North Wilkesboro Speedway is not the only thing returning when the NASCAR Cup Series kicks off the NASCAR All-Star Race on 19–21 May. On Thursday, NASCAR revealed the format for the race which will also include the revival of the beloved Pit Crew Challenge, except it now has ramifications for the race itself.
“As we celebrate our seventy-fifth anniversary, it’s important for NASCAR to honor our history while moving towards the future,” commented NASCAR chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell. “The combination of the Next Gen cars on one of NASCAR’s first, and most exciting, tracks will deliver a full weekend of racing that fans will not forget. While the All-Star Race has previously been used to test new formats and technologies, we wanted this year’s format to showcase the historic return of NASCAR to North Wilkesboro Speedway.”
The Pit Crew Challenge predates the All-Star Race by nearly two decades, having first been held in 1967 at Rockingham Speedway as an event run by then-fuel supplier Union 76. It was moved closer to Charlotte, where the eponymous speedway was hosting the All-Star Race, and stayed there until the event was cancelled after 2012.
While the previous challenge had no bearing on the All-Star Race, the 2023 edition will set the starting lineup for the heat races and All-Star Open. Teams will perform a four-tyre pit stop without fuel, and those with the best times will start up front for their respective qualifying races.
There are two heat races of sixty laps each, with the results of the first determining the All-Star’s inside row while the second sets the outside. Those not already locked into the All-Star must qualify via the 100-lap Open, which will have a pause at or around lap 40; the top two and a Fan Vote winner advance to the main event.
The All-Star Race will be 200 laps long with a halftime break. Teams can only make one pit stop during the second half.
Practice, the Pit Crew Challenge, and qualifying will take place on Friday, 19 May. Saturday will see the Craftsman Truck Series support race followed by the two heats, while the Open and All-Star Race are on Sunday.
“The star of this year’s All-Star Race is the track,” analyst and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Dale Earnhardt Jr. stated. Earnhardt had long been a proponent of restoring North Wilkesboro, which last hosted NASCAR races in 1996, and assisted in devising the race format. “The history, the nostalgia, the surface; just being back at North Wilkesboro. People have wanted traditional racing back at North Wilkesboro for decades, and that’s what’s most important. That’s what this format delivers.
“The Pit Crew Challenge puts a lot of pressure on the teams, and with a 100-lap Open and a 200-lap All-Star Race, I’m excited to sit back alongside the fans and watch the racing we’ve all wanted for a long time.”
Twenty-two drivers have already clinched a spot in the race: Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suárez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr., and Bubba Wallace. All but Blaney, Keselowski, and Truex won races in 2022 or 2023 to qualify, with the former being eligible as the reigning All-Star Race victor while the latter two have won Cup championships. Bell and Byron are also running the Truck race ahead of the All-Star.
