Why Kyle Larson Is the Terrifying Favorite at Dover: The $1 Million Monster Mile Showdown
There is a million dollars on the line this Sunday, and the field has to go through Kyle Larson to get it. NASCAR has dramatically shifted gears for the 2026 All-Star Race. After a three-year stint at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway, the exhibition event has moved to the high-banked, unforgiving concrete of Dover Motor Speedway.
Something the fans would know as the “Monster Mile. ” To match the brutality of the track, NASCAR has introduced, in our opinion, a scary format. A 350-lap marathon that will whittle the 36-car field down to a final, 26-driver, 200-lap shootout for the $1million grand prize.
And based on Friday’s extended 90-minute practice session, the man to beat is exactly who everyone feared it would be. Kyle Larson’s Masterclass Larson , driving the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, completely dismantled the speed charts during the opening session.
The reigning 2025 NASCAR Cup Series champion laid down a blistering lap of 22. 792 seconds (157. 950 mph), edging out Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin.
For the rest of the garage, Larson’s speed is a terrifying prospect. While he hasn’t found Victory Lane yet in a somewhat frustrating start to the 2026 points-paying season, his record in this specific exhibition event is borderline mythical. Larson is already a three-time All-Star Race winner, and incredibly, he has won those three events on three completely different types of tracks: Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.