Remember when NASCAR's annual All Star Race seemed to be growing stale?

It wasn't that long ago. They moved it from Charlotte to Bristol in 2020, then to Texas for two years, and it was at least, well, different.

But then they put the final brushes of mascara on the North Wilkesboro reclamation project, moved the All Star Race there last year, and and suddenly everyone looks forward to it again.

On the down side, NASCAR continues to have issues with its short-track racing product, but they're making a honest-to-God effort to find a fix for that, and doing it by thinking outside the (pit) box.

If nothing else this weekend, giving the teams an option between hard or soft Goodyears, along with grooved rain tires if necessary, is a worthy experiment and will definitely breathe some new life into a very old track and an equally long way of doing things.

NASCAR odds this week

• +225: Ty Gibbs

• +425: Bubba Wallace

• +700: Josh Berry

• +750: Alex Bowman, Noah Gragson

• +850: Chase Briscoe

• +1100: Ryan Preece

• +1300: Erik Jones

• +2500: Todd Gilliland

• +4000: Carson Hocevar, John Hunter Nemechek

• +5000: Austin Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Austin Cindric

• +6000: Zane Smith

• +7500: Justin Haley

• +10000: Harrison Burton

• +15000: Daniel Hemric

• +25000: Kaz Grala

• +50000: Timmy Hill

NASCAR All-Star Race odds

• +475: Denny Hamlin

• +650: WIlliam Byron

• +800: Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson

• +1000: Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr.

• +1100: Chase Elliott

• +1300: Brad Keselowski

• +1400: Chris Buescher

• +1750: Kyle Busch

• +2000: Ross Chastain:

• +4000: Daniel Suarez

• +7500: Michael McDowell

• +15000: AJ Allmendinger

• +25000: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

NASCAR All-Star Open predictions: Who will win?

Ryan: I think I'm bigger on him than most, but I like where Briscoe is heading into the second half of the season. Stewart-Haas and Briscoe in particular have shown good speed on short tracks and +850 is a good number so I'll go with him.

Ken: Ty Gibbs is heavily favored for a reason. I'm not butting heads with those stacked odds. Give me the No. 54.

Who will be the second driver to advance?

Ryan: Wallace was good here last year and finished in the top five at Martinsville earlier this year. Something tells me, he isn't winning the fan vote (call it a hunch) so he better get in the traditional way.

Ken: Noah Gragson. No reason, other than he's had a few quality runs lately.

NASCAR All-Star fan vote: While we're at it, who claims the last spot?

Ryan: With each passing week, I like Hocevar just a little more and his social media presence, along with a blitz of tongue-in-cheek fan vote campaigning has been fun to follow along with. I'm predicting it's made enough of a difference to get him in the field on Sunday.

Ken: This should be Corey LaJoie's vote to lose. If he carries just a few of the battleground states and holds serve with the soccer moms, I think it'll be an early election night announcement in his favor.

Driver to fade at North Wilkesboro

Ryan: Logic would say Larson as he will be splitting time between North Carolina and Indianapolis with Kevin Harvick qualifying the No. 5 car. But I'm not betting against that guy today or any other day. So, despite his two-week hot streak of speed, I'm going to fade Chris Buescher. The RFK cars just have not shown speed at short tracks yet.

Ken: Well, if you're not gonna do it, I will. It's gonna be a very busy weekend for Kyle Larson, setting the tone for his ridiculously tight logistical maneuvering next Sunday. I figured he'd struggle all month but that went out the window at Kansas. Still, it's a lot of laps on a small track for a guy who's girding for 220+ mph at the Brickyard.

NASCAR All-Star Race winner

Ryan: Come on. This is Denny Hamlin's year. I don't see why that would change this weekend. He's already won one exhibition race this year, claiming the season-opening Clash. Let's make it 2 for 2.

Ken: I think it's gonna be a bit of a slam-fest, so you probably shouldn't count out anyone. Easy to say, of course, since all these automatic entries have won races in recent memory, but I'm also saying you shouldn't count out the two who make it from the Open and the driver who gets the fan vote. Having said that, gimme Denny Hamlin.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR odds, best bets, picks, predictions for All Star Race weekend