North Wilkesboro Speedway just isn’t the one factor returning when the NASCAR Cup Collection kicks off the NASCAR All-Star Race on 19–21 Might. On Thursday, NASCAR revealed the format for the race which can even embody the revival of the beloved Pit Crew Problem, besides it now has ramifications for the race itself.
“As we have a good time our seventy-fifth anniversary, it’s vital for NASCAR to honor our historical past whereas transferring in the direction of the long run,” commented NASCAR chief working officer Steve O’Donnell. “The mix of the Subsequent Gen automobiles on one in every of NASCAR’s first, and most enjoyable, tracks will ship a full weekend of racing that followers won’t neglect. Whereas the All-Star Race has beforehand been used to check new codecs and applied sciences, we wished this 12 months’s format to showcase the historic return of NASCAR to North Wilkesboro Speedway.”
The Pit Crew Problem predates the All-Star Race by almost 20 years, having first been held in 1967 at Rockingham Speedway as an occasion run by then-fuel provider Union 76. It was moved nearer to Charlotte, the place the eponymous speedway was internet hosting the All-Star Race, and stayed there till the occasion was cancelled after 2012.
Whereas the earlier problem had no bearing on the All-Star Race, the 2023 version will set the beginning lineup for the warmth races and All-Star Open. Groups will carry out a four-tyre pit cease with out gas, and people with the perfect occasions will begin up entrance for his or her respective qualifying races.
There are two warmth races of sixty laps every, with the outcomes of the primary figuring out the All-Star’s inside row whereas the second units the skin. These not already locked into the All-Star should qualify through the 100-lap Open, which could have a pause at or round lap 40; the highest two and a Fan Vote winner advance to the principle occasion.
The All-Star Race will likely be 200 laps lengthy with a halftime break. Groups can solely make one pit cease in the course of the second half.
Observe, the Pit Crew Problem, and qualifying will happen on Friday, 19 Might. Saturday will see the Craftsman Truck Collection assist race adopted by the 2 heats, whereas the Open and All-Star Race are on Sunday.
“The star of this 12 months’s All-Star Race is the monitor,” analyst and NASCAR Corridor of Fame inductee Dale Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged. Earnhardt had lengthy been a proponent of restoring North Wilkesboro, which final hosted NASCAR races in 1996, and assisted in devising the race format. “The historical past, the nostalgia, the floor; simply being again at North Wilkesboro. Folks have wished conventional racing again at North Wilkesboro for many years, and that’s what’s most vital. That’s what this format delivers.
“The Pit Crew Problem places loads of stress on the groups, and with a 100-lap Open and a 200-lap All-Star Race, I’m excited to sit down again alongside the followers and watch the racing we’ve all wished for a very long time.”
Twenty-two drivers have already clinched a spot within the race: Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suárez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr., and Bubba Wallace. All however Blaney, Keselowski, and Truex received races in 2022 or 2023 to qualify, with the previous being eligible because the reigning All-Star Race victor whereas the latter two have received Cup championships. Bell and Byron are additionally working the Truck race forward of the All-Star.
