The return trip to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the All-Star Race next month will feature an alternate tire with the intent of creating speed disparity and strategy options throughout the annual non-points exhibition.
Before explaining how the tires will be used next month, some backstory to the 2023 All Star Race is necessary.
The heat races for that event was contested on a damp track and using a wet weather tire. It produced the best racing of the entire evening. The same can be said of the Cup Series race at Richmond last month, which began on a wet track but produced the most excitement of the entire night.
So, both tire compounds ordered for the 2024 All Star Race at North Wilkesboro were born from a tire test held at the track on March 12-13. The alternative, option, tire will feature the grippier compound that Goodyear uses on its wet weather tire but on slicks instead of a treaded pattern.
The idea is that it will provide drivers more grip but at the expense of more fall-off. There will be two sets each of standard and option tires during the race. A similar experiment was tried at the All Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2017.
The race will begin, much like Richmond, on the option tire and Goodyear’s director of racing Greg Stucker expects teams to have to come off them within 100 laps. The option tire is estimated to be a half second a lap quicker than the standard tire.
Wilkesboro was repaved over the winter and this will be the first race weekend on its fresh surface, which generally minimizes tire wear.
“Tire management will be key to going as deep as possible in that first run,” Stucker said. “Tire wear, and by extension tire management, makes for great racing by creating fall-off and putting more of an emphasis on a driver’s ability to be easier on their tires early in a run and then being able to pass more cars late.”
That was exemplified by the race last month at Bristol Motor Speedway where extreme tire wear led to a record number of passes for any non-superspeedway race. NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer John Probst says a successful All Star Race could lead to the concept making its way into points races.
“I would say that we’ve often used the All-Star Race in the past to try some things,” Probst said. “It’s an opportunity for us without the pressure of points being paid, and certainly … with the cooperation of Goodyear and our teams, in this case, a chance to just try something. When we were at Bristol, we certainly saw a very entertaining race there when tire wear became something they had to manage, and so it’s just an opportunity for us to try it. If it does look good, we will certainly consider it.”
He also recognizes that NASCAR is asking a lot of Goodyear with this concept.
“It’s always difficult to ask your tire partner to build a tire like this, because they build great tires, and we’re asking them to actually build a tire that’s going to wear out and maybe fail ultimately if the teams drive it too hard for too long,” Probst said. “So we’re actually trying to thread the needle of making entertaining racing without the tire becoming the overwhelming story from a failure perspective, because in a way it’s what we’re asking for, but Goodyear as a company is not going to want to be seen with their tires failing even though that’s what we’re asking for. So we’ve been asking them to do things that probably make them a little uncomfortable to do from a corporation, but they have been phenomenal to work with.
“Everything we’ve asked them to do, they’re willing to consider and in this case, we’re taking advantage of a non-points race to get a little aggressive. If this works well, then we’ll continue to take steps in this direction and just keep walking down a path of trying to get the tires to really wear out and have to be managed.”
The feature race itself will be 200 laps with competition cautions at Laps 100 and Lap 150. At the Lap 100 break, teams must perform a four-tire pit stop, using any tire of their choosing. Both green and yellow flag laps will count and traditional overtime rules will be in effect.
The All Star Open will give drivers who are not guaranteed a spot in the main event a chance to race their way into the All Star Race. The Open will be 100 laps with a competition caution at Lap 50, at which point all teams must perform a four-tire pit stop.
The top-two finishers in the race and the winner of a fan vote will advance into the feature.
All Star Weekend begins on Friday with qualifying for The Open and the night will end with the pit crew challenge.
The pit crew challenge will be combined with All Star Race qualifying as drivers will take the green flap, run one lap at speed and on the second lap proceed to the designated pit stall for a four-tire stop with a mock fuel delivery.
Once the pit stop is complete, the driver will exit pit road and race back to the checkered flag. The qualifying time will be the total elapsed time from green flag to checkered flag. The fastest time will start on the pole for Heat Race 1 and the second fastest qualifier will start on the pole for Heat Race Two.
The heat races take place on Saturday and both races are 60 laps with the results setting the lineup for the main event on Sunday. Each heat will feature a competition caution on Lap 30, where all teams must perform a four-tire pit stop.
The results of Heat Race 1 sets the inside row and the results of Heat Race 2 sets the outside row.
Drivers eligible for the NASCAR All-Star Race include those who’ve won a points event in either 2023 or 2024, drivers who’ve won a NASCAR All-Star Race and compete fulltime, and drivers who’ve won a NASCAR Cup Series championship and compete fulltime.
Drivers who have already clinched an All-Star Race spot include: AJ Allmendinger, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suárez, Martin Truex Jr., and Shane van Gisbergen.
“After a successful return to North Wilkesboro Speedway last season, we are thrilled to bring the action back to one of NASCAR’s most iconic and storied tracks,” said John Probst, NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer. “The spotlight will certainly be on the crew chiefs and drivers as they plan their tire strategy for this special race. In testing, the softer tires were significantly faster — but wore much quicker. Goodyear has been an incredible partner in this All-Star element, and it will be fascinating to watch how crew chiefs and drivers manage this unique challenge.”