NASCAR and Texas Motor Speedway announced the All-Star Race format Wednesday evening. This will be the first time the event has been hosted at the 1.44-mile track. The exhibition race will be held on June 13 and will air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
This is a non-points event but the stakes are high as the race winner will earn a $900,000 prize with $100,000 going to the fastest pit crew in a mandatory pit stop.
There will be six rounds for a total of 100 laps and the starting lineup for Round 1 will be determined by a random draw. The first four rounds will consist of 15 laps each, the fifth round will be 30 laps and the final round will be a 10-lap shootout.
Texas Motor Speedway president and GM Eddie Gossage said, “Drivers and pit crews better pack their lunch pails because they are going to have to work extremely hard to earn the honor of celebrating in Victory Lane.” Gossage also indicated that he has planned a Wild West theme for pre-race ceremonies, saying, “This is a full metal rodeo for a big ole bag of dough.”
The race format will also include inverted fields and only green flag laps will count.
FORMAT:
- Round 1 – 15 laps. After this round, the field will be inverted using a random draw and will start between the eighth and 12th positions.
- Round 2 – 15 laps. The entire field will be inverted after this round.
- Round 3 – 15 laps. The field will be inverted again using a random draw and starting between the eighth through 12th positions.
- Round 4 – 15 laps.
- Round 5 – 30 laps. The lineup for this round will be determined by the cumulative finish from the first four rounds. The driver with the best cumulative finish will start on the pole. This round also features a mandatory four-tire pit stop. The crew with the fastest pit stop will claim the $100,000 bonus.
- Round 6 – 10 lap Shootout. The cars will line up by their finishing position in Round 5.
The NASCAR Open will be run before the NASCAR All-Star Race at 6 p.m. ET on FS1. It will consist of three segments of 20/20/10 laps. The winner of each segment will race their way into the All-Star event. NASCAR fans will also be able to vote for a driver in the Fan Vote which will open Thursday, May 13 on NASCAR.com.
The drivers that are eligible for the NASCAR All-Star Race have won a points race in 2020 or 2021, have previously won an All-Star Race and currently compete full-time and drivers who have won a NASCAR Cup Series Championship and currently compete full-time.
Drivers who are currently eligible to participate in the All-Star Race:
- Christopher Bell
- Ryan Blaney
- Alex Bowman
- Kurt Busch
- Kyle Busch
- William Byron
- Cole Custer
- Austin Dillon
- Chase Elliott
- Denny Hamlin
- Kevin Harvick
- Brad Keselowski
- Kyle Larson
- Joey Logano
- Michael McDowell
- Ryan Newman
- Martin Truex Jr.
