NASCAR’s Kennedy says fan demand drove decision for North Wilkesboro points race

The fans prevailed in getting a NASCAR Cup Series points-paying race at North Wilkesboro Speedway back on the schedule.

The beloved short track in the western mountains of North Carolina will be a regular-season race in 2026, held in the middle of July. It will be the first time since 1996 that North Wilkesboro Speedway has hosted a Cup Series points race. For the last three years, it’s been the site of the NASCAR All-Star Race.

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“We had about 70% of our fans, and four out of five 18-to-34-year-olds that asked for North Wilkesboro to move into a points event,” NASCAR EVP and chief venue and racing innovation officer Ben Kennedy said. “So, we’re going to move that into July and TNT’s portion of the season with Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. in the booth, who I know has been a big advocate of turning North Wilkesboro into a points event. (We’re) excited to make that change for them.”

Earnhardt was also one of the many vocal and boots-on-the-ground individuals who kept North Wilkesboro in the conversation. And, when the opportunity arose to clean the facility (mow the grass, etc.) for it to be scanned into iRacing, it further pushed the track into the spotlight as capable of hosting NASCAR races. During the three years the All-Star Race was at the track, it also hosted a points race for the Craftsman Truck Series.

North Wilkesboro, however, is a unique facility that does not have a tunnel or bridge for access between the infield and outside areas. Those in attendance over the last three years have followed a schedule of when the backstretch crossover gate would be open throughout the day if they needed to leave the infield.

NASCAR Cup Series racing next season will make for a longer day, and less opportunity to go back and forth if needed. Kennedy admitted that adding a way for traffic to exit the infield next year during the race has already been a conversation with Speedway Motorsports.

There are still some logistics to be worked out in moving beyond the all-star race for North Wilkesboro. James Gilbert/Getty Images

“It is a consideration that we’ve talked about,” Kennedy said. “If it’s a 400-lap race, a few hours for people being in the infield will probably be a little bit too long. I think it’s probably difficult to go down (under the track with a tunnel), so we might look at a couple of different options to potentially have a bridge or something that gives people the ability to both leave the facility and come back into the infield.

“We still have to work through what that might exactly look like, obviously, in collaboration with Speedway Motorsports. But it’s something we’ve thought about.”

North Wilkesboro takes a points race from fellow Speedway Motorsports racetrack Dover Motor Speedway. But that is where the All-Star Race will head in May.

Dover has been on the NASCAR schedule since 1969. It hosted two annual events from 1971 through 2020 before moving to a one-race date. Next year, with the move to being the All-Star Race host, Dover will not have a points race on its calendar.

Kennedy acknowledged that the All-Star Race next year at Dover will “more than likely” be a day race. Dover does not have lights.

“We worked with Speedway Motorsports on the shift there,” Kennedy said. “Part of it was taking into consideration the weather. Moving them into May felt like it was a better time of year from a heat perspective, and we considered a handful of other tracks as well. We felt like that one was the best. So, a number of considerations just as we think about each one of these moves, and Dover was the best option that we had for ’26.”