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All-Star Race changes revealed

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NASCAR is expected to announce a new rules package for the All-Star race at Indy and the NASCAR America crew thinks it would be a great idea and is worth experimenting with.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Monster Energy All-Star Race will feature a simplified format that will include a new package with restrictor plate on the cars.

Among the changes:

# Cars will have a restrictor plate, making the first time they will be used at Charlotte Motor Speedway. A 7/8-inch restrictor plate will be used. It’s the same that is used at Daytona and Talladega. Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s chief racing development officer, estimated the restrictor plate will reduce horsepower by 400. He estimates that should put lap speeds in the 170s. Denny Hamlin won the pole for the last fall’s race at Charlotte with a lap of 191.598 mph. O’Donnell said he thought the difference with this package would be about 15 mph.

# Cars also will have aero ducts. These will be used to push air from the front of the car through the front wheel well to create a bigger wake behind the car. That is intended to allow a car following to close at an easier rate.

# The rear spoiler will be 6 inches high and have two 12-inch ears on either side. Also to create a larger wake of air to allow trailing cars to close.

# Cars will have a 2014-style splitter. O’Donnell said this was done to balance the front of the car with the changes made to the rear spoiler.

The aero package is similar to what Xfinity teams used in last year’s race at Indianapolis and will use again this year at Indianapolis, Michigan and Pocono.
The race format will be:

# The race will be four stages for a total of 80 laps — an increase of 10 laps from last year’s event. The opening stage will be 30 laps, the next two stages will be 20 laps each and the final stage is 10 laps. The race must end under green.

# Each stage cannot end under caution, creating the possibility of overtime for each stage and not just the end of the race.

# No mandatory pit stop requirements.

“I think it’s a good, courageous opportunity, and I’m glad NASCAR is going in this direction,’’ NASCAR on NBC analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on NASCAR America. “I didn’t believe that we’d ever see the day where we had the industry thinking we really needed to increase drag on the car a big degree. I didn’t think we’d have a movement within the industry where we were going to remove power. This is not the final version. This is only cracking the door open and looking in the right areas.

“I believe this direction could be a game change for particularly the mile-and-a-half race tracks. What I believe could happen down the road is we’ll see other renditions of this, we’ll eventually maybe get a smaller engine, that’s an open motor with more throttle response, they can put gear back in the cars, get the drivers to feel like they can drive the car off the corner. This could lead NASCAR in a very, very critical direction that’s going to improve this sport over a long period of time.”

O’Donnell said it is NASCAR’s hope to see how these changes work and look to apply them at other tracks in 2019 or later.

“I think it’s important to look at this as directionally is this something we want to pursue as a whole from an intermediate track standpoint,’' O’Donnell said. “We believe we know how that will affect Indianapolis, Michigan and Pocono. How would that affect Charlotte? What can we learn.

“It’s more what can we learn from this and build upon it. If there are some different things we have to do for individual tracks, we would. Ideal situation is we all stumble upon something that this is the package for the intermediate track.’'

One of the differences with Charlotte is that its straightaways are not as long as those at Indianapolis. One of the benefits of the package to the car at Indy for the Xfinity Series was the chance to draft on those straights. So how does that work for Charlotte, a track that is 1 mile less than Indy?

“I think when you look at it, directionally, you want to look at the ability, if I’m three or four cars together, can I catch the leader, am I faster with that group and we believe the answer is yes,’' O’Donnell said. “Then when you look going into the corners, would you be in a pack? Don’t know. But it opens the ability when you’re going 205 into the corner versus 170 (with the new package), that opens up high grove in Charlotte, low groove and you’re going to feel more comfortable going in two or three wide.’'

The All-Star field will include Cup winners in 2017 and 2018; former all-star race winners who are competing full-time; Cup champions who are competing full-time; the winner of each of the three stages of the Monster Energy Open; and the winner of the 2018 Fan Vote.

Seventeen drivers are eligible for the All-Star Race at this point. They are: Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Martin Truex Jr.

The All-Star Race is May 19 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Monster Energy Open will be held before the All-Star Race. The Open will be three stages. The first two stages will be 20 laps each. The final stage will be 10 laps. Each stage winner advances.

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