Monster Energy All-Star Race Tag

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer BRISTOL, Tenn. – In recent years, the Monster Energy All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway has become a testing ground. Last year, NASCAR and Goodyear, tested an ‘option’ tire for teams to utilize in addition to the traditional tire. Cold temperatures negated most of the advantages that option tire provided. The All-Star Race has led to the inclusion of Double-File Restarts and ultimately Stage Racing. This year, the All-Star Race will test a different aero-package and restrictor plates. The package is very similar to theRead More

By: Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Kyle Busch took control of Saturday night’s Monster Energy All-Star Race on the final restart with 10 laps left and motored away to a 1.274-second victory—his first in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch powered his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the inside of Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford—the race leader on old tires—as the field roared toward Turn 1 on the final restart. Through the first two corners, he cleared bothRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series prepared for the Monster Energy All-Star Race, many looked to see what kind of racing the ‘option’ tires could produce. One driver interested in the softer compound was seven-time Champion Jimmie Johnson. Johnson placed his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS seventh on the practice charts with several ahead of him setting blistering fast times on the ‘option’ tires. In qualifying, he ended up fourth after mistakes cost him and his Hendrick Motorsports team the chanceRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – As the Monster Energy All-Star Race weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway moved into view, another new race format, and an alternative ‘option’ tire left many questioning what would unfold. One driver that seemed poised to be up front all night long was Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates driver Kyle Larson. In the only practice of the weekend, Larson was fastest on both prime and option tires. Larson was also perfect in the unique-style of qualifying for All-Star race that included greenRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – The Monster Energy Open presented several with the opportunity of transferring into the NASCAR Monster Energy All-Star Race. A stage win in any of the three stages will transfer a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver into the main event. In the final stage, only green flag laps count. Also, winning the fan vote while also having a car in ‘raceable’ condition will transfer a fourth driver into the All-Star Race. Clint Bowyer started from the pole in his No. 14 HaasRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer  CONCORD, N.C. – In qualifying for the NASCAR Monster Energy All-Star Race, several teams stood above the rest. In All-Star race qualifying, it is the average of three laps including a green flag pit stop that determines the starting lineup. Kevin Harvick was fastest in Round 1 with his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch second. Kyle Busch was third, Jimmie Johnson fourth, and Kyle Larson fifth fastest in Round 1. They were the five to transfer to Round 2 of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup SeriesRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – With only 16 drivers qualified for the Monster Energy All-Star Race, 24 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers will attempt to either race their way in by winning one of the three stages in the Monster Energy Open or by winning the Fan Vote. All teams participating the Monster Energy Open were given one set of the softer ‘option’ tires to practice with should they transfer into the All-Star race. The drivers that are currently leading the Fan Vote (in alphabetical order)Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – In final practice for the Monster Energy All-Star race, Kyle Larson topped the speed charts with a blistering fast lap of 28.630 seconds. Larson’s No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS laid down a speed of 189.274 mph on the softer ‘option’ tires. Kevin Harvick was second fastest, just 0.027 seconds off Larson’s time. Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex, Jr. rounded out the top five in practice. Last year’s winner of the All-Star race, Joey Logano, was the slowest of the 16Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – For NASCAR’s Monster Energy All-Star race, 16 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers are locked in. With only four more spots available for 24 drivers, transferring to the main event means much more. Three drivers will transfer via stage wins in the Monster Energy Open while one will be voted in by the fans. One driver hoping to become an All-Star is Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Ty Dillon. This will be Dillon’s first All-Star race weekend. To date, he hasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The All-Star Race, originally called “The Winston” when it began in 1985, was ran on Saturday afternoon in its inception, but when Charlotte Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler decided to put lights up at the track in 1992 and move the race to the nighttime, business really picked up from there. With the installation of the $1.7 million, 1.2 billion candlepower lighting system, ingeniously devised by Iowa lighting company Musco Lighting, Charlotte became the largest track to have lights installed, behind the short tracks ofRead More