The NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway drew criticism from fans and drivers alike. The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck released his weekly ‘Good Race or Not?‘ poll on X, and it was met with a mere 35% approval rating, with fewer respondents than usual claiming the race was entertaining.
The race format was certainly questionable. The race was divided into three segments: 75 laps, 75 laps, and a final 200-lap segment, with a lap 225 competition caution.
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In the first two segments, drivers galore were caught up in wrecks. Here is every race incident before the 200-lap All-Star Race final segment:
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Lap 73: Riley Herbst, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott (2), AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Riley Herbst, Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek (2).
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Lap 90: Shane van Gisbergen.
In total, 24 different cars out of 36 in the race had been collected in a race incident before the 200-lap race even began.
Before the entire 350-lap All-Star Race, 19 cars had clinched a spot in the third segment, plus another Fan Vote Winner, which was Daniel Suarez. Given the early incidents that occurred, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain were among the few cars that did not even make it to the green flag after lap 150.
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Denny Hamlin Makes His All-Star Preference Clear
North Wilkesboro’s 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)(Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)
The criticism from drivers and fans comes down to one big takeaway: why are clinched drivers racing in the first two segments when they’re in the final segment? They took unnecessary risks, leading drivers to miss the final 200-lap segment of the race for the $1 million prize. Denny Hamlin avoided an incident and won the race — his 3rd straight win at Dover and 4th since 2020.
“It (the All-Star Race) needs to be at night, I think it needs to be on a Saturday night, and it needs to be on a shorter track,” Hamlin explained on his weekly podcast, Actions Detrimental.
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Hamlin also suggested that NASCAR ought to move to a new venue, as he voices that Dover needs to stay on the circuit and retain its points-race status.
“I think you need to bring in a new venue there,” Hamlin further discussed. The All-Star Race winner suggested that the ideal location is one not on the circuit, such as the Nashville Fairgrounds.
The Nashville Fairgrounds is a 0.596-mile oval. It ran NASCAR-branded races from 1958 to 1984. The track has hardly hosted any form of NASCAR, including ARCA, which ran just one race there in 2015. However, in 2018, Speedway Motorsports reached an agreement with Bristol Motor Speedway to cooperate on the track. In 2021, NASCAR began preliminary negotiations to bring the track back into the fold, although that remains to be seen five years later.
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Hamlin also explains that the city of Nashville would draw a large crowd. Attendance is one of the major factors NASCAR considers when deciding where and when to race. The best examples of that include Dover’s knockdown to one race per year and rumors of its removal from the circuit. Richmond’s reduction to one race is another key example, despite the track offering great racing.
Over the prior two seasons, North Wilkesboro has hosted the All-Star Race, offering entertaining bouts of competition. Yet it seems NASCAR understood that fans may have wanted the track to host a points race. That they got one, in which North Wilkesboro will run a points race in the NASCAR Cup Series later this summer.
Hamlin explains that there is a give-and-take, and while North Wilkesboro gets a points race, it does not guarantee good racing. He clearly favors the short track to keep the All-Star Race, fitting with the narrative of keeping a short track for the star-studded event.
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As discussed yesterday (click here), Hamlin favors racing at Dover. “The fans there are super passionate.” “The people in that area freaking love racing, man.. they support that race track,” Hamlin noted when praising Dover Motor Speedway. “They got a bad draw this year, but I thought that if you’re just a racing fan and you like seeing cars battling, I think they got their money’s worth; all 4 hours of it.”
It is unclear where NASCAR will hold its 2027 All-Star Race. It seems likely that Dover was a one-off. NASCAR has not been shy about racing at new venues in recent years, including North Wilkesboro, Rockingham, and the reintroduction of Nashville Superspeedway. Anything is possible, but much will remain unknown until later this season.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on May 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
