Waltrip won inaugural event in 1985; McMurray is the defending race winner
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BRISTOL, Tenn. – It’s been 30 years since Darrell Waltrip won the first running of NASCAR’s All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the changes to the event through the years haven’t been lost on the three-time Sprint Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame member.
“Everything about that afternoon was unique and special and different,” Waltrip said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway, recalling the inaugural event. “Nobody knew if it would catch on and last or not. But it’s caught on and lasted and we’ve gone through a million different formats; we’ve seen some of the most unbelievable racing, some of the most unbelievable wrecking, some of the most unbelievable things we could ever see in the All-Star Race and that’s why it’s important that it’s a stand-alone event.”
Originally, the race wasn’t the featured event. It was held following the day’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (then Busch) race, and a day before the annual Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup race.
“I raced Saturday afternoon and had to get in car again Sunday afternoon for the 600,” he said. “Now you can go over there and basically it’s a weekend in and of itself; it’s a special event, it pays a lot of money and as the weekend evolved, it became like a fan weekend, like a tribute to the fans. …
“It’s truly a unique event.”
This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday, May 16 at CMS (FOX Sports 1, 7 p.m. ET)
Waltrip, driving for car owner Junior Johnson at the time, pocketed $200,000 for the victory in a field of only 12 cars.
Last year, race winner Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates) bested a field of 21 others to collect just over $1 million.
“To me, when you look at the All-Star Race now, it’s not about winning every segment, it’s about just getting the most points throughout the three or four segments that you have to get the best position when you come in for that last pit stop,” McMurray said. “And then you pit crew has to do their part.
“I like that. I think it’s kind of cool that it involves the whole team. … The way that you come down pit road based on your points (earned in previous segments) for the last segment and your pit crew has to put you back out for the place you’re actually going to start. For us, that was really cool because we came in third, when we came out we ended up beating, I guess, the 4 car and it put us on the front row. And when you get to line up on the front row for the $1 million and 10 laps, you know you have a legitimate chance at winning.”
Winners of Sprint Cup points races from 2014, as well ’15 winners through the season’s first 11 races, earn a spot in the field, along with former All-Star race winners. Currently 17 drivers have qualified for the event – AJ Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart.
Kyle Busch remains out indefinitely as he continues to recuperate from injuries sustained in the season-opening XFINITY Series race at Daytona and his participation for the event remains unknown at this point.
In addition to 17 eligible drivers thus far, two more spots will be filled by the segment winners from the two 20-lap Sprint Showdown segments (7 p.m. ET, Friday, May 15, FOX Sports 1). Another spot belongs to the Sprint Fan Vote winner. The winner of the Sprint Fan Vote will be announced in Victory Lane following the conclusion of the Sprint Showdown.
This year’s format will consist of four, 25-lap segments followed by a final 10-lap shootout.
“The unique paint jobs that people showed up with, whether it was (Dale) Earnhardt’s silver bullet that he almost took me out with or my chrome car or T-Rex, whatever, this race has created for our sport a really dramatic, exciting, unpredictable weekend that these guys can go over there and when they go home, all they really care about is whether they won the $1 million or not,” Waltrip said.
“Adding laps, that’s a bonus. The 10-lap shootout, that’s where it’s all going to happen.”
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