Denny Hamlin isn’t on board with the reported possibility of Dover Motor Speedway hosting the All-Star Race next year while also detailing how competitors and team owners are not consulted at all about the process.
For one, Hamlin said he was puzzled by The Athletic report that Dover could receive the All-Star Race next year in exchange for a points race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the first since 1996.
“Surely, they can’t be talking about replacing Dover’s point race, right? … We had such a great fan turnout when it was 120 degrees, it was like being on the sun,” Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast.
North Wilkesboro does not have lights and is an unorthodox location from both a market and race quality standpoint.
To his point, he says he doesn’t see Dover ‘as an All-Star type of race track’ for those reasons.
“I feel like it would be very Marcus Smith (CEO, Speedway Motorsports) of him to be like, ‘We’re putting in temporary lights and that’s what the spectacle is going to be is to have the first Dover night race.’ I’m just spitballing, but you just never know,” Hamlin said. “I just hope there’s no way they could be going from two points races to none at Dover. The fan turnout’s been good there, I don’t know why you would do that. And then hen, you got to put in temporary lighting. Surely, we won’t run in the middle of the day in July. Who knows.
“Again, hopefully they’re not thinking this one all the way through because this is not the best choice. Dover is just not an All-Star type of racetrack. That track is one where it needs rubber on the racetrack to then widen out and then you can start making passes. But that doesn’t happen until 30 to 40 laps into a run, and the All-Star Race is made up of short runs. There’s just not going to be any passing.”
North Wilkesboro has hosted the All-Star Race since 2023 and the industry feels as though it would be better served as a points race. Prior to that, the All-Star Race has been held at Texas Motor Speedway for two years, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway for decades as a lead-in to the Coca-Cola 600 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Co-host Jared Allen suggested just giving teams an extra off-weekend instead of forcing an All-Star Race that isn’t particularly additive.
“Why don’t we just give the damn teams a week off? Like, they are running us through the grinder. It is a grind trying to get to the racetrack every single weekend,” Hamlin said. “Definitely would enjoy another break, and I just don’t see the need of trying to force this.”
However, NASCAR’s TV deals mandate 38 televised Cup Series events.
Hamlin also noted that the teams have no feedback with NASCAR over scheduling decisions.
“Some of this schedule stuff is slowly leaking out. This is typical each year. The weeks leading up where they’re leaking this track is in, this track is out,” Hamlin said. “They’ve said Iowa is in limbo… Chicagoland, no Chicago [Street Race], San Diego is in. I don’t know, it’s interesting kind of how it all works.
“I can assure you with one thing for certain, as much as they talk about collaboration — NASCAR doesn’t collaborate at all with the teams, drivers or anyone on the schedule. That’s their whole thing. We have nothing to do with it, no input, no nothing. Whatever it is, it’s what they came up with.”
