Kyle Larson leads NASCAR All-Star Race practice at Dover

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As Dover hosts the All-Star Race for the very first time, NASCAR provided teams with an extended 90-minute practice session on Friday.

Kyle Larson topped the speed charts at 22.792s lap (157.95mph) around around the one-mile concrete oval. 

All 36 entries are taking part in the 350-lap All-Star Race this weekend, but ten drivers will be dropped ahead of the final segment. Every 2025/2026 race winner and former Cup champions still competing full-time are locked into Segment 3 already.

Michael McDowell, who was second overall, was the fastest of those not yet locked into the final segment. The next-best drivers in the same situation were Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (13th overall) and then Riley Herbst (14th overall), Connor Zilisch (16th overall), and Erik Jones (17th overall). 

Behind Larson and McDowell, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Ty Gibbs filled out the rest of the overall top five.

Busch led the way in five-lap averages, but it was Carson Hocevar who dominated the long-run speeds. The Talladega winner led all drivers in ten-lap, 15-lap, 20-lap, 25-lap, and 30-lap averages.

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Chastain was the first driver to run a lap under 23 seconds, but it was Larson who quickly jumped to the top and remained there for the remainder of the session.

There was a close moment as Wallace was rolling down pit road and Van Gisbergen was exiting the garage, but they avoided contact. Several drivers were practicing their pit-in and getting into the pit box as that will be an integral part of this weekend’s qualifying format.

Later in the session, Ryan Blaney reported a flat left-rear tire, but he got back to the garage without any drama. He was the fastest Ford driver in single-lap speeds.

The only real incident was when Chase Briscoe hit the outside wall at the exit of Turn 2, immediately heading back to the garage with damage to the right-side of that No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Chase ran the most laps, complete 101 laps during the Friday practice session.

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cla
#
driver
manufacturer
laps
time
gap
int
mph
1 5  Kyle Larson Chevrolet 73 22.792     157.950
2 71  Michael McDowell Chevrolet 71 22.810 0.018 0.018 157.826
3 11  Denny Hamlin Toyota 65 22.839 0.047 0.029 157.625
4 8  Kyle Busch Chevrolet 77 22.864 0.072 0.025 157.453
5 54  Ty Gibbs Toyota 86 22.866 0.074 0.002 157.439
6 20  Christopher Bell Toyota 81 22.870 0.078 0.004 157.411
7 12  Ryan Blaney Ford 48 22.905 0.113 0.035 157.171
8 77  Carson Hocevar Chevrolet 72 22.922 0.130 0.017 157.054
9 6  Brad Keselowski Ford 54 22.942 0.150 0.020 156.917
10 2  Austin Cindric Ford 63 22.977 0.185 0.035 156.678
11 1  Ross Chastain Chevrolet 48 22.980 0.188 0.003 156.658
12 9  Chase Elliott Chevrolet 108 22.980 0.188 0.000 156.658
13 47  Ricky Stenhouse Jr Chevrolet 64 22.990 0.198 0.010 156.590
14 35  Riley Herbst Toyota 86 23.010 0.218 0.020 156.454
15 23  Darrell Wallace Jr Toyota 98 23.017 0.225 0.007 156.406
16 43  Erik Jones Toyota 67 23.019 0.227 0.002 156.393
17 88  Connor Zilisch Chevrolet 75 23.019 0.227 0.000 156.393
18 48  Alex Bowman Chevrolet 63 23.038 0.246 0.019 156.264
19 16  AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 43 23.038 0.246 0.000 156.264
20 17  Chris Buescher Ford 66 23.057 0.265 0.019 156.135
21 24  William Byron Chevrolet 59 23.067 0.275 0.010 156.067
22 21  Josh Berry Ford 53 23.080 0.288 0.013 155.979
23 60  Ryan Preece Ford 73 23.082 0.290 0.002 155.966
24 22  Joey Logano Ford 51 23.096 0.304 0.014 155.871
25 45  Tyler Reddick Toyota 82 23.105 0.313 0.009 155.810
26 51  Cody Ware Chevrolet 31 23.107 0.315 0.002 155.797
27 19  Chase Briscoe Toyota 72 23.133 0.341 0.026 155.622
28 97  Shane van Gisbergen Chevrolet 74 23.180 0.388 0.047 155.306
29 42  John Hunter Nemechek Toyota 75 23.190 0.398 0.010 155.239
30 4  Noah Gragson Ford 83 23.214 0.422 0.024 155.079
31 7  Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 61 23.271 0.479 0.057 154.699
32 38  Zane Smith Ford 53 23.274 0.482 0.003 154.679
33 41  Cole Custer Chevrolet 51 23.413 0.621 0.139 153.761
34 10  Ty Dillon Chevrolet 55 23.418 0.626 0.005 153.728
35 3  Austin Dillon Chevrolet 40 23.428 0.636 0.010 153.662
36 34  Todd Gilliland Ford 31 23.643 0.851 0.215 152.265

 

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