NASCAR Sprint All-Star Strategy: Just Stand On It

NASCAR Sprint All-Star Strategy: Just Stand On It

No points. No problem. Just follow the money.
That’s the easiest way to describe Saturday night’s 29th NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway (SPEED, MRN Radio, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, 7:30 p.m. EDT). Twenty-two drivers will battle for a winner’s payout of more than $1 million without worrying that failure might damage their Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ chances.
The strategy is simple enough: Checkers or wreckers. Just bring back the steering wheel – as long as you’re carrying it to Victory Lane.
The 135-mile race will be contested in five segments – four of 20 laps and a 10-lap finale. Nineteen drivers – 2012-13 Sprint Cup winners, and All-Star winners and Sprint Cup champions from the past 10 seasons – have claimed starting positions. Three additional starters – the top-two Sprint Showdown finishers and winner of the Sprint Fan Vote – complete the 22-driver lineup.
Odds favor defending All-Star Race winner Jimmie Johnson, a three-time event winner. He shares the all-time victory record with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt.
Johnson is the only driver to win more than once in the most recent 14 editions of the non-points race. He’s led in eight of his 11 NASCAR Sprint All-Star race appearances, including the last five consecutive.
Six of the recent 12 winners are NASCAR Sprint Cup champions. Eleven former All-Star Race winners are among drivers with guaranteed starting positions for Saturday night’s event.
Talladega Superspeedway winner David Ragan was the last to qualify with a 2013 victory. Ragan will be making his third NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race appearance, this time driving the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford.
Several all-star race veterans will be making their first starts with new teams: Kurt Busch (No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet); Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota); and Joey Logano (No. 22 Penske Racing Ford).
Logano’s team won the 2010 race with driver Kurt Busch.
The Sprint All-Star Race marks the first competitive appearance at Charlotte Motor Speedway by the Gen-6 NASCAR Sprint Cup cars. What drivers and teams learn about the Chevrolet SS, Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry will assist them greatly in setting up for NASCAR’s longest race, the May 26 Coca-Cola 600.
The winner of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race has gone on to capture the Coca-Cola 600 seven times. Current double winners are Kurt Busch (2010), Kasey Kahne (2008), Johnson (2003) and Gordon (1997).
The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race winner has won that season’s NASCAR premier series championship five times, including Johnson in 2006 and Gordon in 1995, 1997 and 2001.
All-Star Victory Eludes Joe Gibbs Racing
Seven different organizations have won NASCAR Sprint All-Star Races since 1997. Amazingly enough, Joe Gibbs Racing is not among them.
Over the years, JGR has come close, just not close enough.
Kyle Busch finished second in 2011 and fourth a year ago.
Denny Hamlin posted fourths in 2009-10 but was 20th in 2012 after starting third.
A driver change – veteran Matt Kenseth joined the team this year – may be the tonic that Coach Gibbs needs to celebrate his first All-Star victory. A silly aside: Gibbs is also 0-for-1 in the NFL’s all-star version. His NFC team lost to the AFC 10-6 in the 1987 Pro Bowl.
If current form is any indication, the three Gibbs drivers may battle each other for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star hardware. Kenseth, the 2004 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race winner driving for Roush Fenway Racing, is the season’s first three-time winner. He won last weekend’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Busch has led seven of 11 races, including the most laps at Darlington.
Hamlin appears fully recovered from injuries suffered at Auto Club Speedway in March, finishing runner-up to teammate Kenseth at Darlington – his first full race since returning to competition.
Kenseth is the only current JGR driver with a points-paying victory at Charlotte. He won the 2000 Coca-Cola 600 and the track’s 2011 fall race.
Ironically, Gibbs is no stranger to Charlotte’s Victory Lane. JGR has four wins in Charlotte, the most recent by Tony Stewart in the fall of 2003.
A Toyota has yet to win the Sprint All-Star Race.