FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — NASCAR’s All-Stars during Saturday night qualifying were members of Kyle Busch’s pit crew, who earned pole position in the annual $1 million exhibition race with no points. .
Busch won the final round of an unusual elimination bracket that involved the pit crews making a four-tire pit stop as he beat Ryan Blaney at the finish line.
“Any time you get to show the ability of the pit crew and have them and their athleticism in this competition and in this qualifying format, I enjoy it,” Busch said. “Having those guys going over the wall certainly means a lot, especially the No. 18 group that I’ve had a lot of success with over the years.”
All 20 drivers locked in Sunday night’s 24-car All-Star race went through normal one-lap qualifying. The top eight were then entered into an elimination bracket, when two cars at a time were placed in temporary positions next to each other at the end of pit road. The drivers had to wait for a signal before moving forward for a pit stop on four tires, then ran a lap around the 1 1/2-mile track.
Busch had an easy lap in the semifinal round when he went toe-to-toe with reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, who has won his last two All-Star starts.
Larson, who after his All-Star win also won the Fall Cup playoff race there, stopped his car before reaching his team. That allowed 2017 All-Star winner Busch to easily advance to the finals, even after his rear tire changer fell off.
“When you’re sitting there, you’re not fully compressed in the clutch, you’re trying to find that sweet spot. … I got a little too greedy obviously and stopped it,” Larson said. “It’s embarrassing. I mean, I’m the only guy that stalled.”
William Byron, who was beaten by Blaney in the other semifinal, starts third and Larson fourth. Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr. and Aric Almirola rounded out the top eight.
The remaining four spots for the All-Star race will be determined in a three-segment race earlier on Sunday. The winner of each segment (20, 20 and 10 laps) will advance to the main event, with final placement determined by fan vote.
FIRST TIME ALL-STARS
It has been 20 years since the All-Star race was won by a driver in the event for the first time. That was Ryan Newman in 2002.
Rookie driver Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe are rookies locked in the field based on their wins this year. Cindric won the season-opening Daytona 500 for Team Penske, and Briscoe took his Stewart Haas Racing car to Victory Lane in Phoenix.
“Being able to say you’re one of those guys is a big deal. It’s definitely a who’s who of the guys that are in that race. You know it’s all the biggest names in the sport,” Briscoe said. “So to be a part of that is definitely special and humbling.”
Briscoe qualified 11th and Cindric 12th.
Aside from the inaugural All-Star race won by Darrell Waltrip in 1985, the only driver other than Newman to win on his first go was Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2000.
DRINK PLENTY OF WATER
Ross Chastain knows he should have been drinking more water throughout the week, and he thinks eating a little more watermelon probably would have helped, too.
Chastain, whose family owns a watermelon farm in Florida, said Saturday he was feeling fine — and good for the All-Star race — after suffering from dehydration late in the NASCAR Trucks Series race at Texas on Friday night. the night.
“It’s not fun, so I’m not going to let it happen again,” Chastain said.
Chastain, who has posted the first two Cup wins of his career this season, he tweeted a shirtless photo from the infield media center while receiving IVs, writing, “I feel like a million bucks.”
MICRO CUTS
Cup driver Christopher Bell used to attend races at Texas Motor Speedway as a kid growing up in Oklahoma. When he watched legends race on the 1/5-mile asphalt track outside of the main event, he always thought how cool it would be to race microsprints there on a NASCAR weekend.
Bell will be able to do that in September as part of “C Bell’s Micro Mania” at Lil’ Texas Motor Speedway, which will be converted from asphalt to dirt before then. He had first pitched the idea a few months ago to TMS officials.
Bell will drive in the event, and he hopes to have other Cup regulars as well, along with the children of some of the Cup boys for the 6-12 junior division.
“From the first time I saw Lil’ Texas, I couldn’t stop thinking how cool it would be to have a microsprint race there,” said Bell.
___
More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Reference-apnews.com