NASCAR Reveals Controversial Changes to All-Star Format
What’s Happening? NASCAR is making even more changes to its All-Star race ahead of the event’s inaugural running at Dover Motor…
A NASCAR insider says that ahead of Dover Motor Speedway’s All-Star Race weekend, industry members are questioning what the future holds for the iconic one-mile oval.
By far the most surprising move NASCAR made in building the 2026 schedule was the swap of NASCAR All-Star Race hosting duties from North Wilkesboro Speedway to Dover Motor Speedway.
While race fans had long asked that North Wilkesboro be added as a points-paying race, many did not expect Dover Motor Speedway to be the track that lost a points date and gained the duties of hosting NASCAR’s final exhibition race of the year.
This was an odd choice, as many agreed that Dover did not fit the historic bill of tracks that have hosted the event. Furthermore, it ended the track’s 57-year run of hosting a NASCAR Cup Series points race that dates back to 1969.
During the post-Watkins Glen episode of The Teardown podcast, NASCAR insider Jordan Bianchi said that questions about this decision stretch beyond the fanbase and into the garage.
“I can’t tell you how many people came up to me this weekend in the garage, and we’re just like, ‘What are we doing?'” Binachi said.
Bianchi also shared that some industry members are concerned about what the move means for the one-mile oval’s future, something that took his co-host, Jeff Gluck, by surprise.
“And I will say this, there’s a genuine concern about Dover’s future among people, because they like Dover” — Jordan Bianchi.
The reason for this concern is a point made by fans online for the past few years, with Bianchi noting that the track has shuffled around the schedule and lost a points-paying race to Nashville Superspeedway over the past few seasons.
While the track has had good attendance in its recent, non-weather-affected, race weekends, Bianchi says that changing the track’s status from a two-point race venue to a one-point race venue to a no-points race venue could see diminishing support from fans.
“It doesn’t have a spot in the schedule,” Bianchi said. ”It’s one of those that just keeps moving around here, there, wherever. . . If you don’t give your customers respect and treat them at that level, how do you expect them to keep coming back?”
While the decision to move the All-Star Race to Dover was an interesting one, fans also agree that the format for this weekend’s event is even more strange.
Historically, the All-Star Race is a shorter race with a small field.
During its final race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the race was 120 miles long, and had a field of 21 drivers. Last season at North Wilkesboro, the race was 125 miles long and featured 23 drivers.
This year, the race will be a massive 350 miles long, 50 miles less than the advertised distance of the track’s 2025 points race, and features the full field of entrants starting the race, though, after 150 laps, the field will shrink to 26 drivers.
This plan, combined with the addition of a normal Craftsman Truck and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races, has led some fans to joke that the race should just be a 37th-place points race, something Dover race fans might appreciate a little more than this newly formatted All-Star Race.
What’s Happening? NASCAR is making even more changes to its All-Star race ahead of the event’s inaugural running at Dover Motor…
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