Dover Motor Speedway hasn't not hosted at least one NASCAR Cup Series points race in a season since 1968, which was before the track even opened.
But after the "Monster Mile", which had hosted two races per year from 1971 to 2020, lost its second race date in 2021, there started to be questions about the future of the four-turn, 1.0-mile (1.609-kilometer) high-banked Dover, Delaware oval's spot on the Cup Series calendar.
While the track is still on the schedule in 2026, it is on the schedule as the host of the All-Star Race. North Wilkesboro Speedway, which hadn't hosted a race since 1996, returned to the schedule as the host of the All-Star Race in 2023, and after three years of hosting the exhibition event, it is back on the calendar as the host of a points race for the first time in three decades.
With Dover's 57-year streak of hosting a points race at the Cup level now in the books, NASCAR has opted to change the format for mid-May's All-Star Race, which is set to see its fifth different venue over the past eight seasons after having once been a Charlotte Motor Speedway mainstay.
NASCAR creates new All-Star Race format for Dover
There are 17 drivers already locked into the 200-lap main event, which is considered the third "segment" under the new format. Those drivers have either won a race in 2025 or 2026 or won a Cup Series championship (and still compete full-time). All former All-Star Race winners among active drivers already fall into one or both of those categories.
There is no more All-Star Open. Everybody on the entry list is set to make a single-car qualifying attempt, before the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge. That challenge is set to take place on the second lap of qualifying and feature a four-tire stop with no refueling. Each driver is then set to race back to the start/finish line, and qualifying speeds are based on the total time from the green flag to the checkered flag, including the pit stop.
All-Star Race pit stall selection is set to be determined exclusively by the times posted by the pit crews in the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge.
Qualifying is set to take place on Saturday, May 16, ahead of the race itself on Sunday, May 17.
The full qualifying results are set to determine the full starting lineup for a 75-lap first "segment" of the All-Star Race. The top 26 finishers from the first segment are then set to start the second 75-lap segment in reverse order, with those who finished 27th or worse set to begin in their respective positions.
There are set to be 26 drivers in the 200-lap third segment. The top eight drivers in average finish across the first two segments, among those not already locked into the main event, are set to qualify, as is the winner of the NASCAR Fan Vote, again among those not already locked in.
The full 26-car starting lineup for that third segment is set to be determined by each driver's average finish across the first two segments, meaning that the polesitter could technically be somebody other than one of the 17 drivers already locked in.
Likewise, a driver who finishes outside of the top 26 in the first segment could still technically qualify for the third with a strong showing in the second, and vice versa.
But perhaps most importantly, the gimmicky "Promoter's Caution" is now a thing of the past. And hopefully it stays that way.
Fox Sports 1 is set to provide live coverage of the NASCAR All-Star Race starting at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 17. All action between now and then is set to be shown live on either Fox or Fox Sports 1, so start a free trial of FuboTV today and catch it all!