Feb 7, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Former NASCAR driver Richard Petty on the red carpet before the 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Charlotte Convention Center Crown Ballroom. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images
Feb 7, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Former NASCAR driver Richard Petty on the red carpet before the 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Charlotte Convention Center Crown Ballroom. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images
The All-Star race was held at Dover Motor Speedway over the weekend and produced a spectacular race. Denny Hamlin took home the victory along with the $1 Million prize. After this win, Richard Petty picked the JGR driver as his title contender.
Denny Hamlin won his second career All-Star race win after leading a race-high 103 laps out of 200 laps. However, beyond Hamlin’s win, the race caught Petty’s eye due to the crashes that took place in the race. The first crash triggered by Ryan Preece on Lap 2 took out three former All-Star race winners.
Later, during the nine-car melee triggered by Reily Herbst, the 2024 All-Star winner Chase Elliott was hit hard. This seemed to be the tipping point for the veteran NASCAR driver.
“It couldn’t be an All-Star because they eliminated so many of the stars on, what, the third lap? Looked like a bunch of amateurs to begin with,” The king explained while talking to Dale Inman on the Petty Family Racing podcast.
Despite all of the chaos, the No 11 managed to keep his car on track and take the lead away from his teammate in the final 30 laps. This made ‘The King’ confident that Hamlin will lift his maiden Cup trophy.
“They’ve been the cream of the crop. If he can continue this, it’s going to be hard to beat him for the championship.”
So far, after Tyler Reddick who's had a magical season, Hamlin has been the most consistent driver on the grid with seven top 10s and five top-5s.
Richard Petty gives his opinion about shifting the All-Star venue
‘The King’ recently gave his opinion about the recently held All-Star Race at Dover. He also criticized the newly introduced format.
While talking in the aforementioned podcast, Petty said, “To me, it just didn’t feel like an All-Star Race. It was just another race that they just went at it a little bit different.”
He added further, “And I don’t think anybody got even when they announced the All-Star race being in Dover, I don’t think anybody really got that excited. I guess, all in all, they need to probably take it back to Charlotte and just let it go from there.”
Hamlin has also started a conversation when he spoke about shifting the All-Star venue to a historic speedway.
May 17, 2026; Dover, Delaware, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images
May 17, 2026; Dover, Delaware, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images
“If I’m Steve O’Donnell, CEO of NASCAR right now, I’m contacting SMI (Speedway Motorsports) and saying, all right, let’s do whatever we've got to do to run this in Nashville Fairgrounds on Saturday night next year," said the No. 11 JGR driver.
"It needs to be at night. I think it needs to be on a Saturday night, and it needs to be on a shorter track.”
Charlotte Motor Speedway has previously hosted the All-Star race from 1987 to 2019. Despite the event’s success, one thing is clear: there's a strong chance the race could have a venue change amid the rising sentiment around it.
You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!
Written by
Chionia Libania Colaco
Edited by
Suyashdeep Sason