They don’t get points. A terrible finish won’t hurt their standings position. But a victory will land them a million bucks, and a ton of prestige.
This is the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, where only one strategy exists: Win, by any means necessary.
Watch for a hold-your-breath, lean-forward and don’t-blink finish. The format for this special event pretty much dictates it.
Here’s the format: The race will be run in four segments. The first is 50 laps; the second and third are 20 laps; and the final segment is a 10-lap dash to the checkered.
During segment 1, there will be a mandatory green flag four-tire pit stop at lap 25. There’s an optional pit stop between segments 1 and 2, and between 2 and 3.
Between segment 3 and 4, there will be a 10-minute pit stop. Teams will pit and may elect to add fuel and make normal chassis adjustments, but they will not be permitted to change or remove tires. Prior to the start of segment 4, cars will line up in the same positions as they finished segment 3. Pit road will then open, and teams must make a four-tire pit stop. Cars will be lined up in the order they return to the race track.
And here’s the big one – only green flag laps will be counted during the fourth segment.
The driver who can navigate through the intensity will take home one of the most coveted titles in the sport. It’s one that’s hard to come by, if you look at the stats.
There have been seven different winners in the last seven NASCAR Sprint All-Star Races. Who’s next? Some names to watch …
Jimmie Johnson: A two-time winner of the event (2003 and 2006), Johnson looks to join Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt at the top of the all-time wins list in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. With six top fives in nine starts, Johnson has an outstanding average finish – 6.8.
Denny Hamlin: A prime candidate to make it “eight different winners in the last eight events,” Hamlin has finished fourth in each of the last two events.
Kyle Busch: Still looking for his first win in the all-star race, the younger Busch clearly takes advantage of the “all-or-nothing” format. In five starts, he has four DNFs, but he has led laps in each of them.
Matt Kenseth: Winning the 2004 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Kenseth started the string of seven-in-seven. He owns the best average finish of anyone locked into Saturday’s field.
Jeff Gordon: A fourth all-star win would put him atop the all-time list by himself. Currently sharing that top spot with Dale Earnhardt, Gordon has gone four consecutive races without a top-10 finish in the event.
Kurt Busch: Busch won last year’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, and followed it up with a Coca-Cola 600 victory. He became the seventh driver to complete that particular sweep.
Kasey Kahne: He, too, completed the All-Star/Coke 600 sweep, in 2008. He was the guest on this week’s NASCAR national teleconference. Click here to listen.
Tony Stewart: Stewart’s first win as a driver-owner came in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, and he is clearly a big-event racer. He has finished in the top five in each of the last four events.
Carl Edwards: The current points leader also employs an all-or-nothing strategy. In five starts, he has three tops 10 – and two DNFs.
Mark Martin: This will be Martin’s 22nd-consecutive start in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, the most in history. A winner in 1998 and 2005, he looks to become the only driver to win the event in three different decades.
Kevin Harvick: A winner in 2007, Harvick has three top-10 finishes in the last five races.
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