotic version of the All-Star Race we’ve ever seen, or it’ll be a cursed edition of the race that nobody wants to remember occurring at the 1-mile Dover Motor Speedway. We’ll have to wait and see which outcome we’re handed on Sunday.
