Four All-Star Wins for RCR … Richard Childress Racing has won four Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race events, most recently in 2007 with Kevin Harvick. Dale Earnhardt won the event in 1987, which included the legendary “Pass in the Grass.” Earnhardt also went on to claim the checkered flag in 1990 and 1993.
RCR in the MENCS … In 2,769 Sprint Cup Series starts dating back to 1969, RCR has amassed 48 pole awards,106 wins, 477 top-five finishes and 1,036 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 17.7 and an average finishing position of 16.1. RCR has earned 15 total championships (six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships with Earnhardt in 1986, ’87, ’90, ’91, ’93 and ’94, six NASCAR XFINITY Series titles, two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series titles and one ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards title) and was the first organization to win titles in NASCAR’s three national series.
Catch the Action … Dillon and Menard are scheduled to compete in the Monster Energy Open on Saturday, May 20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which is scheduled to be televised live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90. Newman is scheduled to compete in the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race, on Saturday, May 20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which is scheduled to be televised live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.
This Week’s Dow Chevrolet SS at Charlotte Motor Speedway … Saturday night’s non-points exhibition race, which serves as a qualifying event for the All-Star Race, will mark Dillon’s fourth appearance in the Monster Energy Open. The winner from each of the two, 20-lap shootouts will earn a starting berth in the All-Star race, as will the winner of the final, 10-lap segment.
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Cast Your Vote … Fans have the opportunity to vote Dillon into the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race with the Fan Vote. You can vote for Dillon online at http://www.nascar.com/fanvote. Voting is unlimited. Fans can also vote on their mobile devices by using the NASCAR Mobile application. Votes from the application and Facebook / Twitter count twice.
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
What would it mean to be part of the All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway?
“We definitely want to take advantage of our opportunity here and win a race segment to be solidified into the All-Star race. I’d say our team would be feeling pretty great at that point. This would be my first All-Star Race I’ve been able to compete in.”
Would you rather race in or be voted in by the fans?
“If I had to choose, I’d rather race in so you know you earned it. At the same time, that fan vote goes a long way. I have some great fans, and I know they’ll support me and vote for me. NASCAR has an awesome fan base. It’s cool that the fans get to pick their favorite driver to race in the All-Star Race.”
Paul in the Open … Saturday night will mark Menard’s 11th appearance in the Monster Energy Open. The non-points exhibition race allows drivers a chance to transfer into the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race by winning one of the three race segments – two, 20-lap shootouts and a final, 10-lap dash.
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Vote for Menard … Fans have the opportunity to vote Menard into the All-Star Race with NASCAR’s Fan Vote. You can vote online at http://www.nascar.com/fanvote . Votes from Facebook and Twitter count twice.
PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
What are your thoughts heading into this weekend’s Monster Energy Open and NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway?
“The All-Star Race weekend is always fun. We get to roll the dice and try some different out-of-the-box things. Our goal will be to learn for the next weekend. It’s almost like a test session. We’ll be in the Open on Saturday to transfer into the All-Star Race and I feel really good about what we’re attempting to try. There are very minimal things on the race car we can change, like all of our cooling systems and things will be taken out. We’ll be trying to get as light as we can and we’ll see what we can learn with the set-up. We might try a different spindle or some different ideas that we want to apply but that we really can’t because we can’t test.”
This Week’s No. 31 Caterpillar/Grainger Chevrolet SS at Charlotte Motor Speedway … Ryan Newman is eligible to race in the sport’s $1 million exhibition event thanks to his victory at Phoenix Raceway on March 19th. He also won the 2002 All-Star Race during his rookie season, a feat only accomplished by one other rookie driver. Saturday’s event marks his 16th-straight appearance in the non-points race.
New Format … This year, the All-Star race format is modeled after the 1992 event and consists of 70 laps, run in three 20-lap stages followed by a 10-lap shootout. The shootout will consist of 10 drivers – winners of the first three stages and the remaining drivers based on average finishing position in the first three stages.
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RYAN NEWMAN QUOTES:
What was it like for you to win the All-Star Race in 2002 as a rookie?
“For me, winning the All-Star Race in 2002 was totally unexpected because we weren’t even in the race. We had to race our way in. I made the cut. We got the inversion on either the first or second segment when they were eliminating cars and then got the inversion again and I was able to stay up front. We stayed out on old tires, which was crazy for Charlotte. Somehow we were able to hold them off. It was an amazing team victory for us and unexpected.”
It’s the 25th anniversary of the All-Star Race and we’re going back to 70 laps. What are your thoughts on how the segments will play out this year with the final segment being 10 laps?
“From my standpoint, eliminating cars in the last stage, I really don’t think it matters a whole lot. I think you are only going to have about 10 cars that have a legitimate shot at winning. It’s the All-Star Race, So it’s all or nothing.”
