Which Drivers Are Locked Into All-Star Race? How The Race Works

It still feels weird to say, but the NASCAR All-Star Race will take place this weekend at the 1-mile Dover Motor Speedway. The high-banked concrete oval in Delaware, which used to have two points-paying events annually on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, will have just one race weekend this year, All-Star weekend.

In addition to Dover not being the typical type of track selected for the All-Star Race, the track doesn't have stadium lighting, which means that a night-time All-Star Race was out of the question this year.

With the oddness of the venue, the All-Star Race this year also comes with a -- very unique -- format. One that has guaranteed 19 drivers a spot to battle for a $1 million payday in the third and final segment of the race, but will feature 36 cars on track through the opening two segments of the race.

At the end of the two 75-lap segments, seven drivers, who aren't already locked into the final segment of the race, will advance to the final segment with a shot to also battle for $1 million.

Who Are The 19 Drivers Locked Into The Final Segment?

Race winners from the 2025 and 2026 season are locked in, which has been the standard criteria since the inception of the All-Star Race, despite how many track and format changes the race has seen over the year.

By virtue of winning a NASCAR Cup Series event since the start of the 2025 season, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Carson Hocevar, and Shane van Gisbergen have their slots secured in the field.

Additionally, any full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers, who are former series champions, are also locked into the battle for the $1 million prize on Sunday. That criteria paved the way for Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch, who are also locked into the final segment of the race.

So How Does This Work?

In every edition of the NASCAR All-Star Race since 1986, the race weekend has featured the All-Star Open Race, which provided a path for drivers not already locked into the show to advance to the big-race. The Open has been axed for this year, but don't worry, the other drivers will have plenty of opportunity to advance to fight for $1 million, and they will even possibly ruin the day of a driver already locked into the show.

The 19 drivers, who are already locked into the final 200-lap segment of the race, must also compete through the opening 150 laps of the event alongside the drivers, who have not already secured advancement to the final segment.

At the end of the opening 75-lap segment, the top-26 finishers will have their positions inverted to set the starting lineup for the second 75-lap segment, while the remaining 10 cars will lineup from the position that they finished in the opening segment.

The 19 drivers already locked into the final segment will have their starting positions determined by the lowest average finishing position in the opening two segments of the race.

The six drivers not locked into the final segment, who score the best combined average finish between the two opening segments, will advance to the final segment of the race, and one driver will gain entry into the $1 million battle by way of a fan vote.

Top-5 Drivers In The Fan Vote (Currently)

On Monday, May 11, NASCAR revealed the top-five drivers in the All-Star Race fan vote and released the names in alphabetical order.

The five drivers, who have a solid chance of advancing to the final segment, if they don't lock into the race due to their average finish in the opening two segments, are Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, Noah Gragson, Ryan Preece, and Connor Zilisch.

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