NASCAR: One All-Star Race change to consider after 2020

By Jacob LeBlanc | Jul 15, 2020

Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR, Cup Series (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

This year’s NASCAR All-Star Race will be held at a track other than Charlotte Motor Speedway for the first time since 1986. Could an annual change in venue be a good thing?

For the first time since 1986 and only the second time in the 36-year history of the event, the NASCAR All-Star Race is slated to be held at a track other than Charlotte Motor Speedway this year.

It was recently announced that this year’s All-Star Race will be contested at Bristol Motor Speedway. Aside from Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway is the only other track that has ever hosted the event.

This change in venue is a result of the recent schedule changes that NASCAR made as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The All-Star race is normally the weekend before the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but this year, it is set to be held on Wednesday, July 15 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

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That leads to one big question: Should NASCAR change up the track for the All-Star Race from year to year? I understand that most NASCAR teams are based out of Charlotte, North Carolina and that NASCAR has their headquarters there as well. But NASCAR is the only major sporting league in the United States that does not change the location of their All-Star event each year.

I’m not saying that Charlotte Motor Speedway doesn’t produce good All-Star Races. But moving the race around each year could be a good idea, and this year’s race is a good starting point. It will be interesting to watch and see if Bristol Motor Speedway can produce a quality All-Star Race, and I can’t think of any reason why it shouldn’t.

A non-points race with $1 million on the line at Bristol? I like the sound of that.

Now imagine having future All-Star Races at tracks such as Martinsville Speedway or Phoenix Raceway. Or if you want to get really crazy, why not at a superspeedway such as Daytona International Speedway, or maybe even at a road course such as Watkins Glen International?

The only purpose of the All-Star Race, from a fan’s perspective, is to see a great race, and there are more places than just Charlotte Motor Speedway which produce good races.

The All-Star Race is one of the more popular races on the schedule, and there are a good amount of fans who would love to go to the race but can’t make the trip to Charlotte. So why not give fans across the country a better chance of getting to an All-Star Race by moving it to different tracks each year?

Even if NASCAR wants to keep the All-Star Race in Charlotte, why not rotate between the oval and the Roval? The Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval has produced some of the most exciting races since it was added to the schedule in 2018.

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There are still many NASCAR fans who don’t like the idea of moving the All-Star Race to different tracks each year, as we have seen how good the racing can be at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But the sport has changed a lot over the past few years, and this particular change could be a good one.

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