RICK WARE RACING NASCAR All-Star Race Date: May 17, 2026 Event: NASCAR All-Star Race (non-points event) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway (1-mile, concrete oval) Format: 350 laps, broken into three segments (75 laps/75 laps/200 laps)
● All-Star Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) ● Segment 1 Winner: Bubba Wallace of 23XI (Toyota)
Note: Top-26 drivers from Segment 1 were inverted for the start of Segment 2. Remainder of field lined up via finishing position.
● Segment 2 Winner: Tyler Reddick of 23XI (Toyota)
Note: Top-26 drivers based on combined results from Segments 1-2, plus past All-Star Race winners, past NASCAR Cup Series champions, and the fan vote winner, all advanced to the final segment to compete for the win.
Cody Ware Results:
● Segment 1: Started 23rd, Finished 31st / Running, completed 56 of 75 laps ● Segment 2: Started 31st, Finished 18th / Running, completed 75 of 75 laps
Race Notes:
● Denny Hamlin won the All-Star Race with a .887 of a second margin over runner-up Chase Briscoe. It was Hamlin’s second career All-Star Race victory.
Sound Bites:
“My team did a really good job. We were struggling and fighting with a lot of balance problems on corner entry in the first segment. It fired off a lot better in the second segment – we picked up half a second on our fastest lap. Obviously, there was a lot of attrition playing into the first two segments, and I don’t want to be cocky and present like we had the pace to make it into the final segment, but if we could’ve fired off with the pace we had at the end, then I think we would’ve been in a good position to advance.” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Museum of the Bible Chevrolet
Next Up:
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to points-paying racing on Sunday, May 24 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The longest race on the series’ schedule gets underway at 6 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by Prime and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Denny Hamlin etched himself as a two-time NASCAR All-Star Race champion after he capped off a bizarre, chaotic, and dominant run to beat teammate Chase Briscoe and win the featured event at Dover Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 17.
The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, started on pole position and dominated the All-Star Race’s first segment, where he led a race-high 53 laps before settling in the runner-up spot. After capturing a third-place result behind Tyler Reddick and teammate Chase Briscoe following the second segment, Hamlin was awarded the first-place starting spot for the third and final segment. This was due to achieving the lowest average finishing result between the first two segments.
After spending the final segment primarily swapping and battling for the lead with Reddick and Briscoe, Hamlin executed a race-winning crossover move on Briscoe with 30 laps remaining to assume the lead for the final time. From there, Hamlin, who led on five instances throughout the final segment, motored away from Briscoe to storm to his second All-Star Race career victory and first in 11 years.
The event’s starting lineup was determined in an on-track qualifying session. Each of the 36 competitors (those already locked into the All-Star Race and those who were not locked in) entered to compete in the event. This involved taking the green flag and completing a full cycle around Dover at full speed individually. During the second lap, the competitors would enter pit road, pit for four tires with no fuel added, re-enter the track, and race back to the checkered flag. The total time from the green flag to the checkered flag determined the event’s starting lineup.
At the conclusion of Saturday’s qualifying session, Denny Hamlin won his second All-Star pole position after he notched a three-lap qualifying trial run at 98.812 mph in 109.298 seconds. Brad Keselowski clocked in the second-fastest trial run at 98.682 mph in 109.442 seconds to start on the front row.
During the qualifying session, Zane Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford team won the 2026 Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge after they posted the fastest four-tire pit service at 12.612 seconds. As a result, they earned the competition’s $100,000 prize and the first pit stall selection for Sunday’s All-Star Race while Smith qualified in 25th place for the main event.
Before the event, AJ Allmendinger (unapproved adjustments), Cole Custer (unapproved adjustments), Daniel Suarez (backup car) and Cody Ware (unapproved adjustments) dropped to the rear of the field.
Entering the 2026 All-Star Race event, the competitors who were guaranteed starting spots for all three segments of the 2026 All-Star Race included Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Carson Hocevar, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen and Bubba Wallace.
Those who were only guaranteed starting spots for the first two segments include Zane Smith, Noah Gragson, Daniel Suarez, Ty Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Todd Gilliland, Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman, Cody Ware, Ryan Preece, Michael McDowell, and Connor Zilisch. As a result, they were tasked with securing the lowest combined finishing result between the first two stages, where only the top six competitors who achieved this task would transfer. The All-Star Race’s 26th and final starting spot would be awarded to the Fan Vote Winner.
First Segment
When the green flag waved, and the first segment commenced, Brad Keselowski, who started on the inside lane, motored past pole-sitter Denny Hamlin to assume the lead through the first two turns. Just after Keselowksi led the first lap, the event’s first caution flew when, amid a series of three-wide racing within the field, Ryan Preece made contact with Todd Gilliland while trying to steer to the left in front of Gilliland through the frontstretch. The contact got the latter duo along with Kyle Larson sideways before the trio wrecked hard against the outside wall through the first turn and left Preece’s damaged entry on fire. Other competitors involved included Cole Custer, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek, Michael McDowell and Daniel Suarez. The event was placed in a red flag period for 13 minutes and 26 seconds.
Once the red flag lifted and the event restarted under green on the sixth lap, the field fanned out as Keselowski used the inside lane to muscle ahead of Hamlin through the first two turns and the backstretch. Keselowski led the next lap and continued to lead at the Lap 10 mark, while Hamlin, William Byron, Ross Chastain, and Bubba Wallace followed suit.
On Lap 18, Hamlin drew himself beneath Keselowski amid a tight side-by-side battle and led a lap for himself. Amid Keselowski’s brief challenge through the fronstretch, Hamlin used the inside lane to motor ahead through the first two turns. Hamlin proceeded to lead by seven-tenths of a second on Lap 20, more than two seconds by Lap 25 and more than three seconds at the Lap 30 mark while Keselowski retained the runner-up spot ahead of Byron, Chastain, Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, respectively.
At the first segment’s halfway mark between Laps 37 and 38, Hamlin extended his advantage to more than four seconds over Byron as Byron overtook Keselowski for the runner-up spot on Lap 32. Behind, Wallace moved up to fourth place in front of Chastain. Reddick, Bell, Busch, Jones and Logano, while Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric, Carson Hover, Alex Bowman, Noah Gragson, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Connor Zilisch and Josh Berry trailed in the top 20. They were ahead of Ty Dillon, Riley Herbst, Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott, Shane van Gisbergen, AJ Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek, Chris Buescher and Zane Smith, all of whom were scored on the lead lap, respectively.
By Lap 50, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over Byron while Wallace trailed in third place by more than five seconds. Behind, teammate Reddick battled Keselowski for fourth place as Chastain, Bell, Busch, Jones and Briscoe raced in the top 10, with Briscoe trailing the lead by double digits. Hamlin continued to lead by more than four seconds just past the Lap 60 mark while Wallace trailed in the runner-up spot over Byron, Reddick and Chastain.
On Lap 62, the event’s second caution flew when Carson Hocevar blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4. During this caution period, some including Byron, Reddick, Suarez, Jones, Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell, Noah Gragson, Ty Dillon, Zane Smith, Josh Berry, AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher and John Hunter Nemechek, pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track. During the pit stops, Busch received a penalty for speeding on pit road.
With the first segment restarting with six laps remaining, Hamlin briefly rocketed away from the outside lane through the frontstretch before Wallace drag-raced against Hamlin for nearly a full lap. Then through Turns 3 and 4, Wallace overtook Hamlin for the lead and he led the next lap while the field behind fanned out and jostled for spots.
With three laps remaining in the first segment period, the caution returned when a multi-car wreck erupted through the frontstretch that involved Kyle Busch, Riley Herbst, Elliott, Zane Smith, Nemechek, Bell, Allmendinger, Jones and Buescher. The incident was enough for the first segment period scheduled to conclude on Lap 75 to officially conclude under caution. At the mark, Wallace was leading ahead of Hamlin, Chastain, Briscoe, Keselowski, Cindric, Byron, Logano, Austin Dillon and Reddick, respectively.
At the conclusion of the first segment, there were five lead changes for three different leaders, and a total of three cautions.
Photo by Logan Allen for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Segment 1 Results:
Bubba Wallace led six laps
Denny Hamlin, 53 laps led
Ross Chastain
Chase Briscoe
Brad Keselowski, 16 laps led
Austin Cindric
William Byron
Joey Logano
Austin Dillon
Tyler Reddick
Connor Zilisch
Michael McDowell
Erik Jones
Alex Bowman
Ty Gibbs
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ty Dillon
Josh Berry
Noah Gragson
Shane van Gisbergen
Zane Smith
AJ Allmendinger
Chris Buescher
Christopher Bell, two laps down
Riley Herbst, three laps down
John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down
Kyle Busch, three laps down
Chase Elliott, three laps down
Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident
Daniel Suarez, nine laps down
Cody Ware, 16 laps down
Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident
Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident
Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident
Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident
Cole Custer – OUT, Accident
Second Segment
Before the second segment, the entire field was pitted during the first segment’s break period. In addition, the second segment’s lineup was inverted for the top-26 finishers from the first segment’s results. The remaining competitors that finished 27th through 36th retained their respective starting lineup spots. Based on the inversion, Nemechek was awarded the pole position for the second segment. By then, however, Nemechek retired from further competition due to being involved in a pair of incidents, including the latest one that concluded the first segment. As a result, the competitor who got to lead the start of the second segment was AJ Allmendinger.
The start of the second segment featured teammates Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen dueling for the lead for a full lap as Allmendinger barely led the next lap over van Gisbergen. Allmendinger then motored ahead through the frontstretch and he set sail with the lead through the first two turns while Ty Dillon, Gragson and Stenhouse pursued in the top five, respectively.
On the sixth lap, the caution flew when Chastain and Keselowski made contact and wrecked through the backstretch while Wallace sustained minor damage to the front of his entry as he hit the left side of Keselowski’s wrecked entry.
As the second segment restarted on Lap 11, Allmendinger and van Gisbergen dueled for the lead for a full lap as van Gisbergen barely led the next lap from the inside lane. Both Kaulig Racing entries remained dead even over the next four laps before van Gisbergen, who had been using the inside lane to keep even with Allmendinger, got sideways and spun towards the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4. Van Gisbergen was able to proceed as the rest of the field dodged his spinning entry.
The next restart on Lap 20 featured Allmendinger jumping ahead of Reddick and muscling clear with the lead through the first two turns while teammate Ty Dillon overtook Reddick for the runner-up spot entering the backstretch. Allmendinger led the next lap and he retained the lead up until Lap 23 until Reddick assumed the lead during the next lap. Reddick proceeded to extend his lead to eight-tenths of a second by Lap 30 while Gragson, Ty Gibbs, Ty Dillon, Hocevar, Zilisch, Hamlin, Stenhouse, and Bowman trailed in the top 10, respectively.
At the second segment’s halfway mark between Laps 37 and 38, Reddick continued to lead by six-tenths of a second. Allmendinger, Gragson, Gibbs, Hocevar, Zilisch, Hamlin, Ty Dillon, Bowman, and Stenhouse were scored in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, McDowell, Jones, Briscoe, Byron, Logano, Cindric, Austin Dillon, Suarez, Berry, Cody Ware, and Zane Smith rounded out the 21-car field that were all scored on the lead lap, respectively.
Following a caution that flew on Lap 51 due to Ty Gibbs getting loose and spinning through the frontstretch, a majority of the field, led by Reddick, pitted. Select names led by Allmendinger and Jones remained on the track. The next restart on Lap 56 featured Allmendinger jumping ahead on his worn tires to maintain the lead over Jones while Briscoe overtook Jones through Turns 3 and 4 for the runner-up spot. Allmendinger continued to lead up until Lap 59 before Briscoe used the outside lane to overtake Allmendinger entering Turn 3 and assumed the lead for the next lap.
By Lap 65, Briscoe retained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Reddick before the latter returned atop the leaderboard during the next lap. Reddick proceeded to stretch his advantage to two seconds over Briscoe at the Lap 70 mark while Jones, Bowman, and Hamlin trailed in the top five ahead of Hocevar, Zilisch, Byron, McDowell, and Gragson, respectively.
As the second segment concluded on Lap 75, Reddick was scored as the leader by more than four seconds over Briscoe. Hamlin, Hocevar, Zilisch, Jones, Byron, Bowman, McDowell, and Gragson were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, the second segment generated nine lead changes for four different leaders, and three cautions.
Photo by Logan Allen for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Segment 2 Results:
Tyler Reddick, 39 laps led
Chase Briscoe led for seven laps
Denny Hamlin
Carson Hocevar
Connor Zilisch
Erik Jones
William Byron
Alex Bowman
Michael McDowell
Noah Gragson
Ty Dillon
Austin Cindric
Joey Logano
Austin Dillon
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Daniel Suarez
Josh Berry
Cody Ware
AJ Allmendinger, 27 laps led
Ty Gibbs, one lap down
Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down, two laps led
Zane Smith, six laps down
Riley Herbst, 11 laps down
Kyle Busch, 47 laps down
Brad Keselowski, 48 laps down
Christopher Bell, 53 laps down
Bubba Wallace, 59 laps down
Ryan Blaney, 62 laps down
Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident
John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident
Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident
Chase Elliott – OUT, Accident
Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident
Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident
Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident
Cole Custer – OUT, Accident
Third/Final Segment
At the conclusion of the second segment, the starting positions for the third and final segment were determined by the average finishing results between the first two segments. Hamlin was awarded the pole position for the final segment. He was followed by Briscoe, Reddick, Byron, Zilisch, Cindric, Jones, Logano, McDowell, and Bowman, respectively. Austin Dillon, Wallace, Keselowski, Hocevar, Ty Gibbs, Berry, van Gisbergen, Bell, Kyle Busch, Blaney, and Larson also participated in the final segment, with several names like Bell, Busch, Blaney, Larson and Wallace automatically cycling back on the lead lap despite being pinned several laps down following the first two segments from being involved in wrecks.
Meanwhile, the following names that included Zilisch, Jones, McDowell, Bowman, Ty Dillon, Gragson, Stenhouse and Allmendinger all transferred to the All-Star Race’s third and final segment. Suarez also transferred as the Fan Vote winner. On the contrary, the following 10 names that included Cole Custer, Ryan Preece, Todd Gilliland, Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher, John Hunter Nemechek, Ross Chastain, Riley Herbst, Zane Smith, and Cody Ware did not compete in the third and final segment due to either not achieving the highest-average finishing result or unable to continue from being involved in wreckages between the first two segments.
The start of the third and final segment featured teammates Hamlin and Briscoe dueling for the lead for a full lap as they drag-raced to start the next lap. Briscoe then used the outside lane through the backstretch to muscle ahead and clear Hamlin for the lead, where he led the next lap while Reddick tried to reel in Hamlin for the runner-up spot. With most of the field settling in single-line formation, Briscoe maintained a steady advantage just past the fifth lap mark over Hamlin while Reddick, Byron and Zilisch followed suit in the top five, respectively.
Just past the Lap 10 mark, Briscoe was leading by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Reddick, Byron, Zilisch, Cindric, Jones, Logano, McDowell and Bowman were racing in the top 10 ahead of Wallace, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Hocevar, Stenhouse, Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Gragson and Gibbs, respectively. Briscoe extended his lead to more than a second by Lap 25 as Reddick assumed the runner-up spot from Hamlin.
On Lap 40, Reddick reeled in and overtook Briscoe for the lead through the first two turns after Briscoe had issues navigating past Suarez to lap the latter. With the clean air to his advantage, Reddick proceeded to stretch his lead to eight-tenths of a second at the Lap 50 mark while Briscoe fended off Hamlin for the runner-up spot. As both Hamlin and Briscoe battled for the runner-up spot, they reeled in Reddick by two-tenths and half a second, respectively, at the Lap 60 mark. In addition, fourth-place Zilisch joined the battle as he then overtook Briscoe for third place during the next lap while Byron followed suit. With Briscoe losing ground of the lead, Hamlin started to reel in on Reddick for the lead while select names that included Busch and Bell pitted for fresh tires under green.
When a competition caution flew on Lap 75, Hamlin overtook Reddick a lap before emerging as the leader. By then, Zilisch, Reddick, Jones, Byron, McDowell, Briscoe, Ty Dillon, Hocevar, and Cindric were in the top 10, respectively, behind Hamlin, while 20 of 26 starters were scored on the lead lap. In addition, Wallace was awarded the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap from 21st place.
During the competition caution period, the field led by Hamlin pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of Zilisch, Byron, Reddick, and Jones, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Zilisch received a penalty for having too many crew members over the pit wall when he pitted.
As the final segment restarted under green on Lap 81, the field fanned out as Hamlin rocketed ahead of Byron and Reddick through the first two turns. While a three-wide action ensued between McDowell, Briscoe and Jones for fourth place just past the backstretch, Hamlin led the next lap while Reddick challenged Byron for the runner-up spot. Hamlin extended his lead to more than a second by Lap 90 and he stabilized it to more than a second at the Lap 100 mark while Byron, Reddick, Briscoe, Hocevar, Jones, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon and Keselowski trailed in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Zilisch was mired in 17th place, between Blaney and Bowman.
Down to the final 80 laps of the event, Hamlin added two seconds to his lead as he led by more than three seconds over Byron. Hamlin added an extra two seconds to his advantage as he grew his lead to more than five seconds over Byron with 70 laps remaining, while Reddick, Briscoe, Hocevar, Jones, Austin Dillon, McDowell, Cindric and Keselowski occupied the remaining top-10 spots over Ty Dillon, Zilisch, Allmendinger, Stenhouse and Blaney, respectively.
With nearly 60 laps remaining, the caution flew.It happened as Logano, the first competitor, scored a lap down, lost a tire entering the first turn and wrecked backwards into the outside wall. At the time of caution, some, including Byron and Hocevar, pitted under green. During this caution period, the lead lap field led by Hamlin pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of Briscoe, Reddick, Jones, Austin Dillon, Cindric, Zilisch, McDowell, Allmendinger and Gragson, respectively.
The next restart with 52 laps remaining featured Hamlin and Briscoe dueling for the lead through the first two turns until Briscoe, who restarted on the inside lane, motored ahead of Hamlin to lead through the backstretch. Briscoe led the next two laps over Hamlin while Reddick, Jones, Austin Dillon and Cindric trailed in the top six, respectively. As Hamlin used every inch of the track through every turn and straightaway to reel in and try to navigate past Briscoe for the lead, the latter maintained the advantage by four-tenths of a second with 40 laps remaining.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, the battle for the lead ignited as Hamlin, who remained within striking distance of Briscoe over the previous 10 laps, executed a crossover move on Briscoe through the frontstretch. Both dueled for a full lap before Hamlin used the inside lane to assume the lead through the frontstretch. Briscoe then executed his own crossover move and tried to draw even with Hamlin, but Hamlin motored ahead from the outside lane and proceeded to lead the next lap with 28 laps remaining. Not long after, Reddick took his entry to the garage due to a power steering issue and Hamlin stabilized his lead to six-tenths of a second over Briscoe while Jones, Cindric and Austin Dillon were racing in the top five with 25 laps remaining.
With 15 laps remaining, Briscoe slightly reeled in his deficit to be within three-tenths of a second behind Hamlin while third-place Erik Jones trailed by more than four seconds. Hamlin then slightly increased his advantage to half a second with 10 laps remaining before he extended it to more than a second over Briscoe with five laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin remained in the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Briscoe. With Briscoe unable to reel in and Hamlin not missing his marks for a final time, the latter cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed both the checkered flag and the event’s $1 million prize by eight-tenths of a second over Briscoe.
With the victory, Hamlin, who made his 20th career All-Star Race start this season, became the 10th competitor overall to achieve multiple All-Star Race victories and he became the first repeat winner of the All-Star event since Joey Logano made the previous accomplishment in 2024. He also recorded the fourth All-Star Race victory for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. Despite this year’s Dover event being a non-points All-Star event, Hamlin racked up his fourth victory at Dover as he won the track’s latest points-paying event in July 2025.
Photo by Logan Allen for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“It makes a lot easier when you got a car this fast,” Hamlin said on FS1. “Hats off to this whole Progressive team. We’re striving to be number one, and we did it today. I liked [today’s challenge]. It challenged us to have to go through traffic. Otherwise, you could go out there, and you could lead a bunch of laps. I definitely liked the invert [of the field]. Obviously, it caused some chaos, took out some good cars. Overall, this is a typical All-Star Race and that stuff happens. I just knew that the game-changer for us was long runs and obviously, the ability to pass when we’re behind someone.”
Briscoe, whose previous best All-Star Race result was fourth place in 2023, notched a career-best runner-up result in his fourth All-Star career appearance. Ironically, Briscoe finished in the runner-up result behind Hamlin during the 2025 Cup event at Dover.
Erik Jones notched a stellar third-place result while Austin Dillon and rookie Connor Zilisch, the latter of whom made his All-Star debut, finished in the top five. Austin Cindric, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10 in the final running order, respectively.
The third and final segment featured nine lead changes for five different leaders, and a total of two cautions. In addition, 13 of 26 starters finished on the lead lap.
Segment 3 (Final) Results:
Denny Hamlin, 103 laps led
Chase Briscoe, 61 laps led
Erik Jones
Austin Dillon, one lap led
Connor Zilisch, one lap led
Austin Cindric
William Byron
Michael McDowell
Alex Bowman
Brad Keselowski
Noah Gragson
AJ Allmendinger
Ryan Blaney
Carson Hocevar, one lap down
Ty Dillon, two laps down
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps down
Kyle Busch, two laps down
Josh Berry, three laps down
Shane van Gisbergen, three laps down
Bubba Wallace, four laps down
Daniel Suarez, four laps down
Tyler Reddick – OUT, Steering, 34 laps led
Christopher Bell – OUT, Handling
Ty Gibbs – OUT, Suspension
Joey Logano – OUT, Accident
Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on Sunday, May 24, during Memorial Day weekend. It will air at 6 p.m. ET on Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM, and HBO MAX.
Strong Fourth-Place Effort for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate)® Chevrolet Team in the NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway
Finish: 4th Start: 17th Points: 22nd
“I’m just proud of the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate)® Chevrolet team and the adjustments they made. We had a really fast car on the long run and we were able to run down the No. 43 (Erik Jones) with a couple laps to go. We were trying to save in case a caution would come out. Overall, just really proud of the effort. Dover Motor Speedway is historically our worst track, but we were able to lean on our teammate, Kyle Busch, this weekend and that really helped. I feel like we’re trending upwards. We were 34th in practice, so we chopped, cut and rebuilt our No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate)® Chevrolet to go to what the No. 8 team ran. It’s really nice to have a teammate that you can rely on.” -Austin Dillon
Segment 1 Wreck Spoils the Day for Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet Team at Dover Motor Speedway
Finish: 17th Start: 11th Points: 24th
“Unfortunate day for the entire No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet team at Dover Motor Speedway. We had a strong car in practice and qualifying, and were driving forward through the first segment. During our first pit stop, we got a penalty for speeding on pit road, which sent us to the tail of the field and then we got caught up in a wreck in the final laps of the segment that took a toll on the car. The team spent most of the second segment working on the car in the garage, and while we got the balance better, we ultimately lost track position in the third segment that we were never able to recover from. The car was tight, and I lost rear grip. We’re leaving here with a 17th-place finish and now we’ll reset and get ready for the Coke 600 next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.” -Kyle Busch
HAMLIN WINS SECOND ALL-STAR RACE Toyota earns first podium sweep in the non-points event
DOVER, Del. (May 17, 2026) – Denny Hamlin started from the pole and had the lead when it counted as the Virginia native won his second All-Star Race, and his third consecutive Dover Cup Series win. Hamlin led 103 of 200 laps on his way to victory.
Chase Briscoe finished second to Hamlin for the second consecutive Dover event as the Toyota driver led 61 laps, while Erik Jones had a great weekend, as his team qualified a season-best third overall, and then he qualified for the All-Star Race on the strength of the second-best average finish amongst non-qualifiers in the first two stages. Jones ran the entire final 200 lap stage inside the top-10 and finished third – a best-ever result in the All-Star race.
This is Toyota’s first time sweeping the podium finishers in the All-Star Race. Toyota has now won two consecutive All-Star races (Christopher Bell – 2025), and four overall (2015, 2017, 2025, 2026)
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Dover Motor Speedway All-Star Race – 350 miles, 350 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, DENNY HAMLIN 2nd, CHASE BRISCOE 3rd, ERIK JONES 4th, Austin Dillon* 5th, Connor Zilisch* 20th, BUBBA WALLACE 22nd, TYLER REDDICK 23rd, CHRISTOPHER BELL 24th, TY GIBBS *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Insurance Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How good was this car and how good were you all day long?
“Yeah, really good. This team did an amazing job working on our Progressive Toyota. I knew yesterday that we had all of the feels in the car that we really needed to go out there and do what we needed to. I thought with the format – it played into our hand. It put us to the back there, and that is typically where are our best – coming through traffic. This Progressive team just gave me a Camry that was a rocket. I was the lucky guy that got to drive it. Need to say thank you to everyone that make this possible – Progressive, Toyota, National Debt Relief, Bob’s Discount Furniture, Sport Clips, King’s Hawaiian, Yahoo, Coca-Cola, Jordan Brand, Shady Rays and Logitech G. We get to have days like today because of those great partners.”
What did the race track feel like from the driver’s seat?
“I thought they did an amazing job with the race track this week. I wouldn’t mind the race being about two hours shorter (laughter), but beyond that. I thought Dover and NASCAR did a great job of mixing things up for us and challenging us in a lot of different ways.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What is your takeaway from your performance today at Dover?
“It was obviously a really fast car. I’m just proud of our group. I knocked the wall down in practice. We basically rebuilt the whole car, so for them to be able to get the car back to where it’s competitive, it says a lot about the guys. It was a good day for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota. Not that we didn’t win, I wish it was a points race because we definitely need the points. It was a hard-fought day. I’ve been having the stomach bug bad the last two, three days. Didn’t know how today was truthfully going to go. I had the shot at the end for a million bucks. Can’t ask for anything more. Wish I had a little more rear grip. Anytime I got the lead, I would be so loose that it would make me vulnerable. When I would get passed, I would come on. Just needed a little bit of rear grip.”
“Yeah, we kind of knew that we were good on the long run with our AdventHealth Camry. We had some good track position to start that run, and we just kind of needed to keep the distance with the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and 19 (Chase Briscoe) and 45 (Tyler Reddick). Then he had an issue, and once I got behind the 11 and 19, I just couldn’t keep pace. They were really hooked up. We started going a bit free and lost some ground but just needed a longer run. We were super strong past 70 on. The one run before the last one, we had the pace to run those guys down and challenge them. Just lacking a little speed. The balance was close, just needed a little more pace in the car, but this is a big gain. We’ve been pretty bad at Dover the last handful of years, so I know it is a little bit of a unique deal, but a great run.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of over 50 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
In software development, it is not all about coding anymore. Instead, many developers spend more of their time working with tools, resolving common problems, and performing system administration than coding new features. This change has caused dismay, particularly to those who are looking for coding to be an enjoyable and creative process.
Meanwhile, at the same time, AI is transforming the software development landscape with new tools. These systems boost code development rate, cut mistakes, and manage repetitive jobs. Instead of replacing engineers, they change what engineers spend time on. This shift is already visible across modern development teams and workflows.
This article, therefore, delves into the transformative potential of AI in software development, highlighting its impact on coding, workflows, roles, expectations, and more.
1. Smarter Coding
AI assists developers directly during the code-writing process. Rather than having to type everything from scratch, engineers are given suggestions, auto-completions, and even entire blocks of code in real-time. This minimizes repetitive syntax and helps give more attention to logic. It also assists developers in processing their work without unnecessary setbacks and delays.
Coding is no longer entirely manual in modern workflows, especially in AI centric software engineering, where developers evaluate and refine machine-generated outputs based on project needs. Instead, AI developers understand, evaluate, and leverage outputs per the needs of the project. This creates a tighter feedback loop between human intent and machine output.
This alters the usage of programming skills. While coding remains significant, the review and enhancement of AI-generated code are becoming equally crucial. As a result, it shifts focus toward accuracy, validation, and design thinking.
AI is transforming not only the process of creating code but also the entire software development lifecycle. Planning tools can now break down requirements automatically. Design suggestions assist teams in visualizing solutions more quickly. Test cases are automatically generated with testing tools. This helps to minimize the time required to take an idea from concept to action.
In addition, additional benefits are achieved in deployment and monitoring. AI can alert to performance problems before they affect users and provide recommendations to improve performance. Thus, it eliminates delay and makes systems more stable. It also enables teams to react more quickly to changes in the system in production.
A study revealed that AI-enabled workflows shorten development speeds and reduce human error in such a CI environment. This is a glimpse into the extent to which AI already influences contemporary development processes. The results reveal consistent improvements across various large-scale engineering systems.
3. New Developer Role
The role of a software engineer is changing. The developers are not only programming the computers. Instead, they are now collaborating with AI systems that generate code and ideas. They are now collaborating with AI code-generating systems and suggestion systems. This will provide a more hands-on development process.
This implies more time spent on reviewing, testing, and guiding outputs by engineers. As a result, decision-making becomes more important than manual coding speed. It is now indispensable to know system design and architecture. This focuses on thinking at a higher level in engineering.
While AI can suggest possible solutions, the developer decides which are the correct ones. Therefore, judgment and problem-solving are more valuable than ever this way. It emphasizes the importance of good analytical problem-solving ability in daily development work.
AI reduces the time spent on repetitive work. Simple tasks such as writing boilerplate, bug fixing, and setting up simple structures may be completed in less time. This results in greater overall productivity. It also has a positive effect on reducing friction in the normal development process.
As a result, developers can concentrate more on difficult issues and not on mundane work. This boosts the speed and code quality. Teams can also provide features at a quicker pace while still not making their work any tougher. It creates more space for architectural thinking and refinement.
In fact, AI-driven development is known to be more efficient than humans in coding and can cut down on debugging time by a significant margin in real-world settings. These enhancements are particularly evident in big teams with rapidly moving software.
5. Job Skills Change
The term software development does not just refer to programming languages anymore. Instead, it now includes learning how to work with AI tools that assist in coding and debugging. This transformation alters beginner skill development fundamentals from the get-go.
In addition, modern training approaches focus on real projects where AI tools are used throughout the development process. This is representative of the way teams work in the real world. It also facilitates a smooth transition to the production environment.
As a result, employers are now looking for developers to grasp workflows regarding AI assistance. Engineers with the ability to utilize these tools are better equipped to take on a real-world position. This is becoming a mandatory skill in many entry-level jobs.
Conclusion
AI is transforming software development processes, making coding quicker, processes smarter, and roles more strategic. This is shifting from manual coding towards intelligent systems engaging most of the technical labor. It is steadily redefining how modern software teams operate on a daily basis.
This is the showing and learning point, which is the most important. Therefore, working with AI tools is a new requirement for modern software engineers. In fact, practicing with real projects is the fastest way to build that skill. It directly influences how quickly developers adapt to industry expectations.
Tristan McKee (No. 77 Zeigler Chevrolet) scored his second career ARCA Menards Series victory and third ARCA Menards East victory of 2026 in Saturday’s Owens Corning 200 Presented by CGS Imaging at Toledo Speedway. McKee took the lead from Sioux Chief PowerPEX Pole Award winner and defending race winner Max Reaves on lap seven when Reaves spun in turn two after the two made contact while racing for the lead. Reaves faded to eleventh at the finish.
McKee has now won three of the four ARCA Menards East races run in 2026; he won at Hickory Motor Speedway and Rockingham Speedway and finished third in the most recent race of the year at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
Thomas Annunziata (No. 70 Bayshore Mortgage Funding / JBL Audio Toyota) finished a season-best second, his best career series finish on an oval. Annunziata has one previous ARCA Menards Series victory, at Lime Rock Park in 2025.
McKee’s Pinnacle Racing Group teammate Carson Brown (No. 28 K&L Ready Mix Chevrolet) finished third, snatching the position in a spirited late-race duel with Caden Kvapil (No. 24 Filter Time / Sigma Performance Services Chevrolet), who was making his ARCA Menards Series debut. Kvapil, who leads the ZMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car series standings with two victories, finished fifth.
ARCA Menards Series championship point standings leader Jake Bollman (No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Toyota) finished fourth, his third top-five finish and fifth top-ten finish of the season.
Andy Jankowiak (No. 71 KLAS Motorsports Chevrolet) entered the Owens Corning 200 Presented by CGS Imaging third in the ARCA Menards Series standings but we swept up in an early-race crash when Rita Goulet (No. 13 Black Gold Ecoverse.com Toyota) spun in turn three. Goulet’s car stopped in the middle of the track forcing Takuma Koga (No. 12 Aichi / Makido Toyota) to take evasive action. Koga went high to avoid, into a lane that was already occupied by Jankowiak. The two made heavy contact with the foam blocks in turn three; Koga would lose 45 laps while making repairs to finish 20th while Jankowiak returned to action 61 laps in arrears to finish 21st.
Isabella Robusto (No. 55 Mobil 1 Toyota) finished sixth despite starting last in the 28-car field after missing qualifying due to an engine issue in practice.
Jason Kitzmiller (No. 97 A.L.L. Construction / Carter CAT Chevrolet) rebounded a 33rd-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway and a 23rd-place finish at Watkins Glen International with a solid seventh-place finish at Toledo Speedway, one position shy of matching his best finish of the season set at Kansas Speedway.
Wesley Slimp (No. 25 Road Ranger Foundation Toyota) finished eighth in his first ARCA Menards Series start since the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. It was Slimp’s first career top-ten finish.
Ryan Vargas (No. 91 Sheffer Engineering / Maples Motorsports Chevrolet) notched his third top-ten finish in the first five races of the season in ninth.
Craig Pellegrini, Jr. (No. 10 Let’s Be Frank Toyota) finished tenth, his fourth consecutive ARCA Menards East top-ten finish and his first career ARCA Menards Series top-ten finish.
Reaves earned the Sioux Chief PowerPEX Pole Award in qualifying with a lap of 16.139 seconds/111/531 miles per hour.
There were seven caution flags for a total of 60 laps which held the average speed to 61.824 miles per hour. The race took 1 hour, 37 minutes, 3 seconds to complete.
The next race for the ARCA Menards Series is the Henry Ford Health 200 at Michigan International Speedway. The race is scheduled to start at 5 pm ET on Friday, June 5 and will be televised live on FS1. The race will also be broadcast live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. ARCARacing.com will have live timing & scoring data for all on-track activity and live race audio.
The next race for the ARCA Menards East is the Circle City 150 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in combination with the ARCA Menards Series on July 24. The race, set to begin at 5 pm ET, will be televised live on FS1 and broadcast on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide.
About ARCA The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum in Toledo, Ohio, and acquired by NASCAR in April 2018, is the leading grassroots stock car sanctioning body in the United States. Bridging the gap between NASCAR’s top three national touring series and weekly and regional tour racing all across the country, the organization to sanctions over 100 races per year in the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, ARCA Menards Series West, ASA STARS National Tour, ASA CRA Super Series, ASA Midwest Tour, ASA Southern Super Series plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways. For more information about ARCA visit , or follow ARCA on Facebook (@ARCARacing) and Twitter (@ARCA_Racing).
About Menards A family-owned and run company started in 1958, Menards is recognized as the retail home center leader of the Midwest with 236 stores in 15 states. Menards is truly a one-stop shop for all of your home improvement needs featuring a full-service lumberyard and everything you need to plan a renovation or build a home, garage, cabin, shed, deck, fence or post frame building. You’ll find a large selection of lumber, roofing, siding, construction blocks, trusses, doors and windows, plus cabinets, appliances, countertops, flooring, lighting, paint, plumbing supplies and more. To complete the job, Menards has quality hand tools, power tools, fasteners, electrical tools plus storage options and supplies for everyone from the weekend warrior to the pro!
Menards has what you need to complete your outdoor projects and keep your yard in tip-top shape including mowers, trimmers, blowers, pressure washers and more, plus a beautiful garden center stocked with plants, shrubs, trees, landscaping tools, grass seed, fertilizer options, outdoor décor and patio furniture. Menards also has everyday essentials like health & beauty products, housewares, pet and wildlife supplies, automotive items and even groceries. And at Christmas, an Enchanted Forest display area with impressive trees, lighting, decorations, ornaments, inflatables and more.
Menards is known for friendly Customer Service and as the place to “Save Big Money” with low prices every day, and sales too! For more information, please visit Menards.com to learn about our store locations, offerings and services.
Corey Day made a late pass on Justin Allgaier to claim an upset victory in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 16.
The 20-year-old Day from Clovis, California, led the final four of 200-scheduled laps. He qualified in third place and netted top-10 results through the event’s first two stage periods. Despite making early contact with the outside wall in the opening phases of the final stage period, Day navigated his entry through short-run strategies and five cautions that flew throughout the stage to race towards the front.
Then, after navigating into the runner-up spot with 22 laps remaining, Day began reeling in Justin Allgaier for the lead. Then, as Allgaier had issues navigating past the lapped competitor of Blake Lothain, Day capitalized. He used the outside lane through the first two turns to overtake Allgaier. Day then assumed the lead with four laps remaining. From there, Day never looked back. He continued using the outside lane to fend off Allgaier, storming to his second O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career victory in his rookie campaign.
On-track qualifying, held on Saturday, determined the starting lineup. Ross Chastain claimed the pole position with a pole-winning lap at 154.394 mph in 23.317 seconds. Brandon Jones started alongside Chastain on the front row with the second-fastest qualifying lap at 154.030 mph in 23.372 seconds.
Before the event, Parker Retzlaff started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. David Starr also started at the rear of the field due to an engine change.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Ross Chastain and Brandon Jones dueled for the lead for nearly a full lap. Then Chastain used the outside lane to motor his No. 9 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead of Jones while cycling back to the frontstretch. After leading the first lap, Chastain stabilized his lead to within two-tenths of a second over Jones over the next four laps. Rajah Caruth, Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, Corey Day, William Sawalich, Jesse Love, Sheldon Creed, and Carson Kvapil followed suit, respectively.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Chastain was leading by three-tenths of a second over Jones. Gray was racing in third place ahead of Caruth and Mayer. A lap later, the event’s first caution flew. Ryan Sieg made contact while battling underneath Brent Crews, which forced the latter up to the wall through the first two turns. As a result, Jeb Burton, who checked up to avoid Crews’ incident, was hit in the rear by Retzlaff and both spun, with the latter getting hit by Lavar Scott while Burton made head-on contact with the inside wall.
The next restart on Lap 18 featured Jones gaining an advantage over Chastain as he motored his No. 20 Menards Toyota Supra entry ahead from the inside lane through the frontstretch, the first two turns, and the backstretch. Following a single lap, Jones maintained the lead over Chastain. He led the next lap (Lap 20) while Mayer motored up to third place in front of Gray and Caruth. Sawalich, Kvapil, Love, Corey Day and Creed were in the top 10, respectively. Jones continued to lead by four-tenths of a second at the Lap 25 mark.
At the Lap 30 mark, Jones retained his early advantage by four-tenths of a second over Chastain. Mayer, Gray, Caruth, Sawalich, Kvapil, Love, Corey Day, and Creed all continued to pursue in the top 10, respectively. Behind, Ryan Sieg occupied 11th place. He was followed by Justin Allgaier, Harrison Burton, Austin Hill, and Jeremy Clements. Sammy Smith, Dean Thompson, Brennan Poole, Kyle Sieg, and Blaine Perkins trailed in the top 20, respectively.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Jones captured his third O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Chastain settled in second place while Mayer, Gray, Caruth, Kvapil, Sawalich, Day, Love, and Allgaier were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the event’s first stage break period, the field led by Jones pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Chastain exited pit road first. Gray, Caruth, Corey Day, and Love followed. Jones lost seven spots on pit road to eighth place after his pit crew had issues changing his tires. Mayer also dropped from third to ninth after exiting his pit stall.
The second stage period started on Lap 53 as Chastain and Gray occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead for nearly a full lap. Then Chastain barely motored ahead of Gray from the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4. He cycled ahead through the frontstretch and led the next lap. With Chastain leading, Gray retained second place over Caruth and Day. Love occupied fourth place in front of Kvapil, Sawalich, Jones, and Mayer.
Following a Lap 59 caution that flew when Blaine Perkins wrecked hard in Turn 3, the next restart on Lap 67 featured Chastain using the outside lane to gain a stronger advantage. He motored ahead of Gray through the first two turns. Chastain proceeded to lead by four-tenths of a second by Lap 70. Meanwhile, Gray was being challenged by Caruth for the runner-up spot.
On Lap 71, Caruth overtook Gray for the runner-up spot. He then proceeded to reel in teammate Chastain for the lead as the laps in the second stage dwindled. Amid Caruth’s challenge through every turn and straightaway, Chastain maintained the top spot past the Lap 80 mark.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Chastain captured his first O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Caruth settled in second ahead of Gray, Love, and Mayer. Kvapil, Day, Allgaier, Sawalich, and Ryan Sieg completed the top 10, respectively.
During the event’s second stage break period, the lead lap field led by Chastain returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Love jumped from fourth to first. He exited off of pit road ahead of Caruth. Chastain dropped to third as Corey Day, Sawalich, Gray, Mayer, Jones, Kvapil, and Allgaier followed suit, respectively.
With 101 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Love and Caruth occupied the front row. At the start, Love and Caruth dueled for half a lap. Then, entering Turn 3, Caruth got loose underneath Love, and both slid through the turn. In the process, Love hit the outside wall on the right side. Caruth managed to straighten his entry, though he lost several spots on the track. Amid the incident, Chastain reassumed the lead.
As the event restarted with 95 laps remaining, Chastain used the outside lane to fend off William Sawalich through the first two turns and the backstretch. Chastain muscled ahead with the lead for the next lap. Sawalich then drag-raced with Chastain through the frontstretch before he motored ahead with the lead entering the first turn. As Sawalich led, the caution returned with 90 laps remaining. This was due to Caruth getting loose underneath another competitor for a second time, entering Turn 3. His latest incident involved Harrison Burton, as they battled in the top-15 mark. Both spun from the top of the track to the bottom lane.
The next restart, with 83 laps remaining, only lasted two laps. Chastain, who was outdueled by Sawalich for the lead, got sideways by Gray entering the frontstretch. In the process, Gray got sideways after he was sandwiched in between Chastain’s sideways entry and in the rear by Mayer. This sent Gray spinning and hitting the inside wall head-on.
The next restart, with 75 laps remaining, featured Austin Green and Andrew Patterson on the front row amid mixed pit strategies ensuing within the field. Green led for nearly a full lap until Allgaier used the outside lane to motor past Green, Patterson, and the field to lead the next lap. As Allgaier led, Harrison Burton and Sawalich navigated their way to second and third while Day was challenging Green for fourth place. Allgaier continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second with 73 laps remaining when the caution flew due to an incident involving Garrett Smithley in Turn 2.
When the event restarted with 68 laps remaining, Allgaier rocketed ahead from the outside lane, and he maintained the lead for a full lap ahead of Sawalich, Harrison Burton, and Corey Day while the field behind fanned out and dueled for late spots. Allgaier proceeded to lead by nine-tenths of a second with 60 laps remaining and by eight-tenths of a second with 50 laps remaining, both over Sawalich, when the caution returned with 41 laps remaining due to Smithley shredding a right-rear tire and wrecking in Turn 4.
The latest restart with 34 laps remaining featured Allgaier fending off Sawalich from the outside lane and through the first two turns to retain the lead. As Allgaier led by seven-tenths of a second with 30 laps remaining, Mayer reeled in and battled with Sawalich for the runner-up spot until the former claimed the spot with 26 laps remaining. Day then followed suit to move into third place a lap later before Day overtook Mayer for the runner-up spot with 22 laps remaining. Amid Day’s late charge to the front, Allgaier led by a second with 20 laps remaining.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Allgaier had his late lead reduced to half a second over Corey Day. Day then trailed Allgaier by four-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining, and the former continued to reel in the latter as the laps dwindled. Then, amid little lapped traffic, Day used the outside lane and the lapped competitor of Blake Lothian to drag-race Allgaier through the first two turns. Despite hitting the backstretch’s outside wall, Allgaier got loose, which allowed Day to motor his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead with the lead. As Allgaier tried to use the inside lane to regain his momentum with his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro entry, Day kept using the outside lane to maintain a steady advantage.
When the white flag waved, and the final lap started, Day remained in the lead by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier. With Allgaier reeling in Day but not having enough to draw even for a final challenge, Day used his late momentum to cycle back to the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag by four-tenths of a second.
With the victory, Corey Day, who scored his first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career victory at Talladega Superspeedway three races prior, notched his second career victory in his 25th series start, and he joins Allgaier, Kyle Larson, and Connor Zilisch as the only competitors to repeat as an O’Reilly winner this season. He also recorded the 29th O’Reilly career victory for Hendrick Motorsports and the organization’s first at Dover in the series.
Photo by Logan Allen for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Man, I was hoping that’s how [the battle for the win] would play out,” Day said. “I saved so hard there early in the last run once we put on tires and the yellow came out and I thought, awe, this is just going to be a caution fest, and it was all for nothing, but oh man, it all just worked out good…This one feels really, really good. The Talladega [win] was unexpected at a superspeedway, but we earned this one.”
Allgaier, who confronted Blake Lothian following the event, was left disappointed on pit road after having a late dominant run by leading a race-high 71 laps, concluding with a runner-up result for a third time this season.
“Good teaching moment,” Allgaier said. “Blake [Lothian] and I spoke a couple of times. Obviously, just super talent. He kind of made a move to go inside, then back outside, and I just didn’t know which lane he was going to go in. Unfortunately, it allowed [Day] to get to my outside, but hats off to Corey and that whole No. 17 team. He was running me down there at the end. Proud of our team. It wasn’t the day we wanted early on, but the team worked really hard all day long…Just disappointed to walk out of here with a second after leading that many laps at the end.”
Sam Mayer, William Sawalich, and Austin Hill finished in the top five while Brandon Jones, Carson Kvapil, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, and Anthony Alfredo completed the top 10. Notably, Ross Chastain, who led 68 laps, settled in 13th place, one spot ahead of teammate Rajah Caruth.
There were 12 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The event featured nine cautions for 54 laps. In addition, 24 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 15th event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Justin Allgaier leads the standings by 175 points over Sheldon Creed, 177 over Jesse Love, 195 over Corey Day, and 205 over Brandon Jones.
Results:
Corey Day, four laps led
Justin Allgaier, 71 laps led
Sam Mayer, one lap led
William Sawalich, 15 laps led
Austin Hill
Brandon Jones, 31 laps led, Stage 1 winner
Carson Kvapil
Ryan Sieg
Sammy Smith
Anthony Alfredo
Brennan Poole
Austin Green, four laps led
Ross Chastain, 68 laps led, Stage 2 winner
Rajah Caruth, one lap led
Jeremy Clements
Harrison Burton
Kyle Sieg
Sheldon Creed
Andrew Patterson
Dean Thompson
Patrick Staropoli
Brent Crews
Jesse Love, four laps led
Myatt Snider
Ryan Ellis, one lap down
Blake Lothian, one lap down
Josh Bilicki, two laps down
Dawson Cram, two laps down
BJ McLeod, five laps down
CJ McLaughlin, seven laps down
Garrett Smithley, 11 laps down
Taylor Gray – OUT, Suspension, 17 laps down, one lap led
David Starr – OUT, Vibration
Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident
Logan Bearden – OUT, Brakes
Lavar Scott – OUT, Engine
Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident
Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is the Charbroil 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, May 23, and air at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN Radio, and SiriusXM.
On-Track Contact Derails Otherwise Strong Day for Jesse Love and the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Team at Dover Motor Speedway
Finish: 23rd Start: 10th Points: 3rd
“Not the day anyone on the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet team expected we’d have at Dover Motor Speedway. We had a strong car in practice and qualifying and continued to improve as the race got underway, solidly inside the top 10. We made the adjustments needed to combat the tightness I was experiencing, and with the help of a great stop by my pit crew I was P1 early in Stage 2. Unfortunately, I had on-track contact with the No. 88 when we went back green and we spent the remainder of the race trying to make the needed repairs, while staying on the lead lap. We’re going to learn what we can from here and turn our focus to Charlotte Motor Speedway next weekend. We’re doing everything we can to get the No. 2 back in Victory Lane where it belongs.” -Jesse Love
Top-Five Result for Austin Hill and the No. 21 1-800-PACK-RAT Chevrolet Team at Dover Motor Speedway
Finish: 5th Start: 17th Points: 7th
“Man, we really needed that. It’s been one of those seasons for us with a lot of ups and downs, trials and tribulations. It hasn’t been from a lack of effort from this 1-800-PACK-RAT Chevrolet team. Everybody at RCR and ECR gives me really good cars each week. It’s just a product of things that happen on the racetrack, and then, there’s times that we’re a little off. It feels good to finish inside the top-five and come home fifth. Obviously, you always want to win the race, but this is a great momentum builder for our No. 21 team going forward. I told the guys last week that if we can just start knocking off one or two top-fives, everybody better look out because we’re going to be coming with a head of steam. Excited for what’s to come. It builds a lot of momentum and confidence in myself and the entire team, so looking forward to the rest of the season.” -Austin Hill
Corey Day made a late-race pass with four laps remaining to win the BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway, securing his second career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory.
A key incident involved Rajah Caruth and Jesse Love colliding while battling for the lead, which affected the race dynamics and allowed Allgaier to briefly regain control.
Justin Allgaier led a race-high 71 laps and finished second, extending his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship lead over Sheldon Creed to 175 points.
DOVER, Del. (May 16, 2026) – Corey Day made a thrilling late-race pass Saturday afternoon at Dover Motor Speedway, charging past Justin Allgaier with four laps remaining to win the BetRivers 200 for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at The Monster Mile.
The 20-year-old Californian capitalized on lapped traffic late in the race to complete the winning move, splitting a lapped car alongside Allgaier before pulling away over the closing laps to secure his second career series victory in just his first start at Dover Motor Speedway.
Day crossed the finish line .461 seconds ahead of Allgaier to earn his second victory and 10th top-10 finish of the 2026 season.
“Man, I was hoping that’s how it would play out,” Day said. “I saved so hard there early in the last run once we put on tires and the yellow came out and I thought it was all for nothing, but it all just worked out good.
“This one feels really special.”
The late pass capped a dramatic final run that saw multiple contenders battle for control of the race throughout the afternoon.
A pivotal moment came when Rajah Caruth and Jesse Love made contact while battling for the lead, sending both drivers into the outside wall and dramatically changing the complexion of the race. The incident opened the door for Allgaier to briefly reclaim control before Day hunted down the JR Motorsports veteran in the closing laps.
“I’m not sure how to handle it,” Caruth said. “I’ve been the one to ruin their day multiple times. All I can do is my best.”
Once Day cleared Allgaier for the lead, he drove away over the final circuits around the high-banked concrete mile to claim one of the biggest victories of his young career.
Allgaier finished second after leading a race-high 71 laps. The result marked his 18th top-10 finish in 26 career races at Dover Motor Speedway and his 12th top-10 result of the 2026 campaign.
Despite narrowly missing out on the victory, Allgaier continued to strengthen his grip on the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship standings and now leads Sheldon Creed by 175 points.
Sam Mayer delivered another strong run at Dover, finishing third for his fourth top-10 finish in five career starts at The Monster Mile.
William Sawalich crossed the line fourth, while Austin Hill rounded out the top five with his best finish since March.
Ross Chastain appeared to be one of the fastest cars in the field after leading 68 laps and winning Stage 2, but his bid for the victory ended shortly after the halfway point following contact with Taylor Gray that sent both drivers spinning.
Brendan Jones captured the Stage 1 victory, while JR Motorsports driver Carson Kvapil extended the organization’s top-10 streak to 71 consecutive races with a sixth-place finish.
Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Anthony Alfredo rounded out the top-10 finishers.
SEE FULL BETRIVERS 200 RESULTS
The action continues Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway with the NASCAR All-Star Race taking the green flag at 1 p.m. ET. NASCAR’s biggest stars will battle at The Monster Mile in one of the sport’s premier events. Denny Hamlin will start from the pole position, while the No. 38 team secured the first pit selection after winning the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge earlier Saturday afternoon.
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Kalitta, Beckman, Enders, A. Smith all claim No. 1 spots at Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK
CHICAGO (May 16, 2026) – Top Fuel points leader – and the sport’s fastest driver – Shawn Langdon picked up his first victory in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge this season on Saturday at Route 66 Raceway, knocking off Justin Ashley in the final round of the bonus event as part of this weekend’s 26th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK.
Alexis DeJoria (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, while Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Enders (Pro Stock) and Angie Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all qualified No. 1 at the sixth of 20 races during the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
After struggling through the first three sessions this weekend at Route 66 Raceway, Langdon put together a strong run when he needed it, going 3.770-seconds at 336.57 mph in his 12,000-horsepower Kalitta Air dragster to defeat Ashley.
It gave Langdon the specialty race victory and also put the past world champion in a much better position heading into eliminations on Sunday, where he’ll look for his second straight victory this season.
“It was more than just going up there and trying to win the Mission (#2Fast2Tasty Challenge) final,” Langdon said. “We needed to make a run down the track, too. We were pretty far down in the qualifying order. We were trying to go about 3.76 and it ran .77, so it was a good run. It responded to what we did. We just had to get it calmed down a little bit. We’re trying to run too fast, too early.”
Reigning world champion Doug Kalitta stayed in the No. 1 spot, earning his second straight No. 1 qualifier on the strength of Friday’s 3.720 at 338.17 in his 12,000-horsepower Mac Tools dragster. Maddi Gordon took second with a 3.738 at 334.90 and Billy Torrence qualified third after going 3.746 at 336.32 on Friday. Josh Hart, who qualified fourth, broke the track speed record on Saturday with a pass of 341.25.
“Getting the number one qualifier today is a good thing,” Kalitta said. “That last session last night was kind of interesting, because everybody was kind of one-upping one another, and it got down to us, and as a driver, you’re sitting there going, ‘Man, I sure hope we can pull this off.’ You try to stage real shallow because that’ll get you the best ET out of it. Anytime you get down to the end, and you know there’s another pair behind you, you’re just hoping to stay ahead. Tomorrow’s going to be a good day for racing, so we’ll just see what it’s got for us.”
Alexis DeJoria also claimed her first Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory of the year in Funny Car, defeating John Force Racing teammate Jordan Vandergriff in the final round of the bonus race.
Vandergriff ran into car issues and had to shut the car off on the starting line, handing the win to DeJoria, who smoked the tires almost instantly and went 8.301 at 82.43 in her 12,000-horsepower Bandido Premium Tequila Chevrolet SS. That run notwithstanding, DeJoria has been solid in her debut year with powerhouse John Force Racing, but this was the first triumph of the year for the veteran, who was thrilled with the result as she continues to build into a championship contender.
“I’m finally back in a winner’s circle, and that’s good even though it came at the cost of my teammate, and it was a lackluster final. We got the ‘W’ and that’s all that matters. The win went to a JFR car so that’s great,” DeJoria said.
“I just had a feeling we were going to win it. I just knew in my heart. It was one of those things. That’s actually the first time we didn’t get down the track. It shook really hard, but we made it three out of four runs.”
It was a JFR sweep in Funny Car, too, as defending event winner Jack Beckman stayed atop the field thanks to Friday’s run of 3.913 at 329.99 in his 12,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet SS for John Force Racing.
Beckman made another strong run to close the day as he’s currently on the exact same path from last year when he qualified No. 1 and won the race. Ron Capps stayed in second with a 3.916 at 330.31 and back-to-back world champ Austin Prock jumped to third with a pass of 3.920 at 331.94. Beckman opens raceday against Chris King.
“I’ve always felt like my job, as a driver, in terms of interacting with crew chiefs, is to let them think consciously a little bit more,” Beckman said. “In other words, when we don’t make a good run, and they’re looking at the numbers, I said, ‘Tell me what you would do differently, knowing what you know now.’
“I think our struggles were more of trying to do things to get more speed out of this car and we took one step back, but three of the four qualifying runs we got great data.”
Erica Enders’ strong weekend at Route 66 Raceway continued on Saturday, as the six-time world champion won her first Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the year, beating teammate Greg Stanfield with a run of 6.563 at 208.75 in her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/R+L Carriers entry for Elite Motorsports.
It was a long time coming for Enders, who had struggled in the early part of this season. But this weekend could mark a huge turnaround, as she also qualified No. 1 for the first time in two years thanks to Friday’s standout run of 6.542 at 209.92.
That puts her in prime position to make it a clean sweep this weekend and it would come at an ideal point in the season. With a chance to win her 50th career Pro Stock race – at the track where she won her first Pro Stock race – Enders will start eliminations against Derrick Reese.
“It’s super exciting. I love racing here at Joliet,” Enders said. “I started racing Super Comp dragsters here back when I was in high school, so I’ve been coming here an awful long time and then to secure our first pro win here back in 2012, it’s just been a special place ever since that time. So, it would be fitting if this was where the tide started to turn and it has so far this weekend, securing the number one spot and then winning the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty deal. It’s a great start to the weekend. Tomorrow’s the day that matters and I really, really want one of those diamond Wallys.”
Jeg Coughlin Jr. took second with a 6.543 at 210.21 and Stanfield stayed in the top three after going 6.549 at 210.11. Points leader and defending world champ Dallas Glenn qualified 11th.
Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Gaige Herrera put together a clutch performance in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, using a big holeshot to hold off Angie Smith and win the bonus race for a second time this season with a run of 6.757 at 200.86 on his RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki.
Herrera went .024 on the starting line, which proved to be enough to slip past Smith, who put together the quickest run of the weekend in the class in the matchup.
“It was a good final there. I knew I had to try to get any advantage I could on the starting line,” Herrera said. “We pulled out the ‘special tire’… we kind of pulled everything we could, because we knew we needed to. She’s got the bike to beat this weekend and my hat’s off to her. She’s been doing well this year so far and so has Matt and all of team MSR. It’s been making the class much more fun and interesting. It’s going to be a good day of racing tomorrow, for sure.”
Smith’s run of 6.726 at 201.70 on her Denso Auto Parts Buell in the final round of the specialty race gave her the No. 1 qualifier for the second time in four races this season. She made the quickest runs in the class on both Friday and Saturday, something she hopes will lead to her first win of 2026.
“When you are the number one qualifier and you know you have the machine, the motorcycle that I do, I have to focus on one round at a time, go do my job and the cards will fall how they want to fall,” Smith said. “Hopefully, tomorrow, about 4 o’clock, I have a trophy, and we’re partying in the winner’s circle, but being No. 1 qualifier gives you a lot of confidence, but you can’t let it give you too much confidence. You still have to focus on the job at hand, and you just have to go out there and know what you need to do.”
Ryan Oehler qualified second with a 6.744 at 201.31 and Herrera took third with Saturday’s winning run.
Eliminations for the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK begin at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday at Route 66 Raceway.
JOLIET, Ill. — Sunday’s first-round pairings for eliminations for the 26th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance at Route 66 Raceway, the sixth of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.
DNQs listed below pairings.
Top Fuel — 1. Doug Kalitta, 3.720 seconds, 338.17 mph vs. Bye; 2. Maddi Gordon, 3.738, 335.32 vs. 15. Krista Baldwin, 4.244, 207.69; 3. Billy Torrence, 3.746, 336.32 vs. 14. Will Smith, 4.060, 242.58; 4. Josh Hart, 3.752, 341.25 vs. 13. Justin Ashley, 3.797, 332.02; 5. Tony Stewart, 3.754, 334.40 vs. 12. Tony Schumacher, 3.789, 330.88; 6. Leah Pruett, 3.756, 335.15 vs. 11. Clay Millican, 3.784, 334.57; 7. Antron Brown, 3.756, 330.55 vs. 10. T.J. Zizzo, 3.774, 332.10; 8. Shawn Reed, 3.763, 331.36 vs. 9. Shawn Langdon, 3.770, 336.57.
Funny Car — 1. Jack Beckman, Chevy Camaro, 3.913, 329.99 vs. 16. Chris King, Dodge Charger, 4.142, 266.79; 2. Ron Capps, Toyota GR Supra, 3.916, 330.31 vs. 15. Bobby Bode, Ford Mustang, 4.075, 280.14; 3. Austin Prock, Mustang, 3.920, 331.94 vs. 14. Jeff Arend, Charger, 4.045, 313.88; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 3.920, 324.59 vs. 13. Dave Richards, Mustang, 4.010, 313.07; 5. Spencer Hyde, Mustang, 3.930, 329.26 vs. 12. Alexis DeJoria, Camaro, 3.994, 329.42; 6. J.R. Todd, GR Supra, 3.942, 334.73 vs. 11. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.993, 319.90; 7. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.952, 324.05 vs. 10. Jordan Vandergriff, Camaro, 3.977, 325.92; 8. Blake Alexander, Charger, 3.961, 324.20 vs. 9. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.964, 330.55.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Justin Schriefer, 5.613, 130.44.
Pro Stock — 1. Erica Enders, Chevy Camaro, 6.542, 209.92 vs. 16. Derrick Reese, Ford Mustang, 11.055, 80.54; 2. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.543, 210.21 vs. 15. Joe Wilczek, Mustang, 6.921, 198.73; 3. Greg Stanfield, Camaro, 6.549, 210.11 vs. 14. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.591, 209.01; 4. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.553, 209.88 vs. 13. Cody Anderson, Camaro, 6.590, 207.75; 5. Matt Latino, Camaro, 6.558, 210.28 vs. 12. Chris
Vang, Camaro, 6.585, 208.30; 6. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.558, 209.36 vs. 11. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.578, 209.17; 7. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.563, 209.82 vs. 10. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.575, 208.81; 8. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.569, 209.65 vs. 9. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.570, 209.33.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.726, 201.70 vs. Bye; 2. Ryan Oehler, Buell, 6.744, 201.31 vs. 15. Wesley Wells, Suzuki, 6.999, 190.16; 3. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.757, 200.86 vs. 14. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 6.932, 197.74; 4. John Hall, Beull, 6.772, 201.19 vs. 13. Marc Ingwersen, Buell, 6.919, 196.16; 5. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.778, 200.50 vs. 12. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.872, 195.76; 6. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.780, 201.07 vs. 11. Jianna Evaristo, Buell, 6.847, 200.86; 7. Brayden Davis, Buell, 6.792, 199.37 vs. 10. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 6.836, 198.90; 8. Clayton Howey, Suzuki, 6.823, 200.17 vs. 9. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.832, 198.41.
JOLIET, Ill. — Saturday’s final results from the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at the 26th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance at Route 66 Raceway.
JOLIET, Ill. — Final round-by-round results from the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at the 26th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance at Route 66 Raceway.
FINAL — S. Langdon, 3.770, 336.57 def. J. Ashley, 4.209, 202.45.
FUNNY CAR CHALLENGE
ROUND ONE — Jordan Vandergriff, Chevy Camaro, 3.977, 325.92 def. Chad Green, Ford Mustang, 4.045, 300.33; Alexis DeJoria, Camaro, 4.015, 323.35 def. J.R. Todd, Toyota GR Supra, 5.080, 166.33;
FINAL — A. DeJoria, 8.301, 82.43 def. J. Vandergriff, Broke.
