They say everything is bigger in Texas. That will be the case with the amount of segments in the 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race, the first ever All-Star event held in the lone star state.
On Wednesday, NASCAR and Texas Motor Speedway revealed on FS1’s NASCAR RaceHub a 100-lap format, which will be broken up into six-separate segments.
And boy oh boy, if you thought previous editions of the All-Star race were hard to follow from a format standpoint, we hope you’re sitting down for this one.
The starting lineup for the event will be determined by a random draw and only green flag laps will count in the 2021 All-Star Race.
Round 1 will be a 15 lap dash. At the conclusion of round 1, anywhere from the top-8 to top-12 of the field will be inverted. The number of cars to be inverted will be determined by a random draw.
Round 2 will be another 15 lap dash. At the end of this round, the entire field will be inverted.
Round 3 will be yet another 15 lap dash, with yet another random invert of anywhere between the top-8 to top-12 cars.
Round 4 will be a straight up 15 laps dash. At the conclusion of this round, the average finish between the opening four rounds will determine the starting order for the fifth round.
Round 5 will be a 30 lap run. All cars will be required to make a four-tire pit stop during this round. The crew with the fastest pit stop will receive a $100,000 bonus.
Round 6 will be a 10 lap dash for the cash. The lineup will be set based on the finishing order from Round 5. The winner at the end of the 10-lap Round 6 will score a $1-million payday, according to a press release from NASCAR.
As it stands, 17 drivers are currently secured a place in the All-Star race field and those drivers are: Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr.
Drivers who are race winners in 2020 or 2021, past All-Star race winners, past Cup Series champions are all eligible to contend.
There will also be four drivers who advance from the Open race. The Open will be a three-segment race. The three segment winners will move on to the All-Star race as well as one driver by way of the fan vote.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race will be on June 13th at 8:00 PM ET on FS1.
