There is an “increasing possibility” that the NASCAR All-Star Race could be moved from North Wilkesboro Speedway to Dover Motor Speedway in 2026, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic reported last Thursday. Bianchi noted that Dover hosting the All-Star Race could lead to North Wilkesboro hosting its first Cup Series points race since 1996.
Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports confirmed Bianchi’s report on Monday’s “Door Bumper Clear” podcast and added some new details. Most notably, we could be looking at a daytime All-Star Race next season since Dover doesn’t have lights.
“The schedule could very well come out this week… It’s certainly being highly considered. You’d have the All-Star Race there. I think North Wilkesboro — there’s been clamoring for a points race and it’s a Speedway Motorsports track, so you look at where else would you swap it with the All-Star Race. And the All-Star Race is part of the FOX portion of the schedule… it has to come before the [Coca-Cola] 600. I heard some people say maybe in July — no, it would be in May.
“Bristol could make a little bit of sense. You had it there once and that kind of differentiates it from the night race, or I thought Nashville maybe could be one, but then they’re also trying to push that Fairgrounds deal through, so maybe they wanna use that as a carrot to say let’s get this through and then maybe we’ll bring the All-Star Race. I don’t think they’re putting lights up for it, so it’s gonna be a day [race].
NASCAR All-Star Race on the move again?
The first All-Star Race was held in 1985. Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted the first All-Star race, and it moved to Atlanta Motor Speedway the following year. It returned to Charlotte in 1987 and would stay there until 2020, when it moved to Bristol Motor Speedway. In 2021, NASCAR moved the All-Star Race to Texas Motor Speedway, and it would be there for two seasons. North Wilkesboro got the All-Star Race in 2023.
Dover would seem to be an outside the box option. “The Monster Mile” already lost one of its annual dates in 2021. Denny Hamlin won’t be pleased if it loses another in order to host the All-Star Race.
“Hopefully they’re not thinking this one all the way through because this is not the best choice. Dover is just not an All-Star type of racetrack,” Hamlin said on Actions Detrimental. “That track is one where it needs rubber on the racetrack to then widen out and then you can start making passes. But that doesn’t happen until 30 to 40 laps into a run. And the All-Star Race is made up of short runs. There’s just not going to be any passing.”
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