NASCAR Races for a Million Dollars in the All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway for Second Year

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 13: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on June 13, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the second time to put on the All-Star Race. Highlighted by a few format changes, some drivers will nonetheless still have a final chance to qualify in the All-Star Open (5:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Drivers who advance out of the Open will join the winner of the fan vote and the twenty drivers who’ve already qualified to fight for a million dollars in the All-Star Race (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

It’s Texas Motor Speedway’s second time hosting the race since NASCAR moved the All-Star date away from its traditional Charlotte venue, first to Bristol and then to Texas. Chase Elliott won at Bristol, and his Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson is the defending winner with his Texas victory. Hendrick Motorsports has actually scored the most All-Star wins of any team in the series, with ten. 

Already eligible for the race this year are Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Kurt Busch, and Alex Bowman. Seven of those drivers have already won an All-Star event.

In a non-points race for a million dollar payday, those drivers and the four who join them won’t hold anything back. Chase Briscoe, who will have to fight for a spot in the Open, said: “The chance to go for a million dollars and the possibilities of winning that and how that would change your life is definitely huge. To have that chance is unreal, so we’re not going to hold anything back.”

He added: “If you want to see some cars going really fast, then Texas is the place to go. I mean, it’s just a big track, a lot of grip, a lot of speed. We’re just going as hard as we can pretty much the whole lap and the whole race. I think from what we’ve seen this year with the NextGen you can expect exciting racing from the first lap through the last.” 

It won’t just be down to the drivers, though. Part of the format change allows the pit crew to shine, helping their driver in qualifying and the race. Kyle Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew has recorded the fastest stop so far this season, completing a four-tire stop in just 9.2 seconds, a new record, at Richmond. 

Ultimately, Texas Motor Speedway General Manager Rob Ramage said, “The incredible intensity of the drivers and teams as well as the Texas-sized excitement from our race fans is what makes the NASCAR All-Star Race just that much more special.”

As Kyle Busch put it, it’s a race to either “bring home the checkers or end up on the wrecker.”

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, pits during the NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on October 17, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

JR Motorsports Intends to Continue Domination in Texas

The last three Xfinity Series races have been won by JR Motorsports drivers, with Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, and Justin Allgaier taking the checkered flag respectively. If the organization finds victory lane in the SRS Distribution 250 (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), they’ll be just the sixth team in series history to do so. And if Sam Mayer wins, they’d be the first to get four wins in a row with each of their four drivers.

However, a win won’t come easy for any driver. Defending winner Daniel Hemric and AJ Allmendinger both have strong Kaulig cars that will be a threat, and Allmendinger is on a hot streak of eleven consecutive top-ten finishes going into the weekend. He has an impressive average finish of 6.0 at Texas Motor Speedway too. 

Only five spots remain open in the Playoffs as well, with seven drivers scoring a win so far this season. Anthony Alfredo sits just 22 points outside the cutline as it stands, and defending champion Daniel Hemric is barely in. Both drivers will fight hard for a good finish and a points haul on Saturday. 

Zane Smith is Coming in Hot

Winner of the previous race in Kansas, Zane Smith has also collected the most wins and led almost 20% of the laps so far in the Camping World Truck Series season. He’ll be looking to continue that domination in Friday’s SpeedyCash.com 220 (8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

He finished sixth in last season’s Texas race, and has two top tens in his three starts at the track. If he can take the momentum from Kansas, though, where he led more than 80% of the race, he should be hoping for a win. 

Defending winner John Hunter Nemechek wants to give Smith a run for his money, though. Last year it was Nemechek who had the dominant season-opening performance, but he’s only managed to find victory lane once this year at Darlington.

Neither hold the series points lead, however. Ben Rhodes is ahead of Nemechek by twenty points, and he’s won once this season, coupled with a series-leading five top fives and six top tens. 

NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: NASCAR All-Star Race
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Date: Sunday, May 22
The Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 7:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 187.5 miles (125 Laps); Stage 1 (25 Laps), Stage 2 (25 Laps), Stage 3 (25 Laps), Final Stage (50 Laps)

NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: NASCAR All-Star Open
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Date: Sunday, May 22
The Time: 5:30 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 5 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 75 miles (50 Laps); Stage 1 (20 Laps), Stage 2 (20 Laps), Final Stage (10 Laps)

NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: SRS Distribution 250
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Date: Saturday, May 21
The Time: 1:30 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 1 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 250.5 miles (167 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 40),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 80), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 167)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Next Race: SpeedyCash.com 220
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Date: Friday, May 20
The Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 7:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 220.5 miles (147 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 35),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 70), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 147)

Owen Johnson