This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
NASCAR All-Star Race
Location: North Wilkesboro, N.C.
Course: North Wilkesboro Speedway
Format: 0.63-mile oval
Laps: 250
NASCAR All-Star Race Preview
NASCAR's annual All-Star Race returns to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the third time this weekend. Locked into the main event are, as usual, drivers that have won a race this season or last, former series champions that compete full time, and former All-Star winners that compete full time. That means 20 drivers are locked into the exhibition race (including Harrison Burton), and a further three will advance from either finishing first or second in the All-Star Open or via the fan vote.
Kyle Larson won the first All-Star outing held at this short historic track while Joey Logano took home the honors last year. This season, the race will be 250 laps long (50 laps longer than last year) with a competition caution scheduled around lap 100. To ensure the action doesn't get too dull, NASCAR is also introducing a "promoter's caution" that can come any time before lap 220 if at all. An additional race to watch this year is the Manufacturer Showdown, which will tally the finishing positions of the same number of cars from each manufacturer at the end of the race, and the maker with the lowest aggregate score will be the winner. While points may not be on the line this week, bragging rights and a hefty payday are the prize everyone will be chasing.
Key Stats at North Wilkesboro Speedway
- Number of races: 93
- Winners from pole: 23
- Winners from top-5 starters: 69
- Winners from top-10 starters: 77
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 0
- Fastest race: 107.360 mph
Previous 10 All-Star Race Winners
2024 - Joey Logano
2023 - Kyle Larson
2022 - Ryan Blaney
2021 - Kyle Larson
2020 - Chase Elliott
2019 - Kyle Larson
2018 - Kevin Harvick
2017 - Kyle Busch
2016 - Joey Logano
2015 - Denny Hamlin
North Wilkesboro is one of NASCAR's historic circuits. The short track was a fixture on the schedule from 1949 until the mid-1990's. It was removed from the calendar after the 1996 season, but returned in 2023 as the home of the All-Star Race weekend. Being a short track, the circuit's winner's list is dominated by drivers that started inside the top 10. While Kyle Larson won the 2023 race from the 16th starting spot, Joey Logano's victory last season came from pole. Ty Gibbs also won the Open event from pole, and the prior year saw the top two Open finishers both start on the front row, too. While pit strategy made a difference for Larson in 2023, Logano and others proved track position is still the best advantage to have. Fantasy players and wagerers should therefore pay close attention to Saturday's heat races, which will set the grid for the main event.
RotoWire NASCAR DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the NASCAR All-Star Race (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Kyle Larson - $10,500
Ryan Blaney - $10,200
Denny Hamlin - $10,000
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Christopher Bell - $9,800
William Byron - $9,500
Joey Logano - $9,200
Chase Elliott - $9,000
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Tyler Reddick - $8,800
Chris Buescher - $8,100
Alex Bowman - $8,000
Kyle Busch - $7,800
DraftKings Long-Shot Values (All-Star Open Contenders)
Ty Gibbs - $8,400
Bubba Wallace - $8,300
Ryan Preece - $7,600
Noah Gragson - $7,300
NASCAR DFS Picks for the All-Star Race
Kyle Larson - $10,500
Christopher Bell - $9,800
Tyler Reddick - $8,800
Kyle Busch - $7,800
Ross Chastain - $7,100
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - $6,000
Kyle Larson's (DK $10,500, FD $13,500) dominant win a week ago at Kansas put him on top of the field in terms of success and momentum. Add to that the fact that he won the All-Star Race at this track in 2023 and is the only driver to have won the All-Star Race at three different tracks and you have a clear-cut favorite for this weekend's showdown. Even considering last year's race, when he started 12th, Larson was still able to move forward in the field to land a fourth-place finish. Only winning matters this week, though.
One short-track driver that could cause Larson some headaches is Christopher Bell (DK $9,800, FD $10,500). The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was runner up to Larson last week at Kansas and finished in the top 10 in four of the last five races. At North Wilkesboro, Bell has tended to start well but not get the most out of the main race. He started seventh in 2023 and third in 2024, but he only finished 12th and 17th. Racing to the front in the qualifying heats is typical, but now he just needs to bring that same approach to the main event. If he does, Bell could be one racing for the win Sunday night.
Fans should also have their eyes on Tyler Reddick (DK $8,800, FD $10,000). The 23XI Racing driver finished third in 2023 and was 14th last season. Despite finishing down the order last year, Reddick was a top-10 starter. Reddick, like Larson and Bell, can be a contender on short tracks, and he has shown the potential to win at North Wilkesboro, too.
An All-Star Race win would be a welcome boost for Kyle Busch (DK $7,800, FD $7,000). The former champion has had a rough time of it in 2025, and a trip to Victory Lane (even if not for points) would be a welcome signal of better things to come. Busch struggled in this race in 2023 but finished 10th last season. While this should be more of a week of preparation to get back to race-winning form, Busch will no doubt be giving everything he can to take some momentum from the weekend.
Ross Chastain (DK $7,100, FD $7,500) luckily does not have those same problems. He enters the All-Star weekend with three top-10 finishes from the last five races. Chastain has also been pretty consistent at North Wilkesboro. He finished 11th in 2023 despite starting 18th and then backed that up with a seventh-place finish last season. All Chastain needs for success this weekend is a chance to be at the front on this packed track.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (DK $6,000, FD $4,500) finishes off the selections having earned his spot in the main event through his Talladega victory last fall. Despite being in both All-Star events at North Wilkesboro, Stenhouse finished last both times. Part of that is his aggression. However, that trait is also what earns him wins.
NASCAR Cup Series Best Bets for the All-Star Race
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 1:30 PM ET Friday
Race Winner - Kyle Larson +500, Tyler Reddick +1400
Head-to-Head Matchup - Josh Berry -110 vs Chase Briscoe -120
NASCAR's All-Star Race can be a tricky one to bet on. The unique qualification procedures and race formats make it difficult to predict, and with no points on the line, aggression can often play a factor. All of those reasons point toward Kyle Larson as being a favorite. This driver is at the top of his game (and the series right now), and he is used to competing in all kinds of equipment on all kinds of tracks under all kinds of conditions. He is one driver that can take the curveballs of an All-Star Race and turn them into home runs. Those looking for longer odds might want to take Tyler Reddick. In 2023, Reddick moved from the 20th starting position to finish third. He also started sixth last season before slipping back to finish 14th. Through qualifying heats, Reddick has shown he has the pace to compete at North Wilkesboro. If he and the team can get the strategy right, they could be contenders for the win.
Another wager worth considering is the driver match up between Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe. While some of the other pairings are much closer, Berry versus Briscoe leans more heavily toward Berry. First, Berry raced his way into the main event when substituting for Alex Bowman in 2023. He narrowly missed doing it again in 2024 when he finished third in the Open. This year, he is in the main event and will have the advantage of starting further up the order if he does well in his qualifying heat. On the other hand, Briscoe has All-Star finishes of fourth and seventh. He had the advantage of better starting positions for those races, though. Also, Berry is coming off of another top-10 finish last week and already has a win under his belt this season. Berry's greater upside potential this week makes him our choice in this prop wager.
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