NASCAR All-Star race showcase for Texas track
An All-Star race in the Lone Star State, with at least five restarts over
100 laps, a few inversion gimmicks and $1 million for the winning driver.
NASCAR is providing quite a night to mark the 25th season of racing at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and sendoff for track president and showman Eddie Gossage, whose last race is Sunday after overseeing the track since its groundbreaking in 1995, two years before it opened.
“This is a full metal rodeo for a big ol’ bag of dough,” said the 62-yearold Gossage, who saw hosting the All-Star race as a perfect ending for him.
Texas is the third track in three years for NASCAR’s annual non-points All-Star race. Chase Elliott won last summer at Bristol, where it was moved from Charlotte, which hosted 34 of the first 35 All-Star races, because North Carolina wouldn’t allow spectators due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“It’s a race that should move, and I’m glad it’s moving around,” said Elliott, who also won his first Cup title last season. “We’ll see how it is here at Texas. It should be a good show.”
There will be six segments of racing — the first four being 15 green-flag laps each, before a 30-lap segment that must include a four-tire stop for which the fastest pit crew will get $100,000, and then 10 laps to the checkered flag.
Based on a random draw, the top eight to 12 spots will be inverted before the second and fourth segments, and the entire field of up to 21 cars will be inverted before the third.
The lineup for the longest stretch will be based on cumulative finishes from the first four segments, and the finishing order of that fifth segment will set the starting order for the final short shootout.
While the rules package for the cars will be similar to the usual configuration and downforce for
1 1⁄2- mile tracks, slightly reduced tapered spacers will lower the horsepower to the range of 500-510, short of the normal 550.
“I think everybody’s going to try and run wide open,” said Austin Dillon,
who won 11 months ago at Texas in a 1-2 finish with Tyler Reddick for Richard Childress Racing.
For the 17 drivers already qualified for the All-Star race, the starting order was determined by random draw. The polesitter is Kyle Larson,
who has won the last two Cup races and has been part of three consecutive 1-2 finishes for Hendrick Motorsports with Elliott, who starts sixth. Three other drivers will advance from the All-Star open race earlier Sunday, and a fan vote will determine the final spot.
XFINITY SERIES
Kyle Busch stayed in front through two late restarts at Texas with pushes from series points leader Austin Cindric, the last going into a green-white overtime finish, to get his 99th career NASCAR Xfinity victory.
It was Busch's 10th Xfinity win at Texas, where he led six times for 94 of the 171 laps and won for the second time in two starts this year — he also won the inaugural race on the road course in Austin, Texas. He led the final 32 laps, including the four extra because of the 10th and final caution.
Busch already had twice as many as Mark Martin’s 49 career victories that are the secondmost in series history. Busch had said in the past he would retire from the series after 100 wins, but indicated afterward that Joe Gibbs has already committed him to races into next season.
INDYCAR
Marcus Ericsson raced to his first IndyCar victory in the actionpacked opener of the doubleheader at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park in Detroit. The Swede became the seventh driver to win through seven IndyCar races this season, and he’s the fourth firsttime winner this year.
It was the first victory for the former Formula One driver since a GP2 race at Nurburgring in 2013.
It was the first victory for Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 8 car since 1994 when Michael Andretti won at Toronto. The seven different winners through seven races ties an IndyCar record set in 1958 and matched in 2000 and 2017.