When it ain’t broken, there’s no need to fix it. NASCAR should have kept that in mind before heading to Dover, as the All-Star Race at the Monster Mile proved to be one of the most controversial editions in years. There were complaints about the track selection, the atmosphere, and most importantly, the changed format. It was no longer an event for the best of the best. It felt more like an invitational.

For decades, the format revolved around the All-Star Open, where drivers who did not automatically qualify got a final chance to race their way into the main event. The Open essentially acted as a last-chance qualifying race before the main show, with only a handful of drivers advancing into the All-Star Race itself. It gave underdogs something to fight for while also ensuring the main event remained exclusive to NASCAR’s top names. The concept had been a staple of NASCAR’s All-Star weekend in various forms since the late 1980s before it was scrapped ahead of this season.

Problems with the All-Star race highlighted by Bob Pockrass

NASCAR announced that the Open would be replaced with a format where all 36 drivers would start the race but would gradually be eliminated as the race progressed. By the final 200 laps, the field would theoretically be reduced to 26 cars.

In hindsight, theory and practice turned out to be two very different things, and what unfolded became a major farce, with several locked-in stars, including Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell, spending laps in the garage repairing damaged cars while other big names, such as Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain, failed to even make the final segment.

Following the race, Fox Sports reporter Bob Pockrass questioned whether NASCAR had unnecessarily complicated the format in an attempt to give the Dover audience a Cup Series-style race, something fans at the track had grown used to over the decades.

He said on Fox NASCAR, “So what we’ll be talking about, beyond the result of the winner of the race, probably going to be talking about, let’s bring back the Open. Let’s have the drivers that have made the All-Star race make sure that they’re all in the All-Star main event. I know what Dover was trying to do; they’ve had points races for 60-odd years. They wanted their fans who are used to seeing all the drivers run 300-400 laps, to see them do that on Sunday.”

“It seemed a little weird, right? We have guys like Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney having their cars worked on for laps and laps to come out for the main event. Then other drivers, such as Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott, will not make the final segment. It just seemed weird, so Dover was a challenge. Certainly doesn’t hurt to try something, but my big takeaway from that one is, let’s keep the Open.”

Denny Hamlin showed what it actually takes to win at Dover. Patience, long green-flag runs, and staying away from any chaos helped him secure victory after a four-hour race, finishing 0.8 seconds ahead of Chase Briscoe. Bob Pockrass did not want to take anything away from Hamlin and gave him full credit for the win. However, he admitted the race itself became overly complicated and required a lot of mental math for fans to follow.

After the entire 36-car field completed Stage 1, the grid was inverted for Stage 2. Any lapped cars also received their laps back because the stages were treated as separate races.

Finally, the field was reduced to 26 cars after Stage 2 so they could contest the final 200 laps. Drivers who automatically qualified for that final segment had to be past champions, race winners in 2025 or 2026, or previous All-Star Race winners. This year, 19 spots were already locked in, leaving the remaining drivers to battle for the final seven places.

The chaos that marred the 2026 All-Star Race

Unfortunately, things got screwed up right at the start of the 2026 All-Star Race thanks to a massive wreck on Lap 2. Kyle Larson, Todd Gilliland, and Ryan Preece were at the center of the incident, which eventually affected nine cars and brought out an early red flag after Preece’s car burst into flames following a heavy impact into the Turn 1 wall.

Among the drivers caught up in the crash were Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, both of whom were already locked into the final segment because of the new qualification rules. That created the bizarre situation where teams spent long stretches repairing damaged cars in the garage just to get their drivers back onto the track for the final 200 laps, something that completely defeated the purpose of an exhibition race.

Another locked-in driver, Carson Hocevar, hit the wall after suffering a flat tire, though he managed to rejoin the race. The next major wreck then triggered even more chaos, collecting Riley Herbst, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek, Zane Smith, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Noah Gragson, and several others.

Among them, Bell and Busch had already been locked into the final segment, meaning their teams were once again forced into a desperate race against time to repair heavily damaged cars before the field was cut down. Segment 2 only added to the confusion, with Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Shane van Gisbergen, and Ty Gibbs becoming the next victims of the chaotic elimination-style format.

In the end, the only locked-in drivers who failed to make the third and final segment were Elliott and Chastain. Joining them on the sidelines were Smith, Herbst, Nemechek, Buescher, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Preece, and Cole Custer.