The All-Stars of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will NOT race for points Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. They WILL race for ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!
That’s right, this weekend is not about scoring points or advancing to The Chase for a chance to win the championship. It is all about putting on a show for the fans and one driver getting PAID for their efforts!
The race is unlike any of the points events in NASCAR, although the stage racing that began in the NASCAR All-Star Race was the model for the stage racing format that was put into effect in the points paying races this year.
Let’s take a look at what fans can expect in Saturday night’s race. First, which drivers get to race for the million dollars? In order to be eligible for the NASCAR All-Star race a driver has to be a full-time Cup Series driver and fall into one of the following categories…
- Won a points race in the 2016 season or one of the races up to this point in the 2017 season.
- Be a previous All-Star Race winner.
- Be a previous Cup Series Championship winner.
There are 15 full-time active Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers that qualify for this weekend’s race by fitting into at least one of those categories…
2017 Monster Energy All-Star Race Automatic Entry List
- Chris Buescher
- Brad Keselowski
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Denny Hamlin
- Jamie McMurray
- Jimmie Johnson
- Joey Logano
- Kasey Kahne
- Kevin Harvick
- Kurt Busch
- Kyle Busch
- Kyle Larson
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Matt Kenseth
- Ryan Newman
There are ways for full-time team drivers who do not get an automatic bid into the All-Star Race to earn a spot in the field. The first is through the Monster Energy Open race. That race will be held prior to the feature race Saturday night. The race will consist of three stages: 20 laps, 20 laps and 10 laps. The leader at the end of each of the first two stages and the winner of the race at the end of the final stage of the Monster Energy Open will earn a spot in the All-Star Race field.
Additionally there will be a Fan Vote Contest to get into the All-Star Race. The driver that has the most fan votes and does not win one of the three stages in the Monster Energy Open will also get a spot in the All-Star Race field.
That brings a total of 19 drivers that will get a chance to race for the one million dollar prize in the Monster Energy All-Star Race.
While this will be the 33rd NASCAR All-Star Race, the 2017 Monster Energy All-Star Race will be the 25th anniversary of the first All-Star night race under the lights. This year’s race is structured to pay homage to that race in 1992.
The 70 lap race will be divided into four stages: 20 laps, 20 laps, 20 laps and 10 laps. Only 10 cars will earn a spot in the final 10 laps shoot-out. The winners of the first three stages of the race will earn a spot in the final 10 lap shoot-out provided they are on the lead lap at the end of the third stage. The rest of the 10-car field for the 10 lap shoot-out will be determined by the drivers with the best average finish in the first three stages of the All-Star race. That means the rest of the drivers will be eliminated from the race before the start of the final stage.
The line-up for the start of the Monster Energy All-Star race will be determined by qualifying runs of three laps that will include a mandatory four-time pit stop with no-speed-limit on pit road. The five teams that perform their qualifying run/pit stop the fastest will advance to a final round of qualifying to determine the first five spots for the start of the race.
Another wild-card that will be a part of the strategy for this year’s All-Star Race is a set of softer tires. Each team will be granted one set of tires that have more grip because they are composed of a softer compound. However, should a driver/team decided to put those tires on for the final 10 lap shoot-out to have more speed, they will start behind the drivers that choose to put on regular tires for that stage of the race.
With all that in mind, let’s look at the active drivers who have performed the best over their careers in the All-Star Race.
Top 10 Active Driver All-Star Driver Ratings
- Kyle Busch – 101.9
- Jimmie Johnson – 96.5
- Kyle Larson – 93.1
- Kurt Busch – 88.8
- Kevin Harvick – 85.7
- Joey Logano – 85.3
- Chase Elliott – 83.9
- Matt Kenseth – 83.7
- Kasey Kahne – 79.3
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 77.5
(NOTE: Driver Ratings compiled form 2005-2016 NASCAR All-Star races [12 total])
Jimmie Johnson not only leads all the active drivers in All-Star Race wins, but he is also the all-time leader in wins with four. The next drivers on the All-Star Race winners list are the late Dale Earnhardt and retired driver Jeff Gordon who each has three NASCAR All-Star Race wins.
There are only nine other active drivers that have won the NASCAR All-Star Race during their careers and they all have only a single victory in the event.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. became the first driver to win the All-Star Race in their rookie year which he did in the 2000 race. Ryan Newman became the second and so far only other driver to accomplish that milestone in their rookie year when he won the race in 2002.
The other seven active drivers with a single NASCAR All-Star Race win include Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and last year’s NASCAR All-Star Race winner Joey Logano.
The racing action this weekend will be fast and furious around the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway. What will happen is completely impossible to predict other than it should be quite the show for fans to enjoy and one driver will get to do a $1 million burn-out!
Everything will get started at 5:00 PM central time (6:00 PM eastern time) with the Monster Energy Open followed by the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race Saturday night, May 20th.
By: Buck Stevens
