Kyle Busch wins All-Star Race elimination qualifying

Heat races to set starting grids are not uncommon in motorsport. Nitro Rallycross and Formula E take it another step further with a one-on-one elimination format. On Saturday, the NASCAR Cup Series determined the field for Sunday’s All-Star Race with a slightly different approach: a four-tyre pit stop at the end of pit road and one lap around Texas Motor Speedway.

New for 2022, the starting lineup for the All-Star Race was determined using a bracket system that gave pit crews a bigger role. Previous All-Star Races also utilised crews such as having drivers make mandatory stops while setting a flying lap in qualifying or during the race, while the Pit Crew Challenge—in which crews made their stops before pushing their cars to the finish—was a fan favourite until its discontinuation in 2012.

Kyle Busch‘s #18 Joe Gibbs Racing crew proved to be the best as he defeated team-mate Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, and Ryan Blaney to win the pole.

“This is a cool event,” commented Busch’s crew chief Ben Beshore. “A good way to showcase our pit crew and they did a great job. They put in a lot of hard work this off-season and throughout the year. They clicked off awesome stops there and it’s exciting.”

Twenty cars were locked into the All-Star, and the top eight in traditional qualifying advanced to the knockout round. Aric Almirola kicked off the experiment on an inauspicious note when he missed the green light to signal the start, causing him to fall significantly behind and William Byron to easily win. Blaney defeated Ross Chastain to take on and eventually defeat Byron.

In the opposite bracket, defending race winner Larson beat Kurt Busch to face younger brother Kyle. However, Busch won the Battle of the Kyles after Larson’s car stalled. The #18 then won the final over the #12.

“Anytime you’re able to showcase the pit crews’ ability and have them and their athleticism in this competition and in this qualifying format, I enjoy that,” said Busch. “I think that’s my most favourite part of the year (when) coming to the All-Star Race, whether it’s Charlotte and coming down pit road and sliding into the box, but having those guys go over the wall certainly means a lot, especially this #18 bunch that I’ve had a lot of success with over the years. Obviously changed up a few times, most recently, but we’ve always been a threat to be reckoned with when it comes to getting on the pole for the All-Star Race. It feels good to have that today.”

Saturday also saw qualifying for the All-Star Open, an event of sixteen drivers who had not locked themselves into the All-Star Race. Tyler Reddick, who has been a regular contender to finally snag his first career Cup victory but has yet to get over the hump, led the way ahead of Daniel Suárez, who has also been in that predicament.

Starting lineup

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Best Time	Best Speed (mph)
1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.554	189.115
2	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	28.565	189.043
3	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.528	189.288
4	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.632	188.600
5	45	Kurt Busch	23XI Racing	Toyota	28.620	188.679
6	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	28.723	188.003
7	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.744	187.865
8	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	28.767	187.715
9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	28.777	187.650
10	16	A.J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	28.807	187.454
11	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	28.822	187.357
12	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	28.830	187.305
13	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.831	187.298
14	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.834	187.279
15	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	28.864	187.084
16	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.891	186.909
17	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	28.904	186.825
18	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	28.908	186.800
19	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	28.935	186.625
20	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.011	186.136

Open qualifying results

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Best Time	Best Speed (mph)
1	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.880	186.981
2	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	28.892	186.903
3	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	28.956	186.490
4	43	Erik Jones	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.982	186.323
5	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	29.003	186.188
6	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	29.028	186.027
7	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	29.110	185.503
8	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.195	184.963
9	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	29.224	184.780
10	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	29.226	184.767
11	77	Landon Cassill*	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.287	184.382
12	42	Ty Dillon	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.396	183.698
13	51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	29.506	183.014
14	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	29.749	181.519
15	15	Garrett Smithley	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	29.895	180.632
16	78	B.J. McLeod	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford	29.927	180.439