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Dale Earnhardt's grandson, Jeffrey Earnhardt, is scheduled to make his NASCAR Nationwide debut at Dover in May.

Earnhardt will drive for Rick Ware Racing, which is based in Thomasville. Earnhardt, 19, is scheduled to drive seven Nationwide races for the team, which also will employ his father, Kerry Earnhardt.

They're among seven drivers who will drive for Ware's team this season. Kerry Earnhardt is scheduled to drive about a dozen races for the team starting at Texas in two weeks.

One of the races Jeffrey Earnhardt is scheduled to drive is the Nationwide event in Montreal. The team is billing it as the first time an Earnhardt has raced in Canada in one of NASCAR's top series.

The team also plans to enter both Kerry Earnhardt and Jeffrey Earnhardt in the Nationwide race in Atlanta in September, a race Ware says Dale Earnhardt Jr. is scheduled to drive. That would give the three a chance to race against each other. It also would be the first time Jeffrey Earnhardt has raced against his father.

Others set to drive for Ware this season are Stanton Barrett, Derrike Cope, Travis Kittleson, Tim Brown and Tim Andrews, son of the team's crew chief, Paul Andrews.

NEW REWARD: NASCAR's annual All-Star race will end with a 10-lap final segment this year, and the winner will earn a $1 million payout.

The new twist is aimed at restoring excitement to the event. The race pits the top drivers in NASCAR against each other for one night in an anything-goes format. Some of the race's most memorable moments came during the final 10 laps, including the late Dale Earnhardt's "pass in the grass" in 1987.

This year's race will be four segments: a 50-lap opening segment with a mandatory pit stop, two 20-lap segments and the final 10-lap shootout.

The race will be May 16 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It will be the 25th running of the event.

LEGENDARY SHOW: Rusty Wallace said last weekend that the race among former drivers Saturday at Bristol should be repeated at Martinsville and Richmond. Clay Campbell, track president at Martinsville, admits the notion is intriguing.

"I thought it was a great idea," Campbell said of the race at Bristol. "I think the fans liked it, and the competitors that were in it, they enjoyed it. It would be something that I would like to look at."

One challenge for the track is that it doesn't have lights. With a full schedule of Sprint Cup practice and a truck race on a Saturday — when the legends race would most likely be held — the track might need lights to ensure that darkness doesn't impede the old-timers' race.

TOUGH CHALLENGE: Rookie Joey Logano enters this weekend's Cup race at Martinsville Speedway 34th in the car owner points.

A bad race and he could fall out of the top 35 in car owner points and not be guaranteed a starting spot for the following race at Texas. Making his job tougher is that he's raced at Martinsville only once and that was years ago in an Allison Legacy car, a scaled-down version of a Cup car.

TRUCKIN': After two weekends off, the Camping World Truck resumes with a race Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.

Kyle Busch, who leads the points, is entered. He leads Todd Bodine by 25 points. Bodine's team found sponsorship and also will compete this weekend.

PIT STOPS: Forty-eight Cup cars are entered for this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway. Tickets remain for this weekend's races at Martinsville. Tickets can be purchased at www.martinsvillespeedway.com or by calling (877) 722-3849.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com