The 2026 All-Star Race will go down at Dover Motor Speedway. On the recent episode of Dale Jr. Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Chase Briscoe discussed what kind of format change they would like to see for the event.
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What they unitedly propose is a multi-class system in which the playoff drivers from each of the three national series compete in the All-Star Race.
The discussion began with Junior narrating how Marcus Smith, the CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., had talked to him about wanting to put more cars on the field. But Junior isn’t fond of the idea of everybody getting an entry to the starting line.
He wants it to be an invitation-only kind of event, with invitations going out only to the deserving drivers. He said, “I would have a 30 or 40 car field with all stars. I would have the trucks out there, the Xfinity cars out there, and the Cup cars out there.”
Briscoe caught up and acknowledged, from prior experience, that competing against the Xfinity Series and Truck Series drivers would be a wild experience. He also agreed that it would be a great way to get more people to the stands.
This type of multi-class racing is something that’s done in IMSA. Junior also wants to explore a similar style for a long endurance race on tracks like Daytona. But how did he get this idea?
He explained, “When I went to the 24 Hours and was broadcasting that with NBC Sports, that’s what made me want to see NASCAR do something similar. Whether it’s a three or four-hour race, getting two classes together.”
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Briscoe added that his experience racing with multiple classes on the field was limited to his time in IMSA. He remembers giving the low-powered cars from the lower series big shoves with his Ford Mustang and sending them on fast runs.
“The multi-class thing is pretty wild when you are out there,” he quipped. Apart from all this, there is one key benefit from the multi-class format.
The drivers in the lower tiers will gain a ton of experience and skill by racing against their Cup Series counterparts. This would also help them with sponsorship.
Junior pointed the same out to make his case and received nods from Briscoe. The one issue, however, would be the dearth of spotters. Most of the spotters in the game today work through the three tiers.
Talking about it, Junior joked that they would also be creating more jobs in the sport by taking up the multi-class format. “It would be good for people who need jobs,” he smiled. “Spotters who are looking for work.”
