Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin has questioned why NASCAR would move the All-Star Race from North Wilkesboro Speedway to Dover, following speculation ahead of the 2026 schedule release.

North Wilkesboro has hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race since 2023 and hasn’t had a points race in 30 years. According to The Athletic, NASCAR is considering a change, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. teased that it could occur during the TNT portion of the broadcast schedule next year.

Christopher Bell won the All-Star Race earlier this year, but Hamlin is against moving the event to Dover, as he believes the track is unsuitable. Despite the intense heat, Hamlin acknowledged the strong attendance at Dover this year and doesn’t understand why NASCAR would remove it.

With the All-Star Race not offering points, Hamlin is confused about why NASCAR would take it away from Dover. “Surely, they can’t be talking about replacing Dover’s point race, right?” He said on his ‘Actions Detrimental‘ podcast.

“We had such a great fan turnout when it was 120 degrees, it was like being on the sun…I just hope there’s no way they could be going from two races to none, no points races at Dover. The fan turnout has been good there, I don’t know why you’d do that.”

NASCAR is set to release the 2026 schedule in the coming weeks, but there was reportedly a last-minute discussion over the All-Star Race. North Wilkesboro could be handed a points race for the first time in three decades, and Earnhardt Jr. hinted at the change.

Earnhardt Jr. was asked if he would like a points race at North Wilkesboro next year, and he smiled as he said: “I think it would be badass for Wilkesboro to be a points race in the summer, and I would get to broadcast it…maybe in the TNT portion of the year.”

NASCAR driver Chase Elliott was also open to the idea. “I don’t see why not. I think it’s plenty capable of hosting, and obviously, the crowd seems extremely receptive to the idea, too,” he said.

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“Whatever NASCAR decides on that, I’m good with. It put on a good race for sure, so it’s hard to argue against that.”

Aside from the impressive fan turnout at Dover, Hamlin also argued that the quality of racing would decrease if the All-Star Race left North Wilkesboro. Hamlin claimed that there would be minimal passing if the event were hosted at Dover, which would be a mistake.

“The 10th floor is just not…hopefully they’re not thinking this one all the way through, but this is not the best choice,” Hamlin said. “Dover is just not an All-Star type of race track.

“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.”