{"id":58208,"date":"2026-05-16T14:30:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T19:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=58208"},"modified":"2026-05-17T12:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T17:03:12","slug":"denny-hamlin-tops-dover-all-star-grid-after-late-qualifying-charge-no-38-team-wins-pit-crew-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/16\/denny-hamlin-tops-dover-all-star-grid-after-late-qualifying-charge-no-38-team-wins-pit-crew-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Denny Hamlin tops Dover All-Star Grid after late qualifying charge, No. 38 team wins Pit Crew Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

DOVER, Del. \u2013 Denny Hamlin has claimed pole position for Sunday\u2019s NASCAR All-Star Race (1 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX Deportes, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in a late qualifying session effort, unseating owner-driver Brad Keselowski in the final minutes of Saturday\u2019 unique three-lap bid to set the field at Dover Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

\"\"

DOVER, DELAWARE – MAY 15: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Insurance Toyota, and Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Amazon Prime Chevrolet, drive during NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race pit road qualifying entry\/exit practice at Dover Motor Speedway on May 15, 2026 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The next to last driver to qualify, Hamlin spun his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the warm-up lap just as he took to the one-mile high-banked track but recovered and excelled when it mattered – taking the lead starting position by .149-second over Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite eventful for sure,” Hamlin conceded of his lap, insisting he\u2019d never really been remarkably fast in this style of qualifying format.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just spun out. I don’t know. I didn’t think I was being that aggressive but spun out. At that point, just tried to minimize the damage. … That wasn’t ideal, but then I just committed to run the lap as hard as I could, and it was still good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s risk versus reward and certainly challenges the driver\u2026. But definitely a team effort.”<\/p>\n

\"\"

DOVER, DELAWARE – MAY 16: Zane Smith, driver of the #38 Aaron’s Rent To Own Ford, pits during the the All-Star Pit Crew Challenge at Dover Motor Speedway on May 16, 2026 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Zane Smith\u2019s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford team won Saturday\u2019s $100,000 Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge, establishing themselves best on the speed chart early in the session and their work ultimately proving unbeatable. Although Smith\u2019s overall speed places him 25th on the starting grid, the Pit Stop Challenge win earned the team first pit stall selection Sunday \u2013 something that could be the difference in advancing Smith into the 200-lap finale.<\/p>\n

The pole position was based on a three-lap run that also included the timed pit stop on the second lap. Late in the session, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson seemed to have bettered Keselowski\u2019s early work, but Larson received penalties for being too fast on pit road and not blending properly back onto The Monster Mile\u2019s high banks \u2013 the time penalty ultimately costing the three-time All-Star race winner a front row spot. And Hamlin topped both drivers in the end.<\/p>\n

\"\"

DOVER, DELAWARE – MAY 16: The pit crew of the #38 Aaron’s Rent To Own Ford, celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Pit Crew Challenge at Dover Motor Speedway on May 16, 2026 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Legacy Motor Club\u2019s Erik Jones, Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Ross Chastain and Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 William Byron rounded out the five fastest cars. Defending All-Star Race winner, Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Christopher Bell was sixth fastest.<\/p>\n

Several perennial favorites struggled during the unique qualifying format with pit road miscues and\/or time penalties, including rookie Connor Zilisch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez along with former series champs Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, who had slow stops.<\/p>\n

This marks the first time the series has held its annual $1 million to-win, All-Star Race at the concrete Dover Motor Speedway. It will include two 75-lap segments and then a 200-lap finale to settle the big check.<\/p>\n

There are 19 drivers currently in the 200-lap final segment and trophy-determining portion of the event \u2013 including NASCAR Cup Series championship leader Tyler Reddick and fellow 2026 race winners Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar. Joining them are 2025 race winners Hamlin, Shane Van Gisbergen, Blaney, Chase Briscoe,  Byron, Larson, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Josh Berry, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace and Bell.<\/p>\n

Kyle Busch, who won Friday night\u2019s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Dover, also has an automatic spot on the grid as a former All-Star race winner – as does Keselowski as a former series champion.<\/p>\n

The first two segments of Sunday\u2019s event are 75-laps followed by the 200-lap finale which includes the 19 drivers locked in, plus the six best performing drivers from the opening segments and the \u201cFan Vote\u201d winner.<\/p>\n

Interview: Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) – <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – NASCAR All-Star Race<\/b><\/p>\n

Dover Motor Speedway<\/b><\/p>\n

Dover, Delaware<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, May 16, 2026<\/b><\/p>\n

                1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 98.812 mph.<\/p>\n

                2. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 98.682 mph.<\/p>\n

                3. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 98.289 mph.<\/p>\n

                4. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 98.261 mph.<\/p>\n

                5. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 98.194 mph.<\/p>\n

                6. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 98.084 mph.<\/p>\n

                7. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 97.962 mph.<\/p>\n

                8. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 97.868 mph.<\/p>\n

                9. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 97.815 mph.<\/p>\n

                10. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 97.799 mph.<\/p>\n

                11. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 97.386 mph.<\/p>\n

                12. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 97.379 mph.<\/p>\n

                13. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 97.218 mph.<\/p>\n

                14. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 97.084 mph.<\/p>\n

                15. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 96.999 mph.<\/p>\n

                16. (19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 96.737 mph.<\/p>\n

                17. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 96.404 mph.<\/p>\n

                18. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 96.054 mph.<\/p>\n

                19. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 95.899 mph.<\/p>\n

                20. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 94.444 mph.<\/p>\n

                21. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 94.349 mph.<\/p>\n

                22. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 93.923 mph.<\/p>\n

                23. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 93.185 mph.<\/p>\n

                24. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 91.867 mph.<\/p>\n

                25. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 90.532 mph.<\/p>\n

                26. (60) Ryan Preece, Ford, 88.938 mph.<\/p>\n

                27. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 87.709 mph.<\/p>\n

                28. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 84.942 mph.<\/p>\n

                29. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 83.581 mph.<\/p>\n

                30. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 83.422 mph.<\/p>\n

                31. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 80.981 mph.<\/p>\n

                32. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 77.170 mph.<\/p>\n

                33. (7) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

                34. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

                35. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

                36. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. \u2013 Denny Hamlin has claimed pole position for Sunday\u2019s NASCAR All-Star Race (1 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX Deportes, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in a late qualifying session effort, unseating owner-driver Brad Keselowski in the final minutes of Saturday\u2019 unique three-lap bid to set the field at Dover […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":58195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[41,1150,16],"class_list":["post-58208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-denny-hamlin","tag-dover-motor-speedway","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2276452875-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-f8Q","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58208"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58233,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58208\/revisions\/58233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}