Last year featured the worst Sprint All-Star race in recent memory – Jimmie Johnson won the first segment and rode around in back until being bumped to first for the final restart – fans made it clear a change needed to be made.
NASCAR is doing just that.
On Tuesday NASCAR announced that they have changed the format of the race placing an emphasis on finishing well in each segment.
The race will feature four segments of 20 laps. After which the cars will be reordered based on average finish before a mandatory four-tire pit stop. How cars exit the pits will then determine the lineup for the fifth and final segment which is set for a 10-lap shootout. The winner earns $1 million.
“Having the average finish through the race’s first four segments determine how the cars come down pit road for the last mandatory four-tire pit stop takes the competition to an even higher level,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR Vice President of Competition. “The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race is truly a showcase event for our sport and this format should bring out the best in our drivers and our teams.”
The sport’s annual classic is set for Saturday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m. ET (live on SPEED) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The eligibility criteria for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race remain the same:
- Drivers who have won NASCAR Sprint Cup races in the current and preceding year. If a driver leaves a team with which he has won a race, he or she remains eligible (through the last race before the all-star race), however, the team does not
- Drivers who are past NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race winners in the past 10 years
- Drivers who are past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions in the last 10 years
- The top two finishers in the Sprint Showdown, the 40-lap race that precedes the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
- The top Sprint Fan Vote driver who finishes on the lead lap of the Showdown and whose car is in “raceable” condition as determined by the series director.
