This is the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, where only one strategy exists: Win, by any means necessary.
Watch for a hold-your-breath, lean-forward and don’t-blink finish. The format for this special event pretty much dictates it.
Here’s the format: The race will be run in four segments. The first is 50 laps; the second and third are 20 laps; and the final segment is a 10-lap dash to the checkered.
During segment 1, there will be a mandatory green flag four-tire pit stop at lap 25. There’s an optional pit stop between segments 1 and 2, and between 2 and 3.
Between segment 3 and 4, there will be a 10-minute pit stop. Teams will pit and may elect to add fuel and make normal chassis adjustments, but they will not be permitted to change or remove tires. Prior to the start of segment 4, cars will line up in the same positions as they finished segment 3. Pit road will then open, and teams must make a four-tire pit stop. Cars will be lined up in the order they return to the race track.
And here’s the big one – only green flag laps will be counted during the fourth segment.
The driver who can navigate through the intensity will take home one of the most coveted titles in the sport. It’s one that’s hard to come by, if you look at the stats.
There have been seven different winners in the last seven NASCAR Sprint All-Star Races. Who’s next? Some names to watch …
Jimmie Johnson: A two-time winner of the event (2003 and 2006), Johnson looks to join Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt at the top of the all-time wins list in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. With six top fives in nine starts, Johnson has an outstanding average finish – 6.8.
Denny Hamlin: A prime candidate to make it “eight different winners in the last eight events,” Hamlin has finished fourth in each of the last two events.
Kyle Busch: Still looking for his first win in the all-star race, the younger Busch clearly takes advantage of the “all-or-nothing” format. In five starts, he has four DNFs, but he has led laps in each of them.
Matt Kenseth: Winning the 2004 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Kenseth started the string of seven-in-seven. He owns the best average finish of anyone locked into Saturday’s field.
Jeff Gordon: A fourth all-star win would put him atop the all-time list by himself. Currently sharing that top spot with Dale Earnhardt, Gordon has gone four consecutive races without a top-10 finish in the event.
Kurt Busch: Busch won last year’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, and followed it up with a Coca-Cola 600 victory. He became the seventh driver to complete that particular sweep.
Kasey Kahne: He, too, completed the All-Star/Coke 600 sweep, in 2008. He was the guest on this week’s NASCAR national teleconference. Click here to listen.
Tony Stewart: Stewart’s first win as a driver-owner came in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, and he is clearly a big-event racer. He has finished in the top five in each of the last four events.
Carl Edwards: The current points leader also employs an all-or-nothing strategy. In five starts, he has three tops 10 – and two DNFs.
Mark Martin: This will be Martin’s 22nd-consecutive start in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, the most in history. A winner in 1998 and 2005, he looks to become the only driver to win the event in three different decades.
Kevin Harvick: A winner in 2007, Harvick has three top-10 finishes in the last five races.
The Sprint Showdown: An All-Star Event In Its Own RightThe Sprint Showdown is the perfect appetizer to the perfect all-star event.
Just look at the names on the entry list: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, Martin Truex Jr., AJ Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, Joey Logano.
In the annual NASCARMedia.com preseason poll, all of the above names were either selected to make this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup or contend for a berth.
Stakes are high in this short – and thrilling – event. The winner and runner-up will each earn a spot in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. The current preliminary entry list shows 28 cars entered.
The format: two 20-lap segments. Only green-flag laps will count in the second segment.
There’s another piece to watch. In actuality, three drivers participating in the Sprint Showdown will move onto the all-star race.
The third comes from the Sprint Fan Vote. Here’s the catch with that one: The Fan Vote winner must finish on the lead lap of the Sprint Showdown.
In 2008, Kasey Kahne won the Sprint Fan Vote, and went on to win the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. He is the only driver to accomplish the feat.
Pit Road Skills Showcased In Annual Sprint Pit Crew ChallengePositions gained or lost on pit road can make or break a driver’s chance for victory, and Thursday’s seventh-annual Sprint Pit Crew Challenge Presented by Craftsman will show how the best-of-the-best in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series get the job done.
The popular event is held at Charlotte, N.C.’s Time Warner Cable Arena beginning at 7 p.m. ET. SPEED’s broadcast begins one hour later.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota team won the Pit Crew Challenge a year ago defeating Richard Childress Racing’s No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet outfit with a time of 23.132 seconds. The No. 31 won the title in 2009.
Individual skill titles will also be decided. There are four categories: front tire changer/carrier, rear tire changer/carrier, jack and gas/catch can.
“The NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge presented by Craftsman has become a true fan favorite as it gives our fans the opportunity to see up close and personal some of the unsung heroes in our sport,” said Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition for NASCAR. “The pit crews train extremely hard and compete at the highest levels. Their performance on pit road oftentimes is the difference between winning and finishing second on race weekends and it’s great that they have this opportunity to showcase their many talents leading into the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.”
The finishing order of the event will determine pit selection for Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The previous Sprint Pit Crew Challenge Presented by Craftsman winners: Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 (2010); Richard Childress Racing No. 31 (2009); Team Red Bull No. 83 (2008); Penske Racing No. 12 (2007); Dale Earnhardt Inc. No. 1 (2006); Evernham Motorsports No. 9 (2005).
Legends Immortalized: Second NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Set For MondayOn Monday, May 23rd five new members – legends all – will be formally inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.
The second five: Bobby Allison, Ned Jarrett, Bud Moore, David Pearson and Lee Petty.
They’ll join Dale Earnhardt, Junior Johnson, Bill France Jr., Bill France Sr. and Richard Petty, who made up the inaugural class.
An exciting sidebar: Special congratulatory videos – starring some high-profile names inside and outside the sport of NASCAR – will open each Hall of Fame inductee’s segment on Monday night.
Here’s the list, thus far:
Richard Petty for David Pearson – One of Pearson’s biggest foes on the track was also one of his biggest fans off it.
Tom Brokaw for Bud Moore – Brokaw, author of “The Greatest Generation,” will introduce Moore, a World War II veteran who personifies that very era.
Nick Saban for Bobby Allison – One Alabama champion will introduce another. Allison, of course, is a charter member of NASCAR’s famed Alabama Gang. Who better to help usher him than the head football coach of the University of Alabama?
Ken Squier for Ned Jarrett – Squier, legendary NASCAR broadcaster, was Jarrett’s booth-mate during the Hall of Famer’s “second career.”
The video guest of honor for Lee Petty is still to be determined.
Catch the Induction Ceremony next Monday, on SPEED at 8 p.m.
– NASCAR Sprint All-Star WeekTwo locked-in drivers will make their first start in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race after winning two of the season’s biggest races: Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne and SHOWTIME Southern 500 winner Regan Smith. … Special paint schemes are the norm for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race. But here’s a rarity: Different numbers. Mark Martin will run in the No. 25; Jimmie Johnson will run the No. 5. … NASCAR Day is set for Friday, May 20. To celebrate, the NASCAR community will unite with its inaugural NASCAR Day Car Wash For Kids, a national volunteer effort and fundraiser to support children’s charities across the country. More than 30 venues, including 15 NASCAR race tracks will hold car wash events. Proceeds from NASCAR Day Car Wash for Kids will benefit local children’s charities and The NASCAR Foundation. Limited-edition NASCAR Day pins are also available and support the mission of Victory Junction. The pins are available for a $10 donation at The Sprint Experience at-track and at WWW.NASCAR.COM/foundation.
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