Last Lap: All-Star alterations?

Nextel's commitment to including fans in the All-Star Challenge format is warranted, if not imperative. But we've got to find another way. Using fans to stage a popularity contest cheapens the very definition of what an "All-Star" game is.

All-Stars and the teams they drive for earn the right to compete in the select field by winning. And no offense to Ken Schrader, but he hasn't won since 1991. He hasn't finished in the top five since 1998.

	Marty Smith

It seems like I'm picking on Schrader, but I'm not. He's a great guy, which is precisely the point. His popularity got him in the field, not on-track success.

To further bolster the point, Kerry Earnhardt won the fan vote going away. It wasn't even close. Had he finished on the lead lap in the Nextel Open, he'd have been in the All-Star Challenge.

He has exactly two career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series starts. Two. Total. I reiterate, I'm not trying to pick on Earnhardt. He's a stellar individual, but I hardly think two career starts is worthy of All-Star consideration.

Were I czar for a day, that's the first alteration I'd make. But certainly not the last. I'd also require former All-Star race winners in the field to be full-time drivers. Geoffrey Bodine had one Cup Series start in 2003. He finished 39th. But there he was in the field Saturday, dreadfully off the pace.

This is the All-Star game. Dreadfully off the pace doesn't cut it.

Rules-wise, I have no significant qualms. I don't know that the qualifying format is overly exhilarating. I'll admit, I was fired up when Matt Kenseth's boys ripped off that 12.3-second stop, but I'd still rather see them do it 20 laps into a 30-lap heat race to get him off pit road first.

Marty Smith  •  Email  •  Archive

The 40-30-20 format works for me. The question is, does the event need to move city-to-city in order to offer a true all-star feel? Would other cities rally around the event more than Charlotte does, and create an all-star fan experience a la the NBA?

I attended the Major League Baseball All-Star game last summer in Chicago, and the whole city was buzzing about it. Makes me wonder if the folks here in Charlotte are too accustomed to having NASCAR's all-stars in town on the second week of May.

I live in Charlotte. I want it here. The teams enjoy being at home. But you can't help but wonder what the atmosphere would be like if it were in Bristol or Richmond or Darlington. Or heck, keep it in Charlotte and run it on the dirt track across the street.

The grandstand seating isn't big enough to even consider it, but it'd be a hell of a show.

On to my fan participation initiative, which, once again is outlandish. But these boys are running for a million bucks, so outlandish is discussable: Run a nationwide sweepstakes that culminates a month before the show. One fan is chosen at random to represent each eligible competitor, plus one other fan rep for the Nextel Open winner.

On the night of the All-Star race, these fans pull car numbers on behalf of their respective driver. Whatever number they pull, that's the car their respective driver runs during the 40-30-20 big show.

And just for kicks, if it were my show to coordinate, I'd run the cars clockwise. Talk about a unique format...

If you could start from scratch, what elements would you use to create a NASCAR all-star race?

ethankane: I think the change that would really make the all star race awesome would be to let the winner choose the track that the event will happen the next year. Make it a Thursday or Friday night event before the chosen track's date. I think the rest of the event is great, but do believe that it should have a chance to be at a different track from year to year.

They say fans are what it is all about but not all fans can travel to charlotte to see it. At least if the winner chooses where it is it might be coming to your home track. Plus it gives the winner the choice to have the race at a track they like which gives them more incentive.

Now that's a hell of an idea, Citizen Kane, a very unique incentive to win. I love it. Enabling the driver to earn the privilege of choosing the following year's location is as much, if not more, motivation than the money, in my opinion.

Nextel Cup drivers are all financially secure, some of them plumb rich. So money's money. But they all have favorite racetracks, and not everyone likes every track.

The key element with moving the event from track to track is to make certain not to add to the already arduous travel schedule. If you're going to run the All-Star race somewhere other than Charlotte, run it the Monday after the points race at that venue, in primetime, with an off-weekend following it.

costape: Also, while I know the idea is an all or nothing race, but they should award the top 5 better. This year, I think it was 90k for 3rd, 70k for 24th, not much if a difference. Hopefully, that would keep some of the bonehead (or Rubberhead) drivers in check early on. No fun having an all-star race where 40% of the all-stars get knocked out that early.

Actually, the money is pretty solid. Tony Stewart won $216,200 for finishing third, and Ricky Craven, who crashed out after just four laps, won $70,500 for 24th. I'd make four laps for 70 Gs any day.

carolb: Actually, the format is good now, but I would add a segment where the Crew Chief has to get in and drive ten laps, and the driver becomes a tire changer. Not only would it be humorous, but should improve relations between driver and crew after they try each others jobs!! (How would Fatback fit into Bobby's seat??)

I'd assume not very well, Carol. Bobby's a little guy these days.

I love this idea. Watching Chad Knaus, Robby Reiser, Tony Eury, et al. bang doors in Legends Cars or Bandeleros on the quarter-mile frontstretch oval would be hysterical, only not during the event. A crew chief race would be an awesome novelty competition leading up to the All-Star race, much like the slam dunk and three-point contests are in basketball, but the big show needs to be about the drivers.

skibum: An All-Star Race should be that - all stars. Rookies may share the spotlight during the first part of the season, but they haven't earned all-star status. So here's my plan:

Drivers eligible: Any driver currently active in either Cup, Busch or Truck racing who has, at any time in their career, won a Cup championship. Also, past winners of the all-star race win permanent eligibility as long as they are active, and any driver who has won a race during the current season will also qualify.

	Credit: Autostock

It would be a Saturday night shootout at Lowes, like it is now (ya can't move it Nextel...ya just can't.) No Open...you either qualify or you don't. No fan votes. It is hardly "most popular". No race qualifying. Starting grid will be set by random drawing. On the second lap, drivers have to come down pit road and stop (they can do whatever they want - the idea is that the pit crews actually "qualify" their driver since that stop will pretty much determine the race lineup.

No inversions. Two parts. The second segment drivers turn around and race around the track the other way. Teach them boys to turn right for a change. Also, every fan in the stands will be partnered with one of the drivers. Fans partnered with the winning driver win some sort of little giveaway.

One lucky fan will win $1 million too. After all, NASCAR keeps saying this race is for the fans, yet all the drivers could talk about was winning THEMSELVES $1 million bucks. Bah.

Jeez. Picabo put some serious thought into this. Must have been a boring Chap-Stick photo shoot this time around.

Anyway, I dig the clockwise racing idea and love the concept of randomly pairing each fan with a particular driver, say with color tabs on tickets. If the driver with your color wins, redeem your ticket at the nearest merchandising area for a prize. It doesn't have to be anything big. Race fans love anything and everything NASCAR, especially when it's free.

AdamDeFouw: I would ban Bud beer cans from the track so they couldn't be thrown at winners other than Dale Jr. Other than that, keep it like it is. Same track, it has the history. Same format, except maybe the inversion.

How sad is it that Kenseth's ride got pegged with a full beer can following the race? Classless, man.

My wife had two friends from high school in for the All-Star race last weekend, one of which wasn't a fan and had never been to a race. She was shocked you could bring your own beer into the event, and to this very minute says the best part about NASCAR is BYOB.

Keep it up, guys, and it won't be long before you're buying 16 oz. plastic bottles at $8 a pop. Though the Talladega reaction was embarrassing, I can empathize with that frustration. But to chuck something Saturday night, after such an awesome show, is downright despicable.

biffleboy: Mail out the "Nextel All-Star Challenge Official Fan Instructions, Rules and Decisions Booklet" so we can figure out what's going on without having to wait for the announcers to tell us how it works for the fifteenth millionth time.

Halfway through the race I gave up trying to figure out how many pit stops, tire changes, yellow flags (but not until the last car went by because the new yellow flag rule!), inversions, etc., and just enjoyed the racing, which is the main point anyways. In a nutshell, simplify it.

As if the rules weren't perplexing enough, I'm sure you're still trying to figure out what happened to your driver, too.

	Credit: Autostock

it'sbraille2486: 1st-Put the show on a place where the Cup tour doesn't visit (ex. Kentucky, IRP, Nashville, Nazareth, Irwindale etc.). 2nd-Have the inversion take place after both of the first two segments. 3rd-Start the field Formula One style, from a dead stop, making the gray area disappear when it comes to jumping the start and reaction time keen. 4th-All cars 3 or more laps down are parked, they might get in the way of the racing. 5th-Make minimum speed higher (com'n it IS an all star race). 6th-Limit tires, the less tread left, the more slidin'. The more slidin', the better the racin'.

The Kentucky/Nashville suggestion works for me. Both venues are stellar, and have been clamoring for a Cup date since day one. Staging non-points events would alleviate their plea for NASCAR's biggest draw, and appease fans in the Cincinnati and Nashville markets.

My previous concern regarding moving the event around to different venues -- travel -- doesn't really apply to Kentucky. It's the official test track of the Nextel Cup Series already. Teams already venture to Sparta several times a month, so what's one more trip?

Bravo on the suggestion to park cars several laps down. What are they racing for, anyway? No points are involved, after all. I assume they're out there in hopes of momentarily getting their sponsor on television as the leader zooms by. Lastly, the tire idea works, too. Busch Series teams have a tire limit for 300-mile races, so Cup teams could function on limited tires for 135 miles.

Erica23: If I could change anything I would make it like a true All-Star event and make it move to a different city every year. I would also make it a week long event where people from all over come to see special museums set up to honor the history of NASCAR and have fun events like simulated racing and racing tournaments held on PlayStation. There would also be autograph sessions and meet and greets.

A true fan experience. That's what Major League Baseball does. When we attended the MLB All Star Game last year, there was a huge fan experience, including base running drills and batting contests and celebrity meet-and-greets galore. That all really engages the fan.

Problem is, NASCAR has that every weekend. Take a walk out in the souvenir area at any Nextel Cup event. Many sponsors have 18-wheelers that transform into fan experiences. DeWalt Power Tools, the U.S. Army and DuPont all have them, as do several others.

But I agree, moving it around might raise the overall excitement of the event. It just seems that if a city gets one shot to host NASCAR's All-Star Challenge, they'd make quite a spectacle out of it.

That said, you can't fault Lowe's Motor Speedway in any way. Last weekend's show lacked for nothing. The race was awesome. The atmosphere was awesome, and the industry was at home. It's tough to top that.

The Last Lap appears every Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET. The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.