Insider hints NASCAR could snub North Wilkesboro Speedway for the $1M All-Star Race

NASCAR might move its All-Star Race to Dover Motor Speedway for the 2026 season. This means that North Wilkesboro Speedway, which has held the coveted non-points race since 2023, could host a Cup Series event, something that hasn’t happened at the North Carolina-based racetrack since 1996.

Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic reported the same through one of his news pieces. No decision has been made about the venue for the All-Star race yet. However, NASCAR is expected to release its 2026 schedule next week. The track hosting the All-Star event will be announced for a date in the summer.

“The annual non-points All-Star Race has bounced around to various tracks in recent years, shifting in 2020 from its longtime home at Charlotte Motor Speedway to Bristol Motor Speedway, then to Texas Motor Speedway for two years (2021-2022) before landing at North Wilkesboro,” Bianchi wrote. “Charlotte, Bristol and Texas are all owned by Speedway Motorsports.”

“Speedway Motorsports owns Dover and North Wilkesboro, making a swap of the All-Star Race between the tracks fairly straightforward,” he further added.

Winning the All-Star race will get the drivers a whopping 1 million dollar prize. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell is the reigning winner of the event, which means that next year, the Oklahoma native could be going for a back-to-back sweep.

For now, all eyes are on Richmond Raceway, which will host the 25th race of the season. Named Cook Out 400, the 400-lap feature is scheduled for Saturday, August 16. Fans can watch it on USA (7:30 pm ET onwards) or listen to live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. thinks NASCAR should revamp its overtime rules

NASCAR veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr. thinks that NASCAR should do away with overtime restarts in the Xfinity and the Craftsman Truck Series. According to the two-time Xfinity Series champion, overtime finishes in the Xfinity and the Truck Series only pave the way for crashes.

“The race cars and trucks, those are $150,000 to $250,000 vehicles,” Dale Jr. explained in an episode of his Dale Jr. Download podcast (7:06). “I think we lose sight of that. …No one really thinks anymore of like, ‘Damn, that was a couple million dollars worth of equipment got destroyed.’ I think that for the long-term good, I would get rid of overtime finishes in Truck and Xfinity.”

Sometimes races just end under caution. Dale Jr. explained that it’s a hard thing for a lot of fans to accept because they pay to watch the race, and ending it under caution is not really what they look forward to.

However, Dale Jr. said that he is okay with overtime restarts at the Cup level. He thinks that the NASCAR Cup Series drivers are more experienced, elite, and hence, less prone to making mistakes that might end their day or take out the entire field.