This has been a rough few weeks for the NASCAR family: first we lost David Poole, then we lost Kevin Grubb and then Jeremy Mayfield was suspended for violating the substance abuse policy. So, it’s nice to come off of that and have a week that is strictly all about fun. It’s a home exhibition game for the NASCAR family: All-Star Weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

However, NASCAR’s definition of fun entails all sorts of rules and regulations, pursuant to NASCAR Rulebook Section 13-7-J, “Regulation of Mirth and Merriment,” which requires that fun be “distilled” down to a format that only an mid-level IRS bureaucrat could love. But we fight the power and explain everything to you so you’re prepared for this weekend’s festivities.

Since everything this weekend is based on this, let us first explain who is eligible to be at the All-Star Race.

• Anyone who has won a race this season. (Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Brad Keselowski)
• Anyone who won a race last season. (Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart)
• Anyone who has won the All-Star Race in the last ten years. (Kevin Harvick, this would also qualify Terry Labonte if he had a ride)
• Any former Champion from the past ten years who has raced at least one event this year or last. (Bobby Labonte, conceivably I think this would also qualify Dale Jarrett, were he still driving)
• Two drivers will make the show by virtue of finishing first or second at the Sprint Showdown just before the race. (TBD)
• One driver will be voted in by the fans. (TBD)

So, that gives us 18 drivers that we know of, two drivers who have to race their way in and one driver who gets voted in by the fans.

There is one other scenario to mention that doesn’t apply this year and it occurs if the field wouldn’t reach 20 total drivers. If this were the case, they would open it to winners from two seasons ago. All drivers who won in that season would be eligible for the All-Star Race, even if that pushed the field over 20 drivers. In this scenario, all 2007 winners not already eligible would’ve qualified. And if that still didn’t compose a field of 20 drivers, they would keep going back each year until it did.

However, since this isn’t the case, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex, Jr. and Casey Mears who all won in 2007, are on their own to make the All-Star Race this year.

With me so far? Good. Let’s talk Pit Crew Challenge.

NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge Eligibility

The seven-member pit crew from each team eligible for the NASCAR All-Star Race will compete in the NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge. (Naturally, because this is held before the Sprint Showdown and the All-Star Race, the top two drivers in the Sprint Showdown and the fan vote driver do not participate because they haven’t been determined yet.)

There is one automatic addition to that list: the previous year’s winner of the Pit Crew Challenge is also invited to participate, if they didn’t already qualify for this year’s All-Star Race. Last year, that was Brian Vickers‘ crew, and since Vickers isn’t on the automatic berth list for the All-Star Race, they’re also invited to the Pit Crew Challenge.

That gives us 19 teams participating, but there is a field of 24. So the five remaining crews are determined based on owners points as of this coming Wednesday for teams not otherwise eligible. As of now, that would be:

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Tony Stewart
3. Kurt Busch
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Jeff Burton
7. Kyle Busch
8. Ryan Newman
9. Greg Biffle
10. Matt Kenseth
11. Mark Martin
12. Carl Edwards
13. Clint Bowyer
14. Juan Pablo Montoya
15. David Reutimann
16. Kasey Kahne
17. Brian Vickers
18. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
19. Martin Truex, Jr.
20. Marcos Ambrose
21. Kevin Harvick
22. Casey Mears
23. Reed Sorenson

So, the crews of Montoya, Reutimann, Truex, Ambrose and Mears will participate in the Pit Crew Challenge. I’m actually happy that Casey Mears’ crew will be eligible to participate, because that was the former crew of Kevin Harvick who was automatically secured a spot, but was switched in the great team swap earlier this year. So those guys who have been working with Harvick for so long will still get to go.

UPDATE: SPEED TV has posted the official entry list. They have noted that Phoenix Racing (Brad Keselowski) has opted not to compete in the Pit Crew Challenge, so it looks like Reed Sorenson’s crew is going to get to compete after all.

Pit Crew Challenge Competition

Okay, now that we have our 24 teams, let’s talk about how this works.

Each heat is a head-to-head competition between two teams. Four cars are set up for each team. Three generically-marked cars on each side are for each individual area of pit stops. One car is set up to measure the speed of the tire changers and tire carriers on a two-tire change, one car is set up to measure the speed of gassing it up with two cans, and the third car is set up to measure the speed of the jackman on both sides of the car.

All three tasks happen simultaneously and once complete, the crew members are to run to a fourth car (their own) and push it for 40 yards. First team’s car to cross the line wins the heat.

Five-second penalties are assessed for excessive fuel spill, more than three gallons of fuel left in either can of gas, or if the jackman does not lift the car high enough to clear the tires from the ground.

Simple, huh?

Pit Crew Challenge Setup

The top eight teams in owners points are given a first-round bye. This will be Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman. These eight teams will go head-to-head first in a seeding round to determine 1 through 8 seeding. Quickest team gets the top seed, the remaining seven seeds are then determined from fastest to slowest.

Teams 9 through 24 will then go head-to-head in a single elimination format. The winning eight teams will advance to the second round where they will face the top eight teams that got the first-round bye.

In addition, the fastest crew member at each station in the Seeding Round and Round 1 will each receive a $10,000 bonus.

Round 2 features the winners from the first round going against the Top 8 seeds. The winners advance to the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, the top-remaining seed gets to determine which team they want to face in the quarters. Then the second-highest-remaining seed gets to pick their opponent, and so on. The four winners then go on to the semifinals.

The semifinals pit the four teams against each other. Winners go to the finals and the winner of that head-to-head is the overall winner.

It’s worth noting that this isn’t entirely an exhibition. Pit selection for the All-Star Race is determined based on the finishing order of the Pit Crew Challenge.

Sprint Showdown Eligibility

If you finished in the Top 50 in drivers points in 2008 or are in the Top 50 in drivers points as of March 16, you are eligible to participate in the Sprint Showdown. As of right now, we believe the drivers who will likely participate for the Sprint Showdown are:

• A.J. Allmendinger
• Marcos Ambrose
• Dave Blaney
• Todd Bodine
• Derrike Cope
• Bill Elliott
• David Gilliland
• Robby Gordon
• Sam Hornish, Jr.
• Joey Logano
• Jamie McMurray
• Casey Mears
• Paul Menard
• Juan Pablo Montoya
• Joe Nemechek
• Max Papis
• David Ragan
• Tony Raines
• David Reutimann
• Scott Riggs
• Elliott Sadler
• Regan Smith
• Reed Sorenson
• Scott Speed
• David Stremme
• Martin Truex, Jr.
• Brian Vickers
• Michael Waltrip

Aric Almirola, Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, Travis Kvapil, Michael McDowell, Kyle Petty, Boris Said, Ken Schrader, Mike Skinner and J.J. Yeley are all eligible but do not have rides right now for one reason or another.

Jeremy Mayfield is now ineligible due to suspension.

John Andretti is eligible, but will likely not participate due to his Indianapolis 500 commitments.

Sprint All-Star Qualifying

Time trials are held on Friday for all the drivers who automatically qualify for the All-Star Race to determine starting order. It’s a different kind of qualifying effort: three laps that include a four-tire stop. Fastest overall time determines the starting order.

Sprint Showdown Qualifying

This, however, is normal qualifying. Two laps, best lap determines starting order. It’s also an impound race.

Sprint Showdown

Okay, so now we’ve determined who could be here. Let’s explain the Sprint Showdown real quickly. It’s composed of two 20 laps segments, bisected by a caution flag with an OPTIONAL pit stop (but most teams will take advantage of this).

The top two drivers when the checkered flag drops automatically move right on to the Sprint All-Star Race.

Fan Vote

After the Sprint Showdown, the remaining drivers who did not finish first or second, who were on the lead lap when the race ended and have a car that could still physically compete in the All-Star Race (i.e., don’t blow the engine or otherwise wreck the car), of these eligible drivers, NASCAR will determine who received the most fan votes through text message, online at NASCAR.com or in Sprint stores. That driver will also get a berth into the All-Star Race.

So, if A.J. Allmendinger, let’s say, receives the most fan votes, but finishes second in the Sprint Showdown, he will go to the All-Star Race by virtue of his Sprint Showdown finish. The second highest fan vote getter will make the All-Star Race in the Fan Vote position. Got it?

Sprint All-Star Race

Nothing has been really simple up to this point, so it’s only natural that we will have to do some explaining for the All-Star Race too. The ending is simple (the winner of this race gets over $1 million in purse money), but getting there is complicated.

There will be a 50-lap segment to start the race. After a driver passes Lap 25, they MUST at some point pit for four tires under green. At the end of the 50-lap segment, there will be a caution flag thrown where drivers can make an optional pit stop.

The second segment will be 20 laps in length after which they’ll throw another caution where drivers can make an optional pit stop. Third segment is also 20 laps in length. This will be followed by a ten-minute break. Drivers can choose to make any adjustments to the car during this ten-minute break. It is not a red flag condition.

This sets up the fourth and final segment: a 10-lap dash to the finish. Only green flag laps count towards the ten laps, so if a caution is thrown, they’ll pick up where they left off when the green flag is thrown again. Driver leading at the checkered flag picks up the $1 million.

Other slight modifications to the rules for this race:

• The lucky dog rule is in place throughout the entire race, even during the final 10 laps, unlike normal Cup races.
• Double-file restarts apply throughout the entire race, even during the final 20 laps, unlike normal Cup races.

And that’s it! That should hopefully explain everything for this weekend. It promises to be quite busy. There’s a Truck Series race worked in there somewhere as well. Should be a fun weekend!

Tags: A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, Boris Said, Brad Keselowski, Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards, Casey Mears, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett, Dave Blaney, David Gilliland, David Ragan, David Reutimann, David Stremme, Denny Hamlin, Derrike Cope, Elliott Sadler, Greg Biffle, J.J. Yeley, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Jeremy Mayfield, Jimmie Johnson, Joe Nemechek, Joey Logano, John Andretti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Ken Schrader, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Kyle Petty, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Marcos Ambrose, Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Max Papis, Michael McDowell, Michael Waltrip, Mike Bliss, Mike Skinner, Patrick Carpentier, Paul Menard, Reed Sorenson, Regan Smith, Robby Gordon, Ryan Newman, Sam Hornish Jr., Scott Riggs, Scott Speed, Terry Labonte, Todd Bodine, Tony Raines, Tony Stewart, Travis Kvapil

This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 10:30 am and is filed under NASCAR News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.