NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE (DOVER)
Friday, May 15 — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 5 p.m. ET (FS1)
Sunday, May 17– NASCAR Cup Series, 1 p.m. ET (FS1)
NASCAR is taking its annual All-Star Race to Dover Motor Speedway for the first time and there will be at least five Ford Racing drivers in the final 26-car, 200 lap segment for Sunday’s scheduled race. Joey Logano (2016 and 2024) has a pair of All-Star Race wins to his credit while Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney has one (2022).
LOCKED IN
As noted above, there are five Ford Racing drivers who are locked in for the final 200-lap segment that will feature 26 cars. Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano are all guaranteed spots after posting at least one victory last year. The remaining drivers can make their way into the field through either the fan vote or by having one of the lowest combined finishing positions from the first two segments.
MULTIPLE ALL-STAR WINNERS
Logano’s win in 2024 put him in a select group of Ford drivers who have won the NASCAR All-Star Race more than once. The only others to do it are Davey Allison and Mark Martin. Allison was the first driver to win the non-points exhibition in back-to-back years (1991-92) and then Jimmie Johnson joined him (2012-13). Martin’s victories came in 1998 and 2005 driving the famed No. 6 Ford for car owner Jack Roush. Logano could become the fifth person overall to win the event more than two times if he finds Victory Lane on Sunday.
RYAN BLANEY: “When I was growing up, the All-Star race was always a fun two weeks at Charlotte. You go from the All-Star race, to the [Coca-Cola] 600. Watching dad go through it was always unique, understanding it’s a ‘no holds barred’ type of race. I was fortunate enough to win it a few years ago, and I think it’s unique that they’ve switched it around. Everyone knows what you’re going for, and no one’s worried about points. You make a weekend out of it, especially when you get to go to new places. Moving that race to a different racetrack like Dover is fun. Throw everything out the window, old money racing.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI: “I like the schedule variation of moving the tracks around year-over-year. I don’t think Dover has ever had an All-Star race. The format for the All-Star race is compelling, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. There are a lot of unknowns.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC: “I love Dover. It’s one of my favorite tracks whether we’re going there racing for one million dollars or for a bunch of points. I’m just glad we’re going. It should be an interesting race having all the cars out there under a new format. It’ll be a cool place for it. I don’t know if they have Miles [the Monster] holding the cash, but I’ll try to take it from him.”
TODD GILLILAND: “It’s going to be interesting. It’s a good opportunity to try something different at Dover. I’m excited about the resin on the racetrack, and for someone who has yet to make an All-Star race, I’m getting to run more of it than probably ever. Considering the format and from a fan’s perspective, it’s exactly what you want. When I’m watching other races, I’m like ‘Yeah, let’s invert the Top-10.’ When you’re in the car, it can be challenging because the leaders get pushed to the back. But, it should be really entertaining and as a competitor, I hope that I’m in that Top-20.”
LOGANO DOMINATES NORTH WILKESBORO
In 2024, Joey Logano dominated the NASCAR All-Star Race like nobody ever had, leading all but one of the 200 laps and winning the $1 million bonus for the second time in his career. Logano won the pole, thanks in part to his pit crew that put together a solid pit stop in a modified qualifying format, and never looked back once the green flag fell. He bolted to the lead on the softer tire compound that Goodyear made available, in addition to the regular tires usually used on race weekends, and controlled the race until the checkered flag.
BLANEY NETS TEXAS ALL-STAR WIN
Ryan Blaney drove to his first victory in the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in 2022 as he led 84 of the 140 laps. The triumph came in his sixth start in the annual All-Star exhibition, which was held for just the second time at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth track. Blaney had to outlast the field in an overtime session, forced by Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s crash with Blaney just a short distance from the checkered flag. The caution lights illuminated to force the extra laps, but Blaney — thinking he had won — had lowered his window net on what he thought was the cool-down lap. After struggling to get it fastened, he held on in the final two-lap dash to the end.
LOGANO AND KESELOWSKI FINISH 1-2
Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski made All-Star history as they became the first teammates to sweep the top two spots in the All-Star Race when they did it in 2016. Logano came out on top of a side-by-side battle with Kyle Larson in the final two laps, getting clear with just over one lap to go after Larson hit the outside wall coming off turn two. That enabled Keselowski to get the runner-up spot and successfully commemorate the 50th Anniversary of car owner Roger Penske’s career in motorsports. It marked Ford’s 11th All-Star Race win and first in five years since Edwards won in 2011.
ELLIOTT THRILLS HOMETOWN FANS WITH ATLANTA WIN
The first time Ford won the All-Star Race was in 1986 when Bill Elliott drove his Thunderbird to Victory Lane, but that race is remembered for another trivial fact as well. That marked the only time, prior to this year, that the event has been run at a track other than Charlotte Motor Speedway. Elliott’s home track of Atlanta Motor Speedway served as host on Mother’s Day that year, a date NASCAR traditionally does not race. With only 10 cars making up the field, Elliott darted to the lead from his outside front row starting position and never gave it up as he led all 83 laps en route to a popular victory with the fans.
WALTRIP-WOOD FIRST-TIME WINNERS
Michael Waltrip’s win in 1996 marked his first victory in NASCAR’s top division and was the first in the event for Wood Brothers Racing. Waltrip almost didn’t get into the big show because he had to battle it out in the preliminary Winston Open, where he grabbed the final transfer spot by holding off Johnny Benson to finish fifth. That meant he started last in the 20-car main event, which was called the Winston Select. After the first two 30-lap segments had been completed, Waltrip found himself fourth for the final 10-lap shootout. He passed Rusty Wallace for third after an aborted restart, and then was riding behind Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte, who were battling side-by-side. As the two entered turn one with eight laps to go, they made contact which slowed them down enough to allow Waltrip to dart to the inside and pass both of them for the lead. He held on the rest of the way to post his first win of any kind in NASCAR’s top division.
MONSTER MILE DEBUTS
This weekend will mark the first race for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Dover Motor Speedway since 2020, which means a number of current Ford Racing drivers have little or no experience on the Monster Mile. In fact, the only one with more than two starts is Ben Rhodes, who has six overall and four straight top 10 finishes. Rhodes, who raced at Dover for the first time in 2014, was fifth in ‘20. Chandler Smith and Ty Majeski each have one start while Jake Garcia, Cole Butcher and Layne Riggs will all be making their series debuts.
SMITH AND RIGGS IN TOP THREE
The Front Row Motorsports tandem of Chandler Smith and Layne Riggs come into this weekend’s race ranked second and third respectively in the series point standings. Each driver has one win with Smith’s coming in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway and Riggs getting his on the street course in St. Petersburg. The ThorSport duo of Ben Rhodes and Ty Majeski are sixth and seventh.
FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES
ALL-STAR RACE WINNERS
1986 – Bill Elliott (Atlanta)
1991 – Davey Allison (Charlotte)
1992 – Davey Allison (Charlotte)
1994 – Geoffrey Bodine (Charlotte)
1996 – Michael Waltrip (Charlotte)
1998 – Mark Martin (Charlotte)
2002 – Ryan Newman (Charlotte)
2004 – Matt Kenseth (Charlotte)
2005 – Mark Martin (Charlotte)
2011 – Carl Edwards (Charlotte)
2016 – Joey Logano (Charlotte)
2018 – Kevin Harvick (Charlotte)
2022 – Ryan Blaney (Texas)
2024 – Joey Logano (North Wilkesboro)
NASCAR CUP SERIES DOVER WINNERS
1969 – Richard Petty
1978 – Bobby Allison (2)
1980 – Bobby Allison (1)
1981 – Jody Ridley and Neil Bonnett
1985 – Bill Elliott
1986 – Ricky Rudd (2)
1987 – Davey Allison and Ricky Rudd
1988 – Bill Elliott (Sweep)
1990 – Bill Elliott (2)
1994 – Rusty Wallace (Sweep)
1997 – Ricky Rudd and Mark Martin
1998 – Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin
1999 – Mark Martin (2)
2004 – Mark Martin (1)
2005 – Greg Biffle (1)
2006 – Matt Kenseth (1)
2007 – Carl Edwards (2)
2008 – Greg Biffle (2)
2011 – Matt Kenseth (1)
2018 – Kevin Harvick (1)
2020 – Kevin Harvick (2)
FORD’S NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES DOVER WINNERS
2000 – Kurt Busch
2006 – Mark Martin
2015 – Tyler Reddick
2019 – Johnny Sauter
The Ford Mustang is the world’s best selling sports car and one of its most popular race cars. With Mustang-based race cars competing in international sports car competition (GT3 and GT4), NASCAR, NHRA, Formula Drift, in Supercars, at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and in its own bespoke regional one-make series – Mustang Cup and Mustang Challenge – the platform has an unprecedented global reach. This weekend, 17 Mustang race cars are scheduled to race across all disciplines. Learn more about Mustang at www.FordRacing.com .
