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| Kevin Harvick's crew after winning All-Star Race last season. |
It’s a non-points race so the drivers go all out for the big prize with little regards for ruffling feathers of their colleagues or wrecking themselves. No consequences and $1 million up for grabs always equals a must-see viewing experience. Have at it boys!
The thing I’ve always liked about the All-Star Race besides drivers making daring moves they might not otherwise do is that it’s the best of the best. No Jalopies allowed. There are 15 drivers that have automatically qualified based on winning a race in 2018 or this season or by being a full-time Cup driver that has won a past All-Star race or been a past Cup champion.
There’s a qualifying race first on Saturday called the Monster Energy Open that allows for all other drivers not eligible to race themselves into the featured event. It includes three segments (20 laps/20 laps/10 laps) and the winner of each segment gets a spot in the All-Star Race.
The final way to get in is to win the fan vote. So that’s 19 total drivers that will participate in the All-Star Race which includes four segments (30 laps/20 laps/20 laps/15 laps).
The one variable that has been tough to handicap the All-Star races is that because it’s a non-points race, NASCAR likes to experiment with new race package set-ups.
Last year’s All-Star race won by Kevin Harvick was from using a package similar to what we’re seeing this season on the 1.5-mile tracks. NASCAR is again testing a new set-up featuring the 550 horsepower package we saw last week at Kansas while also mixing in some elements from the Gen-7 car that’s expected to debut in 2021.
It certainly makes things more difficult to handicap when NASCAR keeps changing the package. This will be the sixth different race package run in 13 races so far this season, but I’m told that the racing should not be all that different from what we saw last week at Kansas.
Because it’s a nice race where the cars get more grip due to the cooler air and making the cars drive almost exactly as intended by NASCAR, we should expect plenty of passing.
If the racing is similar to Kansas, then we have to start with two-time All-Star Race winner Harvick, who led a race-high 104 laps Saturday night before running into some issues and finishing 13th. However, the point was made by his organization with all four Stewart-Haas cars coming off the haulers blazing fast.
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