Denny Hamlin recovered from a heart-stopping spin to claim pole position for the 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover, while the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team won the Pit Crew Challenge.
Saturday’s qualifying at Dover Motor Speedway was memorable because it combined speed, precision, and mistakes in a format that punished any slip on the one-mile concrete oval.
NASCAR used a three-lap qualifying procedure for the All-Star event, with drivers taking the green flag, completing a full lap at speed, making a mandatory four-tire pit stop on the second lap, and then racing to the checkered flag, with elapsed time from green to checkered deciding the pole.
Denny Hamlin’s run was the headline moment because it nearly unraveled before it even got going. He was the 35th of 36 drivers to attempt qualifying, and shortly after entering the banking in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, he lost control and spun.
That spin did not end his chances as Hamlin regrouped under the assistance of his pit crew and posted a three-lap time average of 1 minute 49.298 seconds at 98.812 mph.
Hamlin said afterward that the track felt slippery and that he was trying to build tire temperature without flat-spotting the tires, which explains why the opening moments of the run were so delicate.
“I was just trying to get as much heat in the tires as I possibly could,” said Hamlin. “Just trying to feel it out, and it was slick. I just didn’t want to flat-spot them, and I still could feel a little vibration during the lap.
“The lap was still competitive, even though I didn’t do a great job with the tires on the warmup there. But hats off to the team, they’re the ones who keep you in the game. It’s all about the pit stop.”
Full 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race Qualifying Results and starting lineup at Dover
2026 NASCAR Dover All-Star weekend schedule: Start times, TV info
Brad Keselowski affirmed RFK Racing’s speed at Dover after coming close enough to claim the NASCAR All-Star pole with a lap of 1:49.442, but fell short by just over a tenth.
Erik Jones qualified third, followed by Ross Chastain and William Byron in fourth and fifth, respectively. Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Austin Cindric wrapped up the top ten.
On the other hand, Zane Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team won the Pit Crew Challenge with a 12.612s stop and claimed the $100,000 prize. Shane van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet crew took second with a 12.841s stop.
However, NASCAR All-Star qualifying session was not smooth for everyone, starting with Connor Zilisch who spun at the pit road entrance and was slapped with a 10-second time penalty for speeding.
John Hunter Nemechek, meanwhile, left the pits with an unsecured left-front wheel, and was forced to stop by his team. Moments later Ricky Stenhouse Jr spun at the exit of Turn 4, but avoided clipping the walls.
Zane Smith was handed a 10-second time penalty for speeding on pit entry, while Michael McDowell followed suit with two speeding penalties, relegating both from top of the timesheets.
AJ Allmendinger failed to qualify due to a battery issue as Ryan Preece copped a 10-second time penalty for blend line violation. Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher were later hit with 20-second time penalties for both blend line violation and speeding.
Daniel Suarez had the roughest ending among the incidents reported, as his No. 7 Chevrolet hit the wall after his right-front tire failed following the checkered flag.
Ryan Blaney, Carson Hocevar and Chase Elliott lost time to mistakes on pit road, all failing to secure their wheels and had to reverse back into their boxes.
Dover 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race format explained: New qualifying, race changes
