After two 75 lap segments filled with chaos, wrecks, and more, Daniel Suárez is still standing. His No. 7 number might be made of tape right now, but the Spire Motorsports driver is the Mayor of Dover after winning the NASCAR fan vote.
Daniel Suárez is advancing to the All-Star Race main event. 200 laps in this race, Denny Hamlin on the pole, and there were barely enough cars left in-tact to fill out the full 26-car field.
Noah Gragson's reign as the fan vote winner is over, mostly because Gragson raced his way into the finale, and didn't need it. Suárez claims the prize this time around.
Daniel Suárez was involved in that Lap 2 wreck where Ryan Preece spun out and eventually, his car caught fire. The Spire Motorsports team got the car taped up, made a new number with tape, and kept it going on the track.
Starting last with a damaged car isn't promising in a 200 lap race. Still, you can't count anyone out with how much chaos we have seen throughout the afternoon.
At one point, it looked like NASCAR was going to ahve trouble finding cars to field a full race. 26 cars were supposed to make the field, and at one point it looked like we were going to see 23 cars in the final 200 laps. Credit to those teams in the garage for the repairs and making sure the fans got a full entry list of drivers.
Noah Gragson had won the fan vote the last few years in the NASCAR All-Star Race. He didn't need it this time around as he raced his way in during the first two segments. There wasn't an Open race, but instead two sprint races. The starting order was set based on average finishing position in those two shorter segments.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on May 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
