Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will be the 41st running of NASCAR’s All-Star event.
Since the inaugural All-Star Race in 1985, the race has seen various format changes and, in recent years, has switched venues multiple times. In 2023, the All-Star Race finally settled at North Wilkesboro Speedway, becoming the site of the track’s long-awaited return to the NASCAR schedule.
With those format changes, some of which has been extremely convoluted, not everyone believes the All-Star Race is still a crown jewel. You can place NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick in that group.
Harvick: ‘We should nix the All-Star Race’
On ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour’, the future NASCAR Hall of Famer said that NASCAR should do away with the All-Star race entirely.
“I think we should nix the All-Star Race,” Harvick said. “I just think, with all the effort that goes into it, we can’t find a format that everyone likes. I think we should honor our guys. I think we have to figure out how to make the Clash be the Clash and the All-Star Race and make it all work together.”
“I think North Wilkesboro deserves to be a points race,” Harvick continued. “I think it would be a fantastic points event. 400 laps, all the cars on the racetrack, full weekend. I don’t think North Wilkesboro should go anywhere, but I think the All-Star Race has run its course, personally.”
“I think you need the same number of races because you probably already signed your TV contracts and all the things that go with it,” Harvick said when asked if he’d rather see the All-Star Race weekend become an off-week. “I think you just make it the 37th race.”
‘We Can Be Better’
“I look forward to the All-Star Race, but I think we can be better,” Harvick said. “I think the All-Star Race is great; I think the event is great at North Wilkesboro, I think the track is great, I think everything is great. I think this weekend will be great. There are a number of things that go with the All-Star Race that will be interesting and unique to see it happen. I think all sports have gone through this All-Star question. When you look at everything that goes with the NHL, the NBA All-Star game, the Pro Bowl with the NFL. It’s a piece of the puzzle that all major sports have gone through. Do I think this weekend is going to be fun and spectacular? Yes. But I think going forward, as we have this conversation, it’ll be interesting to see where this goes.”
Harvick is a two-time winner of the All-Star Race, as he won the event in both 2007 and 2018.
Kyle Larson won the race in North Wilkesboro’s return in 2023, while defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano won the All-Star Race in 2024 and enters the weekend as the defending winner.
The NASCAR All-Star Race will go green shortly after 8 p.m. ET on May 18, with coverage on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Kevin Harvick Says NASCAR Should Do Away With All-Star Race