NASCAR Announces Every Driver Will Compete In All-Star Race

The concept of an all-star game is simple. It's a unique exhibition where a sports league brings together its best competitors to create a spectacle for fans and showcase the league to a wider audience. Stock car racing has seemingly lost that memo. NASCAR announced the format for the 2026 All-Star Race on Thursday, featuring the full Cup Series field taking the green flag for the 350-lap race. The field will eventually be reduced to 26 cars for the race's $1 million final stage.

NASCAR stated that it will have the full field compete in the two 75-lap sprint segments in lieu of its traditional All-Star Open preliminary race. After the first segment, the order of the top 26 drivers will be inverted, with the leader dropping to 26th. The ineligible drivers with the lowest combined finishing positions after the two segments will advance to the 200-lap final segment. I mention "ineligible" because the qualification criteria for the final stage are the same as those typically used for the entire event.

The race winners from both the 2025 and 2026 Cup Series seasons are locked into the final segment. This means that 17 drivers have already locked in their spots for the final stage. Former Cup Series champions are also locked in, but every active full-time champion has already won a race over the past year. Excluding the spot reserved for the Fan Vote winner, there are eight transfer spots up for grabs.

It's near-impossible to conceive a reason for NASCAR to force at least 17 drivers to puddle around for 125 laps. Drivers locked into the final segment have no reason to fight for position or risk damaging their equipment. The All-Star Open was special because it was a race without the big names. Drivers who typically didn't feature at the front of the field had the opportunity to be in the spotlight for a single afternoon and try to make a name for themselves. That opportunity still exists, it'll just be overshadowed by the all-stars loitering at the back.

While NASCAR has pushed to reinvent itself over the past few years, the All-Star Race has been lost in the wilderness since 2020. The organization made the bold decision to move the race away from Charlotte Motor Speedway, its traditional home, to Bristol in an effort to have fans in attendance during COVID-19 restrictions. The race then moved to Texas Motor Speedway, and then to the revived North Wilkesboro Speedway. With North Wilkesboro receiving a points-paying round, NASCAR shifted the All-Star Race to Dover International Speedway. The event has seemingly become a consolation prize for underperforming tracks.

Maybe NASCAR can find a recipe to bring the heat back to the All-Star Race. The season-opening Clash is seemingly doing well despite dropping its original gimmick as the pole winners' exhibition race. The event is a unique bullring affair at the infamous Bowman Gray Stadium, with a format similar to local short-track racing. The racing there is far from clean, but it's a fun exhibition to welcome everyone back for a new season.