NASCAR All-Star Race 2025: Where to watch, live stream, race preview, format, pick to win at North Wilkesboro

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. -- In the foothills of North Carolina, once the old tobacco country of Winston-Salem gives way to the beginnings of the western part of the state and its mountains, the very soul of NASCAR racing lies. Where bootleggers once roamed by the cover of darkness, with souped up station wagons marking the line between making a living and being crushed by the arm of Prohibition, stock car racing began and became the nation's most popular form of motorsports.

The North Wilkesboro Speedway, one of NASCAR's original racetracks and a place near and dear to the heart of racers in the Carolinas, stands as the embodiment of the sport's origins. And after a quarter century of being abandoned and nearly lost to time, this very special 0.625-mile short track once again stands tall, proud and shines in the night like the million dollar payday it now offers.

For the third year in a row since the once-forgotten speedway was reopened, North Wilkesboro Speedway is the site of NASCAR's annual All-Star Race, giving the drivers of today an opportunity to add their names to the list of legendary drivers who have won at this classic track that is once again a NASCAR institution -- as Kyle Larson and Joey Logano have over the last two years.

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Steven Taranto

Where to watch the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro

When: Sunday, May 18, 5:30 p.m. ET (All-Star Open), 8 p.m. ET (All-Star Race)
Where: North Wilkesboro Speedway -- North Wilkesboro, N.C.
TV: FS1
Live stream: fubo (try for free)

Race format

The 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race has been expanded to 250 laps (all laps count, overtime rules in effect), with a competition break at or around lap 100 as well as an optional "Promoter's Caution," which much be executed prior to lap 220. In the event that a natural caution (i.e. an accident or debris on the racetrack) occurs after lap 200 and the Promoter's Caution has not been executed, it will no longer be in play.

Qualifying for the All-Star Race will be three laps and include NASCAR's annual Pit Crew Challenge. Drivers will take one full lap at speed, then come down pit road on their second lap and stop in one of two NASCAR-designated stalls for a four tire pit stop with no fuel. Once their service is complete, competitors will drive back down pit road and on track to the checkered flag, with their qualifying time being the total elapsed time from the green to checkered flag.

The fastest All-Star qualifier will start on the pole for the All-Star Race as well as the first of two 75 lap heat races (all laps count, overtime rules in effect, competition caution at or around lap 30) that will set the rest of the starting lineup, with Heat 1 determining the inside row and Heat 2 setting the outside row. The pit crew with the fastest stop (no penalties) will win the Pit Crew Challenge, with the results of the Challenge determining the order of pit selection.

The NASCAR All-Star Race is open to all drivers who have won a race during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, past All-Star winners who compete full-time and past Cup champions who compete full-time. The drivers currently eligible for the All-Star Race are as follows:

#1 - Ross Chastain (Kansas, October 2024)
#2 - Austin Cindric (Talladega, April 2025)
#3 - Austin Dillon (Richmond, August 2025)
#5 - Kyle Larson (Kansas, May 2025)
#6 - Brad Keselowski (Darlington, May 2024)
#8 - Kyle Busch (Two-time Cup Series champion)
#9 - Chase Elliott (Texas, April 2024)
#11 - Denny Hamlin (Martinsville, March 2025)
#12 - Ryan Blaney (Martinsville, November 2024)
#17 - Chris Buescher (Watkins Glen, September 2024)
#19 - Chase Briscoe (Southern 500, September 2024)
#20 - Christopher Bell (Phoenix, March 2025)
#21 - Josh Berry (Las Vegas, March 2025)
#22 - Joey Logano (Texas, May 2025)
#24 - William Byron (2025 Daytona 500)
#45 - Tyler Reddick (Homestead, October 2024)
#47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Talladega, October 2024)
#48 - Alex Bowman (Chicago, July 2024)
#51 - Harrison Burton (Daytona, August 2024)
#99 - Daniel Suarez (Atlanta, February 2024)

All drivers who have not already qualified for the All-Star Race will be eligible to advance through the All-Star Open (100 laps, all laps count, one attempt at overtime, competition break at or around lap 40). The top two finishers in the Open will advance to the All-Star Race, as will be the winner of the Fan Vote for the final spot in the field.

The All-Star Race will also feature a new Manufacturer Showdown, which will pit Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota against each other. The manufacturer teams will be determined by the least represented manufacturer, and an equal number of drivers from the other two manufacturers will be selected based on their final All-Star grid starting positions.

The manufacturer teams will be scored against each other and not by their overall All-Star finish. The lowest combined total of finishing positions will be the winning manufacturer. In the event of a tie, the single best overall finishing position will determine the winner.

NASCAR news of the week

• NASCAR has issued an L1-level penalty to RFK Racing's No. 17 team after discovering that their car from Kansas Speedway had greater than the maximum two inches of reinforcement behind the front bumper foam. Chris Buescher has been docked 60 driver points plus five playoff points, the team has been fined $75,000 and docked 60 owner points plus five playoff points, and crew chief Scott Graves has been suspended for the next two races. The team was penalized under Sections 14.1.C (Overall Assembled Vehicle Rules) and 14.5.4.G (Front Bumper Cover) of the NASCAR rule book, which states that the front fascia "may be strengthened on the inner surface with bonded on non-metallic materials in the area contacting the bumper foam and up to 2 inches further in all directions."
• Hendrick Motorsports has officially announced that reigning Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier will serve as the reserve driver for their No. 5 team while Kyle Larson is fulfilling his IndyCar obligations in preparation for the Indianapolis 500. Allgaier will practice and qualify Larson's car at North Wilkesboro, and he will also serve on standby for both the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in the event Larson is unable to leave Indianapolis in time for his NASCAR duties.
  
  Allgaier filled in for Larson in last year's Coke 600 after a rain delay at Indianapolis prevented Larson from arriving in Charlotte in time for the start of the race, and Allgaier would end up driving his car to a 13th place finish.

Pick to win

Denny Hamlin (+600) -- One of the longest Cup veterans in the tooth and an exceptional short track racer, North Wilkesboro Speedway feels tailor made for Hamlin. Last year, Hamlin came just short of an All-Star victory with a runner up finish, but this time around he comes to North Wilkesboro off a win and a second place finish in the last two short track races at Bristol. 

What's more, the Goodyear tire compound being run this weekend is the same one that was run at Martinsville, which works greatly in Hamlin's favor. Hamlin is looking for his second All-Star Race win, and this one would come 10 years after he first won the All-Star Race at Charlotte in 2015.