The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule was released earlier this week and features several exciting changes. Notable among them are a first-time race in San Diego as well as a return to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the championship race.
But unfortunately for the series, that’s not what stole the headlines. Instead, fans, drivers, and members of the media are all talking about a move that seems to make little sense – the All-Star Race moving to Dover.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/iDsyTElprf0
NASCAR Moves All-Star Race To Dover Despite Backlash
Traditionally, the late-May race has been held at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The overwhelming majority of teams are based in the Charlotte area, and the All-Star Race precedes the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte one week later.
From 1987 to 2019, Charlotte hosted the race. Since then, it has moved from Bristol to Texas and, most recently, to legendary North Wilkesboro Speedway.
In 2026, North Wilkesboro remains on the schedule as a points race rather than an exhibition. However, it comes at the “expense” of Dover, which loses its points race and will now host the All-Star Race.
Now, that may seem like a decent trade. After all, the All-Star Race is a marquee event of sorts. However, there are some major problems.
For one, Dover Speedway does not have lights, meaning that an event that was traditionally run on a Saturday night under the lights will now be run during the day on Sunday, which takes a lot of the glamour away from the event.
Additionally, Dover Speedway does not have lights! That means that any rain, which is common for Delaware in May, could force the race to move to the middle of the day on a Monday…
Drivers And Fans Speak Out Against All-Star Race At Dover
But it gets even worse. Dover is, traditionally, not exactly the most exciting track. It’s a primarily one-groove race track where passing is difficult and tires take a while to wear.
This makes it a poor candidate to host the All-Star Race, which is often significantly shorter than a full Cup Series event.
“Dover is just not an All-Star type of race track,” Denny Hamlin said on his latest “Actions Detrimental” podcast. “That track is one where it needs rubber on the race track to widen out and then you can start making passes, but that doesn’t happen until 30-40 laps into a run and the All-Star Race is made up of short runs, so there’s just not going to be any passing.”
Fans agreed.
“Sending the All-Star race to Dover was a big price to pay! More so that it will be a day race!” one wrote.
Texas was bad. This may be worse. Also, Dover does not have lights. A daytime All-Star race? Seriously??” asked another.
Who knows? Maybe NASCAR finds a way to make it work. But it sure seems as if they’re setting up one of the marquee events on their calendar to fail.
The post NASCAR Under Fire After Moving All-Star Race To Severely Flawed Dover Motor Speedway appeared first on BroBible.
NASCAR Under Fire After Moving All-Star Race To Severely Flawed Dover Motor Speedway
Pinoy Human Rights
0 Comments