2025 NASCAR All-Star Race Odds, Predictions and Format

On Sunday, May 18, NASCAR’s celebration of carnage will take place but with a twist. That’s right, we’re talking about the All-Star Race and it will be live from the North Wilkesboro Speedway. For a third straight year, this historic short track will host NASCAR’s wackiest race of the season.

Whether you enjoy the All-Star festivities or not, you have to give NASCAR credit as they’re constantly tinkering under the proverbial hood with making this race more entertaining for the fans.

Last year, Joey Logano won the All-Star Race and his team grabbed that bag of loot on the way out of town. As an incentive to the drivers, $1 million is up for grabs to the team that wins the race.

In 2023, Kyle Larson won this All-Star event in NASCAR’s grand return to North Wilkesboro. Prior to that, the All-Star Race spent a few years at Texas Motor Speedway.

It should be noted that the All-Star Race is not a points event. This means that the race won’t count towards driver or owner points, season stats, or Playoff eligibility.

With that said, let’s take a look at the latest NASCAR All-Star Race odds, courtesy of the top sports betting sites, the updated format, the All-Star Open event, and make our All-Star Race predictions.

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NASCAR All-Star Race Format

Like the NHL 4 Nations and the NBA All-Star Weekend, NASCAR’s All-Star Race has undergone some notable changes to the previous format for the upcoming 2025 event. Let’s see if we can quickly summarize the new All-Star Race format like a sub-10 second pit stop.

All-Star Qualifying

On Friday, May 16, All-Star Open and All-Star Race drivers will participate in a three-lap qualification process to determine the lineups for the Open Race and the All-Start heats.

After the second qualifying lap, all cars must perform a four-tire pit stop. The fastest pit stops will determine the pit stalls during the All-Star Race along with rewards for the pit-stop challenge.

All-Star Heats

Drivers who won Cup Series races in 2024 and 2025, are automatically qualified for the All-Star Race. They will then participate in two 75-lap Heats on Saturday, May 17.

The first Heat will determine the inside lane for the All-Star Race on Sunday evening. The second Heat will determine the outside lane for the event.

All-Star Open

For the drivers that didn’t automatically qualify for the All-Star Race, they will compete in a 100-lap Open on Sunday afternoon. This race will have a competition caution at lap 50, which means the yellow flag will come out on that lap regardless if there’s a crash or not.

The drivers who finish in the Top 2 spots, will qualify for the All-Star Race. A third driver will be voted in by the fans.

All-Star Race

Here’s where more of the changes will occur.

Longer All-Star Race

Last year, the race was contested at 200 laps. This year, the race will be 250 laps. With that in mind, there will be a competition caution at lap 100.

Owner Caution Flag

Between lap 100 and lap 220, NWS owner Marcus Smith can throw one yellow caution flag. This was done to add a wrinkle to the event just in case things end up boring because one driver has a big lead. To that end, Kyle Busch had a great comment about this new change:

“Do we want to put money on if I create a natural caution, or I let Marcus [Smith] throw a caution? It depends on how far Kyle Larson’s out leading the race.”

Let’s not forget that Busch got into a fight with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. last year after the All-Star Race.

After lap 220, if Smith hasn’t thrown the flag already, then he loses it. Also, if a natural caution occurs between laps 200 to 220, and the owner flag hasn’t been used yet, then it’s null and void.

Manufacturer Showdown

NASCAR will pit drivers from Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota in a Manufacturer’s Showdown. These teams will be determined after the field is officially set for the All-Star Race. This should occur following the Open earlier in the day.

The manufacturer team with the lowest total points, based on finishing positions, will win the in-race competition.

NASCAR All-Star Open Odds

Check out the latest NASCAR All-Star Open odds:

As you can see by the odds, Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace are on the front row with the sportsbooks. In fact, many of the top handicappers feel the same. Both Ryan Preece and Carson Hocevar aren’t far behind Gibbs and Wallace.

Following those four drivers, the field’s odds begin to fall of dramatically. The longshots of Cody Ware and Chad Finchum each have massive lines of +30000 odds.

All-Star Open Predictions

Of the favorites, I really like Ryan Preece (+600) to pick up one of the top two spots. Preece currently sits 15^th in the driver standings and has four Top 10s in 12 races so far. He finished third at Las Vegas and was a contender late in the race.

John H. Nemechek (+2000) is my value pick to qualify for the All-Star Race. Nemechek also has four Top 10s in 12 starts, and just sits 17 points below the Playoff cut-off line. He has two straight Top 10 finishes on the year and seems to be finding some momentum heading into the summer.

Bubba Wallace (+300) is my pick to win the Fan Vote. Sure, he could easily win this Open race as well. But, for simplicity’s sake, we’ll pick him to win the Vote. Wallace sits 10^th in the standings with two Top 5s and four Top 10s in 12 races.

His two 3^rd place results in consecutive weeks at Homestead and Martinsville give us some confidence for his chances this weekend. In fact, of all the Open drivers, I like Wallace the most for advancing to the All-Star Race by Vote or Top 2 finish. Let’s also not forget he finished 2^nd in the 2023 All-Star Race.

Some of you might be wondering why I’m bailing on Ty Gibbs despite the young driver winning the Open last year after leading all 100 laps. And, he also finished 2^nd in the 2023 Open.

Well, it’s simple, Ty Gibbs has just two Top 10s this season so far and sits 26^th in the standings. He’s showed me nothing so far in 2025, and I don’t feel confident in the #54 car repeating its success from the last two Opens.  

Bet: Bubba Wallace (+300), Ryan Preece (+600), John H. Nemechek (+2000)

NASCAR All-Star Race Odds

Check out the latest NASCAR All-Star Race odds:

Kyle Larson is the odds-on favorite to win this weekend’s All-Star Race. However, he has three drivers in Bell, Hamlin and Blaney all on his rear bumper. The majority of betting options sit in the middle of the pack with odds of +1000 to +3000.

Stenhouse Jr. and Burton have the largest odds to win this race. Also, pay attention to the betting option Any All-Star Open Driver (+1800). This means you get all three drivers that qualify from the Open by Top 2 finish or Fan Vote.

All-Star Race Favorites

The following drivers are considered the pre-race favorites to win the 2025 All-Star Race based on their past success in this event at North Wilkesboro Speedway and their current success this season so far:

Kyle Larson +500

Kyle Larson is a no-brainer to be the odds-on favorite. He sits on top of the driver standings tied for the most wins, but leading in Top 5s, Top 10s, laps led, Stage Wins, and Playoff Points. Additionally, Larson won this All-Star Race in 2023, and was 4^th in last year’s edition.

Denny Hamlin +600

Denny Hamlin is 7^th in the standings, but does have two wins on the year already. He’s also third in laps led and third in Playoff Points. Furthermore, Hamlin finished second in last year’s All-Star Race.

Ryan Blaney +600       

Ryan Blaney sits 5^th in the standings despite not having won a race so far. Yet, he’s got some momentum heading into this weekend and the second half of the regular season. Blaney was 5^th last year and 6^th in the 2023 All-Star Race.

Christopher Bell +600

Sitting 3^rd in the standings, Christopher Bell is tied with Larson for three wins on the season. He’s also second in Top 5s, Top 10s, and Playoff Points. Unfortunately, Bell has yet to even flirt with the Top 5 at the All-Star Race. He was 12^th in 2023 and 17^th in 2024.

Joey Logano +800      

It’s all fun and games until Joey Logano leads 199 of the 200 laps at last year’s All-Star Race and easily wins. Thus, we got the Ownership Flag for this year. Logano was 10^th in the 2023 edition.

On the season, Logano has turned things around after winning at Texas two races ago. He’s trending in the right direction after a slow start. That’s bad news for everyone else. Just look back to his slow start last year, which resulted in winning the 2024 Cup Series Championship.

William Byron +800

Like Christopher Bell, William Byron has not done well at the NWS All-Star Races. He was 20^th in 2023 and 19^th last year. His current odds are reflective of his strong seas so far.

Byron was leading the standings until last weekend. He now sits 2^nd overall, but has been very consistent this season with one win, five Top 5s, seven Top 10s and the second most laps led.

All-Star Race Betting Value

The following drivers offer betting value based on their current All-Star Race odds, their 2025 seasons to date, and past success in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway:

Chase Elliott +1000

It shouldn’t be a surprise that we have a third Hendrick Motorsports driver on the list. Elliott sits 4^th in the standings without a win so far. But he does have six Top 10s in 12 races and has yet to score a DNF just like Byron.

I have the #9 car as a value play this weekend because he was 5^th in the 2023 All-Star Race and 8^th last year. Typically, Elliott and his Hendrick teammates are strong short-track drivers.

Josh Berry +1800

Josh Berry is one of the most overlooked drivers in the Cup Series. Yet, the #21 car already locked up a Playoff spot with a win this season. He also won the 2023 All-Star Open and was third in 2024, narrowly missing a spot in the All-Star Race.

At +1800 odds, Berry has some small value considering he has showed some success at NWS in the last two All-Star Race festivities.  

Any All-Star Open Driver +1800

Based on my picks above (Preece, Wallace, Nemechek), I really like this betting option.

Ryan Preece is 15^th in the standings and has a 6.0 average finish in the All-Star Open. He was 8^th last year, but 4^th in 2023.

John H. Nemechek has yet to really find success at NWS during All-Star weekend, but he has been a solid driver this year and I like his chances of advancing from the Open this year.

But the biggest reason why I like this betting option, besides getting three drivers, is Bubba Wallace. Not only can he win the Open on Sunday, but he could also win the Fan Vote.

Wallace finished runner-up to Larson in the 2023 All-Star Race, was runner up in the 2024 All-Star Open, and finished 6^th in the 2024 All-Star Race. In three All-Star events, Wallace has a 3.33 average finish.

The Top All-Star Race Longshot

Daniel Suarez (+6000) is my longshot pick for the All-Star Race. Last year, he finished 15^th but in 2023, Suarez was 7^th and the only driver other than Larson to lead a lap. Suarez led 55 laps.

Suarez has struggled this season so far. He’s going to need a miracle win to make the Playoffs. However, with the pressure off for a weekend, I can see the #99 car making noise at the All-Star Race.

NASCAR All-Star Race Predictions

Is there any other realistic choice other than Larson? Logano and Wallace are two solid picks as well. Blaney can be a Top 5 driver with a race winning ceiling as well. Yet, Larson is the man to beat on Sunday. Busch alluded to this in his comments above.

Take Larson to win the All-Star Race for the second time in the last three years at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Bet: Kyle Larson (+500)