Denny Hamlin Tops Dover All-Star Grid After Late Qualifying Charge
DOVER, Del.—Denny Hamlin has claimed pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race (1 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX Deportes, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in a late qualifying session effort, unseating owner-driver Brad Keselowski in the final minutes of Saturday’ unique three-lap bid to set the field at Dover Motor Speedway.
The next to last driver to qualify, Hamlin spun his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the warm-up lap just as he took to the one-mile high-banked track but recovered and excelled when it mattered – taking the lead starting position by .149-second over Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford.
“Quite eventful for sure,” Hamlin conceded of his lap, insisting he’d never really been remarkably fast in this style of qualifying format.
“I just spun out. I don’t know. I didn’t think I was being that aggressive but spun out. At that point, just tried to minimize the damage. … That wasn’t ideal, but then I just committed to run the lap as hard as I could, and it was still good enough.”
“It’s risk versus reward and certainly challenges the driver…. But definitely a team effort.”
Zane Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford team won Saturday’s $100,000 Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge, establishing themselves best on the speed chart early in the session and their work ultimately proving unbeatable. Although Smith’s overall speed places him 25th on the starting grid, the Pit Stop Challenge win earned the team first pit stall selection Sunday – something that could be the difference in advancing Smith into the 200-lap finale.
The pole position was based on a three-lap run that also included the timed pit stop on the second lap. Late in the session, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson seemed to have bettered Keselowski’s early work, but Larson received penalties for being too fast on pit road and not blending properly back onto The Monster Mile’s high banks – the time penalty ultimately costing the three-time All-Star race winner a front row spot. And Hamlin topped both drivers in the end.
Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron rounded out the five fastest cars. Defending All-Star Race winner, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell was sixth fastest.
Several perennial favorites struggled during the unique qualifying format with pit road miscues and/or time penalties, including rookie Connor Zilisch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez along with former series champs Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, who had slow stops.
This marks the first time the series has held its annual $1 million to-win, All-Star Race at the concrete Dover Motor Speedway. It will include two 75-lap segments and then a 200-lap finale to settle the big check.
There are 19 drivers currently in the 200-lap final segment and trophy-determining portion of the event – including NASCAR Cup Series championship leader Tyler Reddick and fellow 2026 race winners Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar. Joining them are 2025 race winners Hamlin, Shane Van Gisbergen, Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Byron, Larson, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Josh Berry, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace and Bell.
Kyle Busch, who won Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Dover, also has an automatic spot on the grid as a former All-Star race winner – as does Keselowski as a former series champion.
The first two segments of Sunday’s event are 75-laps followed by the 200-lap finale which includes the 19 drivers locked in, plus the six best performing drivers from the opening segments and the “Fan Vote” winner.
Starting Line Up by Row
Dover Motor Speedway
NASCAR All-Star Race
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 5/16/2026 @ 02:17 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Kyle Larson 10/06/19 02:56:49 135.734
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 11 Denny Hamlin Progressive Insurance Toyota 109.298 98.812
2 6 Brad Keselowski Solomon Plumbing Ford 109.442 98.682
Row 2: 3 43 Erik Jones AdventHealth Toyota 109.880 98.289
4 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Chevrolet 109.911 98.261
Row 3: 5 24 William Byron Axalta Solar Boost Chevrolet 109.986 98.194
6 20 Christopher Bell Mobil 1 Toyota 110.110 98.084
Row 4: 7 23 Bubba Wallace Xfinity Toyota 110.247 97.962
8 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 110.353 97.868
Row 5: 9 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 110.412 97.815
10 2 Austin Cindric Freightliner Ford 110.431 97.799
Row 6: 11 8 Kyle Busch Lucas Oil Chevrolet 110.899 97.386
12 48 Alex Bowman Ally Dragons Chevrolet 110.907 97.379
Row 7: 13 4 Noah Gragson MillerTech Batteries Ford 111.090 97.218
14 45 Tyler Reddick ACM Awards/Pinnacle Toyota 111.244 97.084
Row 8: 15 10 Ty Dillon Patriot Mobile Chevrolet 111.341 96.999
16 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 111.643 96.737
Row 9: 17 3 Austin Dillon BREZTRI Chevrolet 112.028 96.404
18 97 Shane Van Gisbergen SafetyCulture Chevrolet 112.437 96.054
Row 10: 19 21 Josh Berry Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 112.618 95.899
20 34 Todd Gilliland Long John Silver's/Frank's Red Hot Ford 114.354 94.444
Row 11: 21 35 Riley Herbst TREETOP Toyota 114.469 94.349
22 41 Cole Custer Haas/Autodesk Chevrolet 114.988 93.923
Row 12: 23 51 Cody Ware Museum of the Bible Chevrolet 115.898 93.185
24 77 Carson Hocevar Miner Docks Doors and More Chevrolet 117.561 91.867
Row 13: 25 38 Zane Smith Aaron's Rent To Own Ford 119.295 90.532
26 60 Ryan Preece Mohawk Northeast Inc. Ford 121.433 88.938
Row 14: 27 88 Connor Zilisch # Jockey 150th Anniversary Chevrolet 123.135 87.709
28 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Wrangler Ford 127.145 84.942
Row 15: 29 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 129.216 83.581
30 71 Michael McDowell RCA Chevrolet 129.463 83.422
Row 16: 31 9 Chase Elliott Amazon Prime Chevrolet 133.365 80.981
32 17 Chris Buescher BuildSubmarines.com Ford 139.950 77.170
Row 17: 33 7 Daniel Suarez Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
34 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
Row 18: 35 42 John Hunter Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 0.000 0.000
36 16 AJ Allmendinger Celsius Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 17 0 Ford 10 0
Toyota 9 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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