Denny Hamlin Sticks Up for Dover NASCAR Fans After All-Star Race

Three years and three wins at Dover Motor Speedway has to feel pretty good. Denny Hamlin, the winner and recipient of $1,000,000, would like to see the race return to the regular season schedule.

Denny Hamlin did not waste time in his post-race press conference. He made it loud and clear that he wants to see Dover return to a points race.

"First thing is, let's give Dover their points race back, and then let's figure out where we're going to go, and then figure out the format," Hamlin said after the race. "Let's start there."

Hamlin then stuck up for the fans. Dover is a great track and the racing on Sunday with the new increased horsepower package, smaller spoiler, and simplified diffuser, that produced great racing. The fans deserve it and Hamlin wants them to have a points race.

"Oh, yeah. No doubt," Hamlin said when asked if he preferred Dover to be a points race. "I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like an All-Star Race should be at night. I don't even care where it is. Night was always something that was always... I'm not trying to throw mud. They did as good as they possibly oculd given where they put this track in the schedule and whatnot.

"But at night somewhere... I definitely prefer Dover as a points race. There's no other track like this on our schedule. It is so unique, and it requires such a unique style of driving, far different from any oval we go to that you can't lose tracks like this in our points schedule. I just think it's too valuable. The fans really, really are passionate here. I'm a fan of this place."

Denny Hamlin absolutely dominated on Sunday. He led more than half of the laps on his way to the win. Three wins in a row at Dover, two points wins and an All-Star Race. The No. 11 team has looked excellent this season. How far can they go?

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 3:45 PM.