(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
By Aaron Bearden
NASCAR’s All-Star Race is broken.
Fixing it won’t be easy.
Once a gem on the lengthy Cup Series calendar, NASCAR’s annual spring exhibition has become an event loathed more than loved. The race is a stale and often dull affair, grabbing attention only when there are blown tires, missed calls or confusion over the minutiae of the ever-changing formats that leave fans and competitors alike perturbed.
The lack of modern appeal is at least partially due to the changes that have come in the surrounding schedule.
Once billed as the one race per year (well, outside of Daytona Beach) where winning was all that mattered, the All-Star Race is now lost in a sea of “must-win” events due to the win-and-you’re-in nature of the modern playoff system.
Being billed as an all-star event also does little for the race in a series where the ‘all stars’ race against each other and everyone else weekly. In sports like the NBA, where mercurial guard Steph Curry and standout center Joel Embiid rarely face off, throwing all of the big stars into one event is a rare treat for the sport’s fans. But Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch already compete against each other every week in NASCAR.
The purse of $1 million is unchanged and far less enticing than it was in the mid-2000s. The typical hosts, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, have been among the weakest tracks on the schedule in recent years, taking away from the product of the race itself. Even the gimmicks that once made the All-Star Race unique — double-file restarts and segments among them — are now weekly features in the main series.
The mix of change outside of the All-Star Race and lack of successful innovation in it (despite many attempts) have made the event irrelevant on the scale of the season. On a good year the race has been a forgetful feature lost in the spring shuffle. At worst it’s been a lowlight filled with confusion and controversy.
But the one thing it’s consistently failed to be is a highlight, which makes one ponder the point of the race’s existence.
So… What can be done to make the All-Star Race weekend worthwhile?
I’m no expert, but I do have some thoughts.
The key question
NASCAR and its stakeholders should begin with the obvious question.
Should an All-Star Race be held in the first place?
This is a difficult question to answer. The race has a special place among the tour’s longtime followers. But much like the now-removed Brickyard 400, it’s also something of a toxic asset.
There’s little goodwill remaining for the race. Winning it no longer feels like a major accomplishment, at least from the outside looking in. It’s pretty much become a weekend to slog through en route to bigger events elsewhere.
Getting rid of the race would take its continual controversy out of contention before it can arrive and provide teams with another much-needed off weekend in the middle of the season.
So is there any purpose to even trying to save this race?
The obvious answer is yes. One could presume that FOX remains eager to keep its current number of races, exhibitions included, for as long as it sticks around as a broadcaster. Even in its current state, the All-Star Race is something that can be marketed.
But it’s a question worth pondering nonetheless, particularly given the distaste for the race that even some competitors spoke with over the weekend.
Considered Compromise
If having a specific number of events is the crutch that keeps the All-Star Race around, then perhaps it could be replaced with something equally interesting and innovative.
Finding a solution here is challenging, but one that that immediately springs to mind is adding a 37th Cup points race and using the All-Star Race date as a way to test the waters with a shorter race distance for Cup.
Having a race closer to the two-hour range would give NASCAR and its partners a chance to see how fans would respond to a race closer to Formula 1’s length, something many have suggested to try in recent years.
Doing so in place of the All-Star Race would provide an opportunity to avoid most of the backlash that would come with shortening another ‘standard’ race. It would also provide FOX and the media partners a unique feature to market the race with, replacing some of the value lost with the absence of an All-Star Race.
This is an unlikely solution, but a fair and innovative one.
Looking to Somewhere New
If we operate on the assumption that the All-Star Race is returning for 2023 and beyond, then one immediate change comes to mind: Get the race away from Texas Motor Speedway at all costs.
Seriously.
This isn’t meant to disparage the hard-working people at the 1.5-mile oval that have done everything in their power to make the race a success over the past two years or the fans that loyally attend the facility’s races. But since its repave and reconfiguration, the Lone Star State’s major oval has been more conducive to midday snoozes than thrilling competition.
The NTT IndyCar Series managed to put on a solid show at Texas earlier this season, but nearly every form of motorsport has struggled to provide compelling competition on the track in its current configuration. The Dallas-Fort Worth market is a key one that’s worth investing in, but both Speedway Motorsports and the various series that venture to Texas should be considering all possible options to improve the oval or look elsewhere to reach that portion of the Texas fanbase.
This year’s Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum showcased just how quickly an exhibition race can become a key event in the NASCAR calendar. It may take a similar change to make NASCAR’s All-Star Race a success.
If the Clash is NASCAR’s glimpse into the future, perhaps the All-Star Race could be a way to honor the grassroots past. Maybe this could be the event where Speedway Motorsports’ efforts at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway or North Wilkesboro Speedway pays off with a night of short-track action. A shorter race and smaller field lessens the infrastructure needed for such a race, particularly in the modern TV-first era. This could be the best option to reach those forgotten facilities and show a token of goodwill to their continual supporters.
Should that not work, one easy way to at least make the race exciting could be a move over to Atlanta Motor Speedway. Say what you will about the track’s shift to pack racing with its new-for-2022 reconfiguration, but Atlanta has proven that it could provide the style of drafting-focused action that yields lead changes and numerous potential winners. That would at least make for an exciting show – particularly with the shorter race length forcing the field to go all-out from the start.
NASCAR could return to Bristol Motor Speedway like it trialed in the pandemic-altered 2020 All-Star Race. Depending on how this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 plays out, NASCAR could always bring the race back home to Charlotte, too. No one in the industry would complain about an extra week at home.
Fixing the Format
I shouldn’t have to re-read the instructions for the All-Star Race multiple times to make sure I understand the format and neither should you.
For as confusing as the current stage racing can be to a newcomer, the race format is relatively easy to understand once you watch a bit of the product. Races have three stages (outside of the Coke 600 with four), with each providing a bonus to the winner. The leader at the end of Stage 3 is the overall race winner.
That’s it. It’s an eventful format, but not overly-convoluted. The All-Star Race should be no more confusing than that.
The easiest way to make a modern All-Star Race stand out would be to go the opposite direction of the past and instead remove most of the gimmicks. If adding stages and inverts worked in a time of NASCAR simplicity elsewhere, then removing those things and making it a straight-up race could provide a fresh enough feel to make the race enticing. Imagine a 100-lap feature with a halfway break and nothing more.
But let’s say they do want stages for the shakeup (and commercial breaks) that come with them. That’s fine. Fans are used to it. Just don’t add extra steps that make things unnecessarily complex.
Would anyone really have cared if Kyle Busch won Stage 1 on Sunday and then finished 17th instead of inside of the top-15 in Stage 2? What if he’d blown a tire and lost a lap but his car was otherwise alright?
Adding extra complexities with no positive benefits only hinders the product and increases the risk of confusion. This year’s rules were clearly made with intention of forcing the early stage winner to keep battling up front for the middle two stages. But does that really matter? If anything, wouldn’t you want him to lay back so others can win stages and join him at the front for the final stage?
If you want a better race then go to a better track. If you want late drama then spice things up and add a five-lap shootout or even mandatory overtime. That won’t go over well with some, but it’ll increase the odds of providing the highlight-reel moment you’re after and it’s not likely to garner as much backlash at an exhibition race.
Make it An Event
More than anything else, the All-Star Race is supposed to be fun.
Those that make it should feel like genuine All-Stars honored to be in the race. They should be battling the best of the best and front of people happy to partake in one of the crown jewel events of the schedule.
It should be a big deal when All-Star Race weekend comes around, not just feel like another event in the grind of everyday NASCAR life.
Making that happen again is theoretically possible anywhere the race goes, but it won’t be easy.
Here are a few ideas on how to get it done:
1) Presentation of Importance
The All-Star Race is supposed to be a key race on the NASCAR calendar, so it should be treated like one.
Make it a massive deal. Advertise it early and often. Celebrate the rich history of the race and its winners. Give the event a memorable trophy, create a unique celebration and honor the winner at the season-ending banquet.
Make the glory of the win the key selling point, not the dollar amount of the prize money. That can’t be diminished with inflation.
2) Celebrate Good Times
In accordance with the above point, make being a participant in the All-Star Race feel like a big deal again.
Less is more for this. Clinching a spot in the All-Star Race should be challenging – perhaps only winners in the past 12 months and All-Star winners within the past five years should be considered.
That makes for a more stacked field in the Open, which can be treated like a serious feature of its own. Drivers that advance should be seriously celebrated and All-Star Race appearances should be tracked as part of a career resume.
Drivers that do make the race should be given something to signify their appearance – special livery designs/additions, maybe a patch on the driver’s suit with their number of appearances and wins. Crew members can be given patches and celebrated, too.
The 2020 All-Star Race took a step in this direction with the underglow and altered numbers but slightly missed the mark. Perhaps something like chrome numbers, All-Star stickers for the signature area and colored nameplates could be considered.
Qualifiers could be celebrated with something like a gala or other event that offers a rare midseason opportunity to unwind and celebrate together instead of engaging in the usual fierce competition. Crew members could be honored as well – perhaps an “All Star” crew of those with the quickest average stop times relative to their position could be honored and tracked yearly.
3) The schedule of events
In line with other sports and prior All-Star Race weeks, there could be value in adding specialty competitions into the mix.
Bring back the pit crew competition and place it somewhere easily accessible for fans. Hold a burnout contest or a drag-racing competition. Give drivers an obstacle course to drift through.
Set up a sim racing area in the fan zone and fly out eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series competitors for a special race with a purse to the winner. Use the same sim rigs for the Better Half Dash and allow fans up close to see it.
Put together a rising stars race. Get Legends cars, late models or another grassroots vehicle and race on the infield oval. Use it to spotlight young stars in the Xfinity Series, Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series or elsewhere.
Hold a full-field autograph session. Use this week to announce the newest Hall of Fame inductees and bring them in as as grand marshals that can participate with the autographs or elsewhere. Set up a small display area that gives fans an early look at their accomplishments and advertises the Hall of Fame.
There are plenty of ideas that could enrich the experience with some effort and a little capital. The key is just to do something — anything — to make the week feel like a special, “must-see” event again.
Speaking of…
4) The Presentation
The event’s portrayal also extends to the coverage on TV and elsewhere. With respect to people like Blake Shelton and Frankie Muniz, who each did fine in their roles on this year’s broadcast, the All-Star Race should be filled with the best of the best and presented as a serious, if fun, event.
If someone like Shelton wants to assist with intros, where his charisma can make a true difference, then fine. But keep pre-race and the booth to key figures from the sport’s history. Cut the cartoon-like drawings of participants for a week and replace them with some sort of special graphic package befitting the night. Give this race a unique feel in the scope of the season.
Bring in former All-Star Race winners to discuss the history of the event and the pressure of leading with $1 million on the line. This is the chance to get someone like Kasey Kahne back to the track to be celebrated and share their wisdom for a night.
Again, there are many ways to go about this. But the key is that the race should be presented as a major event that sets the stage for the ensuing crown jewel in the Coca-Cola 600.
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There are ways to make the All-Star Race relevant again. The Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum’s success proves that to be true.
In this time of NASCAR being forward-thinking and unafraid to try new ideas, there’s no reason to think they can’t find a solution to their All-Star Race problem.
But it’s going to take some soul searching, genuine effort and willingness to step away from the status quo to make it happen. Until then the All-Star Race will remain one of the least important races of the entire year.
