In addition to considering tweaking the locations of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoff series, the circuit is also prepared to change the venue of the 2026 All-Star Race.

The event has been held at the North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina each of the last three years. A report from The Athletic indicates it could move to the Dover Motor Speedway. Important to note: both venues are properties of Speedway Motorsports.

Christopher Bell captured the checkered flag at the 2025 All-Star race and praised North Wilkesboro as his favorite short course. If the NASCAR All-Star race moves to Dover, North Wilkesboro would host its first points race in 1996.

“North Wilkesboro, how about that one?” Bell said after his win. “That right there is absolutely incredible. North Wilkesboro, best short track on the schedule.”

The course currently hosts an annual truck series race, won in 2024 by Corey Heim and in 2025 by Chandler Smith (who bested Heim in a controversial finish), proving the course is still in race-shape.

“I feel like this place… tires kind of mattered, but they also kind of didn’t,” Smith said of his performance. “I didn’t think we were as good as the 11 — obviously we had a tire advantage on him there.”

Heim was understanding in defeat. “That last restart, I did everything but the right thing,” he said. “My teammate, Layne Riggs, executed perfectly, and we came out on the right end of the stick.”

The All-Star race was held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway for a number of years before it most to the Bistor Motor Speedway in 2020. In 2021, the race moved to the Texas Motor Speedway for a pair of contests before settling on the North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2023.

NASCAR already elected to move Championship Weekend to the Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2026, away from its typical location in Phoenix.

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“If you’ve watched a lot of other sports properties that are moving the location around year after year, part of that is to build up pent-up demand,” explained NASCAR Exectuive VP Ben Kennedy.

“But part of it is that variability in a lot of the markets, and then a little bit of it is what we talked about as well is just having a little bit of differentiation as it relates to the competition and racing product as well. Having the playoffs be more unpredictable every year, the championship venue to be at a different location, I think gives you the ability to see different teams and drivers kind of rise to the occasion to be able to be crowned a champion.”