There is a million dollars on the line this Sunday, and the field has to go through Kyle Larson to get it. NASCAR has dramatically shifted gears for the 2026 All-Star Race. After a three-year stint at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway, the exhibition event has moved to the high-banked, unforgiving concrete of Dover Motor Speedway.
Something the fans would know as the “Monster Mile.” To match the brutality of the track, NASCAR has introduced, in our opinion, a scary format. A 350-lap marathon that will whittle the 36-car field down to a final, 26-driver, 200-lap shootout for the $1million grand prize.
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And based on Friday’s extended 90-minute practice session, the man to beat is exactly who everyone feared it would be.
Kyle Larson’s Masterclass
Larson, driving the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, completely dismantled the speed charts during the opening session. The reigning 2025 NASCAR Cup Series champion laid down a blistering lap of 22.792 seconds (157.950 mph), edging out Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin.
For the rest of the garage, Larson’s speed is a terrifying prospect. While he hasn’t found Victory Lane yet in a somewhat frustrating start to the 2026 points-paying season, his record in this specific exhibition event is borderline mythical.
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Larson is already a three-time All-Star Race winner, and incredibly, he has won those three events on three completely different types of tracks:
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Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile intermediate) in 2019
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Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile quad-oval) in 2021
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The resurrected short track of North Wilkesboro in 2023
When asked about the prospect of conquering a fourth unique venue for the $1million prize, Larson remained chillingly calm. “All my All-Star wins have come at different tracks,” Larson noted after pacing the Friday session. “I think just to add another track would mean just as much as adding another [win]. To me, it doesn’t feel any different, just pays more.”
The Target on the No. 5
But there is a twist. You see, the format of the 2026 event guarantees absolute chaos. The 350-lap main event is broken into segments, starting with an enhanced Saturday qualifying session featuring a full-speed lap followed by the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge.
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Now, the pit crew with the fastest, penalty-free stop dictates pit selection for Sunday. Instead of the traditional All-Star Open, the qualifying results determine the full field for Segment 1 (a 75-lap sprint). Segment 2 will see a massive inversion of the top 26 drivers from the first segment.
Finally, the field will be reduced to just 26 drivers for the final 200-lap sprint to the $1million check. To survive the Monster Mile for 350 laps, a driver needs absolute precision, flawless pit stops, and raw, unadulterated speed. On Friday, Kyle Larson proved he has the latter in spades. The rest of the field now has 24 hours to figure out how to stop the No. 5, or the million dollars is already gone.
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