
With the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro now in its third year, it’s starting to feel like a consistent part of the schedule. But that doesn’t make it any less special. The 0.625-mile track is spruced up and ready for the NASCAR All-Star Race at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, airing on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
But the whole weekend is a spectacle. Qualifying at 7 p.m. on Friday not only sets the grid for the heats but includes the Pit Crew Challenge, giving every member of the team a chance to shine. Saturday features two 75-lap heat races from 5 p.m. to determine the lineup of the inside and outside lanes of the main event. Then Sunday starts with a 100-lap Open race for a last chance to join, followed by the main event itself.
To win takes putting it all together. Little wonder that the winners of all the last ten All-Star Races are champions of the sport. In the past two races at North Wilkesboro, that has been Kyle Larson (2021 champion) and Joey Logano (2018, 2022, and 2024 champion).
Odds via BetMGM
+500 – Kyle Larson
+600 – Denny Hamlin
+650 – Christopher Bell
+650 – Ryan Blaney
+800 – Joey Logano
+850 – William Byron
+1000 – Chase Elliott
+1400 – Tyler Reddick
+1600 – Chris Buescher
+1600 – Josh Berry
Still, plenty of drivers come into the weekend with a chance. That certainly includes the 20 drivers already qualified for the main event by virtue of winning last year or being a past champion, plus the two highest finishers in the Open and one winner of the All-Star Fan Vote. The past two years, that fan vote has been won by Noah Gragson, who’s in contention again this time.
The format is different, but the biggest difference is the motivation. There are no points on the line, just the pride of beating the best in the sport, as well as walking home with a million-dollar check.
“The All-Star Race is always intense – no points on the line, just pride and a big check,” said Ricky Stenhouse. “It’s a chance to go out there, take some risks, and really show what your team is made of. I’m excited to mix it up and hopefully give the fans something to cheer about.”
Stenhouse knows that better than anybody, perhaps. In last year’s race, Kyle Busch sent Stenhouse into the wall and out of the race, and there’s no way out of the small infield while the race is going on. So Stenhouse had nothing else to do but wait by Busch’s hauler, and when the race ended he threw a punch.
That sort of emotion and intensity will be in the background all weekend. But as for the race itself, it’s another short track. The focus in those races this year has been tires, and Goodyear is bringing the same compounds that raced at Bowman Gray and Martinsville earlier this year.
Both those races may have featured dominance up front, but there was plenty of passing throughout the field. So what to expect from this weekend, 50 laps longer than the race the past two years?
There’s plenty of scope for a driver to dominate, but keep an eye throughout the field all race and expect some battles and movement. And any driver who does break away will be drawn back in with a competition caution at lap 100 and a promoter’s choice caution available at any point from there until lap 220 of 250.
For drivers like Austin Cindric, it’s not something he’s particularly concerned about coming into the race; it’ll just be another caution.
“I have a hard enough time keeping up with all of the different format stuff. I guess getting to lap 220, are we going to not have a caution or a caution before that? Whatever it’s going to be. I just do what I’m told at this point,” he said.
“I don’t feel like I’m established enough to have that great of an opinion or have one that I think anyone is going to care about, so at this point it’s just trying to maximize this format. That’s really how I feel. In some ways, I feel like I’ve had to do more prep work for this weekend than I’ve actually had to do for a regular season race, not because I want to win any race more than the next, but there are a lot of new things and a lot going on that you have to be prepared for and pay attention to.”
Whatever the racing looks like, it’s special for every driver in the car and fan at the track, and that’s something just about every driver highlighted coming into the weekend.
“It’s fun to go to a track like North Wilkesboro that has so much history and to have the All-Star race there is cool,” said Ross Chastain.
“It’s cool that the All-Star Race is at North Wilkesboro Speedway again. It’s a really cool track. It has a lot of history to it,” said Kyle Busch.
“Any time we can go to tracks that have a long history in the sport, it means a lot,” Carson Hocevar said. “North Wilkesboro was no longer on the schedule when I was younger, but I love racing and I’ve seen the old footage of the races there. It’s a place that is so important to the history of stock car racing and to see it brought back to life, and hosting the Cup Series, is really cool. I’m thankful that it’s something I get to be part of.”

Kyle Busch Tries to Go Two-for-two in the Trucks
The first time Kyle Busch stepped into a truck this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he took it to victory lane. Now the driver with the most wins in series history is back, driving the No. 07 for Spire Motorsports at North Wilkesboro.
Unlike the spectacle for the Cup Series, Saturday’s Window World 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, which airs at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, is a regular points event. That means all the other drivers in the field want to beat Busch, and any drivers who haven’t won yet are looking to punch their ticket to the Playoffs.
Busch is looking to learn the track and truck ahead of the race, which should give him a bit of extra experience heading into the All-Star Race also.
“It’ll be my first time racing a truck at North Wilkesboro and my first time racing with the No. 07 group, so practice will be important for us this week,” Busch said. He’s driven the team’s No. 7 previously, but the new 07 for this year has already seen a host of Chevrolet Cup Series drivers and won in the hands of Kyle Larson at Homestead-Miami.
“The 07 team has shown good speed winning with Larson and picking up a couple runner-up finishes in recent weeks, so hopefully we can continue the momentum they’ve been building and put our Gainbridge Silverado in Victory Lane this weekend,” Busch concluded.
If Busch isn’t challenge enough, any prospective winner will have to face down Corey Heim. Not only does he have three wins already this year, he’s the defending winner at North Wilkesboro and knows what it takes to be fast at the short track. Heim has stretched his lead in the points up to a 64-point advantage over Chandler Smith, his closest challenger.