It didn't take long for chaos to happen at Dover Motor Speedway. The All-Star Race opened up with a huge wreck on Lap 2. Ryan Preece came down onto Todd Gilliland in a three-wide situation, and from there, it just fell apart.
Kyle Larson took a good hit, but Ryan Preece took a massive hit. Of course he did, as he seems to always be involved in the biggest and nastiest wrecks in the Cup Series.
Preece's car then backed into the wall and burst into flames. The back of the car was engulfed in fire and Preece had to quickly leave his No. 60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
In the last few years, Ryan Preece has been on the receiving end of some of the biggest hits in NASCAR. Everyone remembers his flips in 2024 and 2025 at Daytona. Many people forget about the 2023 hit he took while at Stewart-Haas Racing at Talladega. Kyle Larson was involved in that as well. Preece slammed into the right side of a sitting Larson, which led to safety updates to the Next Gen car.
Ryan Preece Apologizes for All-Star Race Wreck
Following the wreck at Dover, Ryan Preece went to the care center and was checked out. He said on FS1 to Jamie Little that he feels fine. However, the driver issued an apology after he was able to clearly view the replay of the incident.
"I don't know what happened there," Preece said, via RFK Racing. I thought I was going to be able to clear open by the time we got to turn 1, and obviously I didn't. That's my fault and I'm sorry to whoever got caught up in that."
In the last three years, Preece has been responsible for more changes to the Next Gen car than any other driver. His flips have created the need for new flaps and fins on the car on superspeedways and high-speed intermediates. The gusset plates were added to the right side to prevent the chassis from collapsing in on the driver.
So, what new rule or safety feature can NASCAR add to counteract this? I'm not too sure. NASCAR held the field to get everything cleaned up at Dover. It is going to be a redo for many of these teams.
For drivers involved in the wreck, like Larson, Blaney, and Elliott, they are already locked into the 200 lap finale. So, despite not racing in the first or second segment, those teams can still make the race for $1,000,000 if their teams can get their cars repaired enough to meet minimum speed.
A wild and hot start to the All-Star Race at Dover. That wreck is going to make drivers think twice before making big moves. Then again, drivers racing their way into the main event cannot afford to sit around and wait.
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.
