Kyle Larson leads NASCAR All-Star Race practice at Dover

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

Defending NASCAR Cup series champion 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. Read Also: The 2026 NASCAR All-Star Race Dover format explained

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. Read Also: AM Racing formally closes NASCAR operation How to watch NASCAR All-Star weekend at Dover

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

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.