NASCAR All-Star Race format unveiled for North Wilkesboro

The NASCAR All-Star Race will be a 200-lap event at North Wilkesboro Speedway with just one break and only one key element — drivers will have to make sure they don’t go so fast that their tires wear out.

Drivers will only be allowed to change to sticker tires once in the final 100 laps of the May 21 event, the first Cup event at the 0.625-mile track since 1996. It will be televised live on FS1 with the preliminary All-Star Open at 5 p.m. ET and the main event at 8 p.m. ET.

With it being NASCAR’s “field of dreams” moment, NASCAR opted not to have too many segments or inverts as it has had in past All-Star races. The winner’s purse will remain $1 million.

A pit-stop competition will determine the lineups for 60-lap heat races May 20 which will set the starting order for the main event. For drivers not automatically qualified for the main event, there are two spots open to the top-two finishers of the 100-lap Open race, and then one final spot among those remaining will be determined by a fan vote. 

NASCAR did not change its eligibility requirements to get seven-time Cup champion and current part-time driver Jimmie Johnson to be in the main event — it’s all winners from 2022-23 and past All-Star winners and Cup champions who compete full time.

That puts these drivers in the main event: 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 Suarez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass, and sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass.

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