What’s Happening?

At its heart, the NASCAR All-Star Fan Vote is very simple, but some minor quirks throw some wrenches into the process. Here is how All-Star fan voting works for fans who want to vote for their favorite driver to race in the All-Star Race.

• NASCAR introduced fan voting for the All-Star Race in 2004, allowing one extra participant into the field. Many drivers have done quite well with the fan vote, with 7 top-10 finishes in 20 seasons and Kasey Kahne taking home the $1 million prize in 2008.
• Many notable names find themselves on this year’s ballot. However, the fan vote is not their only hope of getting into the All-Star Race.
• Fans are excited to see who gets into this year’s All-Star Race. It’s their opportunity to make their mark on the field for one of NASCAR’s most prestigious events.

Who’s Eligible and How to Vote?

Fans can vote on NASCAR.com/fanvote, and they can vote up to 5 times per day. Plenty of big-name drives are on the list.

A total of 18 drivers are currently on the fan vote ballot, including every chartered but not currently qualified name for the All-Star Race. Drivers in the All-Star race include race winners from the start of 2023 onwards, past All-Star Race winners, and past Champions. Everyone else is included in the fan vote, including the following drivers.

• No. 2 Austin Cindric
• No. 3 Austin Dillon
• No. 4 Josh Berry
• No. 7 Corey LaJoie
• No. 10 Noah Gragson
• No. 14 Chase Briscoe
• No. 21 Harrison Burton
• No 23 Bubba Wallace
• No. 31 Daniel Hemric
• No. 38 Todd Gilliland
• No. 41 Ryan Preece
• No. 42 John Hunter Nemechek
• No. 43 Erik Jones
• No. 48 Alex Bowman
• No. 54 Ty Gibbs
• No. 71 Zane Smith
• No. 77 Carson Hocevar
• Kaz Grala
• J.J. Yeley

Some drivers have already begun campaigning for fans to vote them into the main event. Justin Haley had perhaps the most creative fan vote campaign to this point.

NEWS: @Justin_Haley_ announces candidacy for #NASCAR All-Star Race…

and #HaleYES YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR HIM!https://t.co/OZdDl42yNM
*vote early and vote often pic.twitter.com/vdP0dx5cuX

— Rick Ware Racing (@RickWareRacing) April 23, 2024

Carson Hocevar looked to Napoleon Dynamite for inspiration, parodying the “Vote for Pedro” bit from the movie.

Other Scenarios

There are some small caveats with the fan vote, however, since there are two other avenues for drivers to be allowed into the All-Star Race.

One way is winning one of the final 3 races before the All-Star Race. If any of the fan vote-eligible drivers win one of these 3 races, they will be removed from the ballot. It’s worth noting that Erik Jones (Darlington), Bubba Wallace (Kansas), and Alex Bowman (Dover) have each won at the tracks that come before the All-Star Race.

Drivers can also qualify for the All-Star Race through the All-Star Open. The top 2 finishers in that race automatically transfer into the All-Star Race. In 2023, Josh Berry and Ty Gibbs finished in the top-2 in the Open, transferring into the main event.

Fan vote favorites have transferred in through the Open before, allowing other drivers to get into the race through the fan vote. For example, in 2012, Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced his way into the All-Star Race through the Open, which allowed Bobby Labonte to race in the All-Star Race through the fan vote.

The fan vote is one of the most interesting parts of All-Star Weekend, and it gives drivers more of a reason to reach out to fans nad frow their audience. Which driver will woo the fans the most this weekend?