NASCAR All-Star Race Preview: Old School All-Star Race

This article is part of our Weekly Preview series.

NASCAR takes a break from the regular season schedule this Sunday night to hold its annual All-Star Race festivities. Most fantasy racing leagues don't recognize this event in the fantasy racing season, but some do along with daily fantasy racing and many racing pools that form specifically for this event and its unique format. After a two-season stint at Texas Motor Speedway for this exhibition race, NASCAR moved the event to the newly restored North Wilkesboro Speedway last season. Millions of dollars have been spent to bring back to life a part of NASCAR's rich history. The 5/8-mile oval with 14-degree corner banking used to produce some of the most exciting short track action NASCAR had to offer. The speedway hosted NASCAR's top division from 1949 to 1996 and saw a number of legends win on its unique configuration. NASCAR successfully revived and restored some of that past history by putting its current stars on the legendary oval last season. The event was so popular and such a success, we're back for a second All-Star Race under the lights at North Wilkesboro.

This exhibition weekend is divided into several events. The racing begins Saturday evening with two qualifying heat races (60 laps each) to set the starting grid for Sunday night's All-Star Race. Then on Sunday evening the All-Star Open, a 100-lap sprint race divided into two segments (50/50 laps) with a mandatory 4-tire pit stop in between. As many as three Open drivers can transfer into the All-Star Race, the top two finishers of the Open, and a third driver by winning an internet fan vote. To qualify for the Open, a driver must have finished inside the Top 50 of the 2023 Cup Series standings, attempted to qualify for the 2024 Daytona 500 or competed in a NASCAR Cup Series event during the 2024 season. This is an exciting heat race, because the winner and runner-up are usually drivers that are not normally contenders for the victory on most Cup Series race weekends. 

After the Open and later Sunday night is the Cup Series All-Star Race. This is the night's main feature. It is a 200-lap event divided into three segments with breaks at lap 100 and 150. The lap 100 break will feature a mandatory 4-tire pit stop. The drivers who transfer from the Open join the drivers who are race winners from the previous and current Cup Series seasons, past All-Star event champions and Cup Series champions who are active drivers and have competed in at least one series event during the 2023 or 2024 season. The starting grid is set by pole-qualifying heat races held the previous day and then the green flag drops for the first 100-lap segment. The winner of the third and final stage earns a hefty $1 million purse. NASCAR overtime rules apply to the All-Star Race, so there will be no finishes under caution.

Since this is an exhibition racing event and a departure from NASCAR's normal racing format, as well as a relatively new track that has been brought back out of retirement, we have to look at performance statistics a bit differently this week. We have just one race (last season's All-Star event) of data at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but we also have some very recent races this season on other short tracks. We'll take a close look at the results from the last five events on tracks 1-mile in size or less. Those would include Phoenix, Bristol, Richmond, Martinsville and Dover. This should be a good current sampling of short track performance and a good indicator for potential in Sunday night's All-Star Race. 

This weekend's race is unlike any of the normal Cup Series events, so we'll handle the prognostications a bit different as well.  We'll give you our picks for who'll contend for the win in the All-Star Open, and then our picks for who'll contend for winning the Cup Series All-Star Race.

The Open Contenders – Drivers in the hunt for the win

Alex Bowman – The No. 48 Chevrolet team won last season's All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro, but it was under the guidance of Josh Berry and not Bowman. At the time, Bowman as sidelined with an injury and could not drive. The veteran Hendrick Motorsports driver will be back in the driver's seat this weekend to defend this race team's win of one year ago. Bowman has been reasonably good on short tracks this season. He scored a Top 5 earlier in the year at Bristol and collected recent Top 10's at both Martinsville and Dover. This is a solid race team and a driver performing at a good level right now. There's no reason to believe Bowman can't contend and defend this race team's victory of a year ago at North Wilkesboro.

Ty Gibbs – Gibbs has shown great progress this season, and although he's still seeking his first career victory, he's clearly getting very close. The Joe Gibbs Racing youngster is coming off a brilliant runner-up finish at Darlington this week and riding some good momentum into All-Star weekend. The driver of the No. 54 Toyota sat on the pole and led 54 laps in last season's All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway. That experience will serve this young driver and team well heading into the North Wilkesboro sequel. Gibbs has led 194 laps on short tracks this season with a brilliant third-place finish at Phoenix as well as Top 10's at Bristol and Dover. He'll battle for the win in this 100-lap exhibition race.      

Chase Briscoe – Briscoe had a berth in the All-Star Race last season and did not compete in the Open. However, this year he will race in the Open and have to earn his way into All-Star night's main event. The Stewart Haas Racing driver performed very well in last season's main event. He started fifth on the grid and raced his way to a strong fourth-place finish in the 24-car field. The driver of the No. 14 Ford has been reasonably good on short tracks this season. Briscoe has claimed Top-10 finishes at both Phoenix and most recently at Martinsville Speedway. Given his good experience at North Wilkesboro last year, we believe he'll be in contention to win the Open and transfer into the All-Star Race.  

Bubba Wallace – Wallace was in the All-Star Race field last season and did not compete in the Open. He will have to race his way into the night's main event this season. The 23XI Racing veteran was impressive last year at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Wallace qualified 10th on the starting grid and would methodically race his way forward to a brilliant runner-up finish last season in the All-Star Race. The short tracks have sort of been a mixed bag for the No. 23 Toyota team in 2024, but Wallace did race to an impressive fourth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway a few weeks ago. We believe this driver and team have the short track expertise and Wallace has the North Wilkesboro experience that will make him a top contender to with the All-Star Open.         

Noah Gragson – Gragson has been racing well leading up to All-Star weekend. The young Stewart Haas Racing driver has three Top-10 and four Top-15 finishes in the last four events leading up to this weekend's exhibition in North Wilkesboro. This will be Gragson's second All-Star appearance. He raced to a reasonably good seventh-place in last season's All-Star Open. Gragson would go onto race in the night's main event, but would be a back marker in the All-Star Race. It was a good first experience for Gragson and his skills have obviously advanced since then. If you're looking for an upset minded young driver who could make big waves in the All-Star Open, Gragson is your guy.        

Ryan Preece – The Stewart Haas Racing driver raced to a strong fourth-place finish in last season's All-Star Open. Preece would not transfer in the All-Star Race last year at North Wilkesboro, but he'd take away a good experience in the Open and some valuable knowledge of the track. The driver of the No. 41 Ford has been better this season on short tracks that most other ovals. Preece earned a Top-10 finish at Martinsville Speedway in recent weeks and he was a Top-15 finisher earlier this season at Bristol. His background in racing lends itself to short track experience and expertise. Preece is a bit of a sleeper in this All-Star Open, but he has the tools and experience to pull off an upset victory.

The All-Star Race Contenders – Drivers in the hunt for the win

Kyle Larson – The three-time All-Star winner and two-time Open winner checks in at the top of the contenders list this week. Larson has been a real performer in these exhibition races with three All-Star wins, one runner-up All-Star performance and two victories in the All-Star Open. He dominated this event one year ago on the North Wilkesboro oval and carries that experience into this weekend. The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet has been one of the season's top performers on short tracks with two poles, 288 laps led and four Top-5 finishes. Larson has been a top driver on these small ovals in 2024. When the lights flip on this Sunday night, he'll be ready to race.    

Denny Hamlin – Hamlin has been the short track dominator this season. The driver of the JGR No. 11 Toyota has claimed three victories (Bristol, Richmond and Dover) on the small ovals and he's poised for more. He didn't do particularly well in this event one year ago (13th-place) but it's a new season and clearly Hamlin is refocused on the bull rings. The 20-year Cup Series veteran has a long history of performing well in the All-Star Race. Hamlin has one win, one runner-up finish and seven Top 5's in these exhibition races. Given how well this driver and team's short track program has been performing, we have to include him among the top tier contenders at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Martin Truex Jr. – Truex is still seeking his first win of the 2024 season and it could come All-Star weekend. He's a two-time winner of the Open and he's finished runner-up once in the All-Star Race itself, however, he's never won the main event and big cash prize. Truex is a 12-time winner on the Cup Series short track circuit, so he knows how to get it done on the small ovals. The driver of the No. 19 Toyota has been consistent this season, but not dominant on the bull ring circuit. Truex has led an impressive 406 laps on these ovals, collected one runner-up finish (Bristol) and three Top-5 finishes. He should be racing among the leaders under the lights Sunday night.      

Chase Elliott – Elliott is the 2020 All-Star winner and he has a track record of performing well in these exhibition races despite the fact that they've moved venues in recent seasons. That 2020 victory is noteworthy because it too came on a short track in Bristol. Elliott finished a respectable fifth-place in this event one year ago at North Wilkesboro, so that will be valuable experience for this weekend. He's also been a steady short track performer this season with 74 laps led, three Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes. Elliott is a bit longer odds that some of the other drivers in this ranking, but his short track experience and excellence cannot be overlooked heading into Sunday's battle at North Wilkesboro.  

Tyler Reddick – Reddick has come on strong in recent weeks with his Talladega win and near-brush with victory this past week at Darlington. The 23XI Racing star had one of the most impressive drives of any competitor in last season's inaugural North Wilkesboro All-Star Race. Reddick climbed from 20th on the starting grid to finish an impressive third-place last year. He was the biggest mover of the night in this event last season. Other than stage wins in the Open, Reddick has yet to make a big mark on All-Star weekend. That could change this Sunday night. He's been sharp on short tracks with Top 10's in three of the five events thus far. The driver of the No. 45 Toyota is a surging performer coming into this All-Star Race.  

Chris Buescher – The Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing veteran has come alive in recent races. Buescher narrowly lost at Kansas a couple weeks ago, by mere fractions of a second did he lose to Kyle Larson. He also very nearly won at Darlington this past week, but was rolled up in contact late with Tyler Reddick. Buescher will look to shake that off in this weekend's All-Star activities. He's been a stage winner in the Open, but never broken through to victory in the main event. In this exhibition one year ago, the veteran driver sat on the outside pole but faded to 16th-place by the finish. We believe he'll be much more competitive this second time at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Buescher's recent performance would seem to indicate that will be the case.    

Christopher Bell – This weekend will mark Bell's fourth start in the All-Star Race, and while he's yet to make his mark on this special exhibition event, he will one day soon. The Joe Gibbs Racing youngster won earlier this season on the Phoenix oval and has three Top-10 finishes on Cup Series short tracks in 2024. That's a good sign heading into this weekend's short track battle. Bell has been dealing with some inconsistencies of late, but he did win a pole position and finish a strong sixth-place a couple weeks ago in Kansas. That's a hopeful sign heading to North Wilkesboro Speedway. If there are any of the younger drivers capable of pulling the upset in the All-Star Race, it would be for sure Bell.

William Byron – Byron has three victories already this young season, so we have to take him pretty serious when it comes to contending for wins in 2024. Outside of a couple stage wins in the All-Star Open, this exhibition racing really hasn't been Byron's thing. He typically qualifies well and leads laps on All-Star weekend, but the trophies have been scarce. The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet has one short track win (Martinsville) this season and 124 combined laps led on these bull rings. He was recently in contention to win at Dover, but would crash out in the final stage of that short track race. If there's a first-time All-Star winner in the offing this weekend, it could likely be Byron and his Hendrick Motorsports team.