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The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star race will again head to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend for what is the 31st running of the event. The All-Star race is at Charlotte every year, except the 1986 running which was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The annual All-Star race is an event that gives fans a quality race with a fan vote and has become a fan-favorite year in and year out.
Throughout the years we have seen multiples formats as NASCAR strives to make the race more compelling for fans. Those formats include.
- 70 Laps, One Segment (1985–1986)
- 135 Laps — 75 Laps, 50 Laps, 10 Green Laps (1987–1989)
- 70 Laps — 50 Laps, 20 Laps (1990–1991)
- 70 Laps — 30 Laps, 30 Laps, 10 Green Laps (1992–1997)
- 70 Green Laps — 30 Laps, 30 Laps, 10 Laps (1998–2001)
- 90 Laps — 40 Laps, 30 Laps, 20 Green Laps — With Elimination (2002–2003)
- 90 Laps — 40 Laps, 30 Laps, 20 Green Laps (2004–2006)
- 80 Laps — Four 20-Lap Quarters (2007)
- 100 Laps — Four 25-Lap Quarters (2008)
- 100 Laps — 50 Laps, 20 Laps, 20 Laps, 10 Green Flag Laps (2009–2011)
- 90 Laps — Four Segments of 20 Laps and a 10 Lap Sprint (2012–present)
So generally speaking, we have seen the race run between 70 to 100 laps throughout all the rule changes to accommodate fan desires . This year’s format still features four segments of 20 laps with a ten lap shootout at the end. Track owner Bruton Smith has offered an extra million dollars to a driver who can pull off and win all four segments.
One of the changes in 2014 was running the Sprint Showdown, which is the qualifying race, on Friday night instead of right before the All-Star race on Saturday night. NASCAR made this change to allow the top-two teams from the Showdown a chance to run practice and qualifying.
One point I want to note this year is how possible it is to see a driver voted into the Sprint Cup All-Star race on Saturday night and win!
Although there is always a chance, I can’t remember a year when there has seen so much potential in the Sprint Showdown with drivers such as Martin Truex Jr. Truex is a man who finds himself second in total points scored in the Sprint Cup Series standings and has earned ten top-tens in 11 races this season! He will be a threat in whatever race he competes in this weekend. The last person to race their way into the All-Star race and win was Michael Waltrip in 1996.
Surprisingly on Friday night, it was Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer qualifying their way into the All-Star race for Saturday night by winning the two segments of the Sprint Showdown.
The fan vote has garnered a lot of fan and media attention through the years. From seeing Dale Earnhardt Jr. voted in during his winless streak, to seeing underdog Jose Wise voted in last year with the help of a very popular website in Reddit.com, the fan vote has always garnered much attention and the media spotlight. The front-runners include (in alphabetical order), Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson, Danica Patrick, Martin Truex Jr. and Josh Wise. The only driver who has won the All-Star race after being voted in was Kasey Kahne in 2008.
On Friday night NASCAR announced Danica Patrick as the Fan-Vote driver to race in the All-Star race on Saturday night.
Of special mention, is the 2015 rule change giving a previous All-Star race winner or previous Sprint Cup Series Champion, a lifetime entry to compete in the Sprint All-Star race. Before the change, entry into the All-Star race was by winning either in the past ten years, or by winning a Sprint Cup Series race in the previous two years. This season’s rule change gives driver Ryan Newman an entry to race the event as the 2002 All-Star Race winner.
This year’s Sprint Cup Series All-Star race has more buzz than in years past and will give yet another compelling story line in the 2015 season.
Tune in for the All-Star race at 9 pm ET on Saturday, May 16th with the broadcast on FOX Sports 1, MRN Radio and SiriusXM Radio.