Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith came in support of the NASCAR All-Star Race after Dale Earnhardt Jr., on his podcast, shared the thoughts to eliminate the exhibition event completely from the calendar. The 2026 All-Star Race was held at Dover Motor Speedway for the first time.
A NASCAR Hall of Famer hosted the roundtable on Dale Jr. Download this week with former NASCAR driver Jeff Burton, journalist Matt Weaver, and Marcus Smith. They discussed several topics on the show, and one of them was the future of the All-Star Race. Dale Jr. stressed that he wants the NASCAR All-Star Race to go away entirely.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. further asked Marcus Smith what the All-Star Race means to him and his opinion about the event’s future. Smith defended the event and said that the exhibition race made him a NASCAR fan.
“It’s so wild to me how we’ve gotten to this place where the All-Star Race seems like a negative for so many people. And for me, it was my favorite race growing up. It was the race that made me, my own kind of decision, that I’m a NASCAR fan now. In ‘92, one hot night, I mean, that was the race. And every year, I look forward to it. And look at everything that’s come out of the All-Star Race.” Smith said.
Speedway Motorsports’ CEO further expressed disappointment seeing the event has become a punching bag on the schedule.
“Yeah, but I think the All-Star Race has done so many great things for the sport and created these opportunities to showcase bold ideas. And now it’s every weekend. Somewhere, it became kind of a punching bag,”
The All-Star Race that regularly puts up a flat $1 million check for the winner.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants to see a Dover points race next season
Dover Motor Speedway hosted the non-points-paying race, the All-Star Race, this season, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes that “The Monster Mile” deserves a points-paying race on the schedule.
In the aforementioned podcast, Dale Jr. said:
“And Dover, to me, deserves a points race. I don’t even know what that’s all about, why I feel like tracks deserve points races or deserve anything. But it deserves to be on the schedule.”
FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass and The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi recently confirmed that “The Monster Mile” will return to being a points race in 2027.
As a result, the All-Star Race is likely to return to North Wilkesboro, a track that hosted its first points-paying race this year since 1996.
Edited by Yash Soni