NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge
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| Venue | Lowe's Motor Speedway (1985, 1987-Present) Atlanta Motor Speedway (1986) |
| Corporate sponsor | NEXTEL |
| First race | 1985 |
| Distance | 120 miles |
| Number of laps | 80 (Four 20-lap "quarters") |
| Previous names | The Winston (1985-1993, 1997-2003) The Winston Select (1994-1996) |
The NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, formerly known as The Winston until 2004, is a race open to race winners from the previous season as well as the current season. Drivers are also eligible if they one of the top two finishers in the NEXTEL Open qualifying race (a 40-lap race in two 20-lap segments for drivers not qualified for the main event) or remain on the lead lap in the NEXTEL Open and get the most votes. There used to be another qualifying race following the Open known as the No Bull Sprint. Since 2003, only one qualifying race has been ran. The following year, a fan vote was put into place to determine the second transfer driver. Michael Waltrip became the first driver to win the All-Star race after transferring in from a qualifying race in 1996. The first running of the race was held in 1985 at Lowe's Motor Speedway (formerly the Charlotte Motor Speedway) and has been run there every year except in 1986 when it was run at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Due to the nature of the race (only winning counts, and no points are rewarded regardless of finishing position), drivers often make crazy and reckless moves not seen in other races, and crashes are frequent - it is not uncommon to see less than half the starting grid finishing at the end.
The race has a unique format, which changes frequently. The new format for 2007 will be made up of 80 laps, broken down into four 20 lap segments (or "quarters"; caution laps do not count in the fourth quarter). More about the new format can be found below.
Former Nextel Cup and Nextel All-Star champions are also eligible for the race. Until 2001, the rule restricted only champions of the past five Nextel All Star Challenge events, but in 2005, the rule became the winners in the past ten years of either the Nextel Cup or the Nextel All-Star Challenge. The Nextel Open was restricted to the top 50 drivers in either the final standings of the previous year or current standings in the current year.
In 2004, Nextel added a vote of race spectators, internet users and NEXTEL/Sprint cellphone users to add one additional driver not in the field, but in the Nextel Open, and finishing on the lead lap, to the final starting field.
[edit] Past Winners by Race Format
[edit] 70 Laps
The 12 race winners from 1984 participated in the inaugural The Winston at then-Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race was 70 laps with one pit stop, and held the day before the Coca-Cola 600. A $10,000 bonus was paid to the leader of Lap 20, Terry Labonte, for leading that lap.
[edit] 83 Laps
The race moved to Atlanta International Raceway in 1986, with a 200 kilometer format of 83 laps (126.326 miles) on Mother's Day, a day typically avoided on the NASCAR calendar. Like its previous counterpart, green flag pit stops were mandatory, and only winners from the 1985 season were eligible.
Since there were only nine different drivers to win a race in 1985, the highest placed non-winner in final 1985 points, Geoffrey Bodine, was added to the field.
A 100-lap (152.2 miles) consolation race for the non-race winners of 1985, the Atlanta Invitational was held the same day. It featured only thirteen participants, and was won by Benny Parsons.
A lackluster crowd of only 18,500 attended the second edition of The Winston, with only twenty-three cars racing in the two races combined.
[edit] Three Segments - 75 Laps, 50 Laps, 10 Green Laps
The race returned to Charlotte with a new 135-lap (202.5 mile), three-segment format which reflected on NASCAR's short-track roots. A new date was introduced, the weekend before the Coca-Cola 600, which gave teams a popular two weeks of festivities at what is generally considered most teams' home track. Live national television coverage on ABC would also be featured for the first of four years. This format consisted of a 75-lap first segment, with a mandatory green flag pit stop, a 50-lap second segment, and a 10-green flag lap final sprint. Each segment would be separated by a ten-minute break.
In addition to the race format, the method for choosing participants changed. The 20-driver field consisted of the past nineteen race winners, regardless of season. The remaining drivers would participate in a 100-lap, last-chance race, the Winston Open, with the winner advancing to the final starting position.
In 1989, qualifying for the starting lineup for The Winston changed to a three-lap time trial, with a two-tire pit stop in the middle.
- Segment 1: 75 Laps / Mandatory green-flag pit stop
- Segment 2: 50 Laps
- Segment 3: 10 Green Flag Laps (No caution laps count)
[edit] Two Segments -- 50 Laps, 20 Laps
After a pair of controversial dashes in the past three years which infuriated fans, the race is cut to two segments of 50 and 20 laps, to prevent some of the reckless driving, giving the race its 70 lap format which would be used until 2001.
The ten minute break would be used between segments.
Two changes were made in qualification in 1991. First, the race returned only to race winning drivers and owners in 1990 and 1991 until The Winston. Second, The Winston Open was reduced to 50 laps, and to guarantee The Winston field would be 20 cars, the field of 20 would be filled out by the top number of cars advancing to the main event until the field was filled to 20 cars.
ABC carried the race in 1990, with the Winston Open finish, and CBS carried both the Open and The Winston in 1991. In 1991, to add to the day of events, the NASCAR Legends Race was held on a quarter-mile oval paved between the Charlotte Motor Speedway quad-oval and pit area. Elmo Langley won the exhibition event featuring retired NASCAR champions and stars.
Segment 1: 50 Laps Segment 2: 20 Laps
[edit] 70 Laps - 30 Laps, 30 Laps, 10 Green Laps
While the race stays in Charlotte and remains 70 laps, the race is moved to the Saturday night before the previous date, and is moved to The Nashville Network. The Winston returns to the controversial 10-lap shootout which led to controversy in 1987 and 1989, and The Winston Open goes to a 30-lap format.
The 1995 race featured Dale Earnhardt's trend-setting alternate cars, which have infiltrated NASCAR in recent years as teams and sponsors will alternate colours on cars to promote different products.
The field would be inverted after the first segment, and like the previous years, a 10-minute break would be featured between segments.
Former NASCAR Champions were automatically invited to the race, as were the past five years' winners of this race.
After Michael Waltrip's win by being the last car to transfer from The Winston Open, NASCAR changed the procedure by reverting to a format featuring the 1996 and 1997 race winning drivers and owners, and then adding the preceding year's race winning drivers not yet in the field until the field reached 19, and then the winner of The Winston Open. If the number added to the previous year reached over 19, then all drivers who won races that year would be in the field.
Segment 1: 30 Laps / Full Inversion Segment 2: 30 Laps Segment 3: 10 Green Flag laps (No caution laps count)
- 1992: Davey Allison
- 1993: Dale Earnhardt
- 1994: Geoffrey Bodine
- 1995: Jeff Gordon
- 1996: Michael Waltrip
- 1997: Jeff Gordon
[edit] 70 Green Laps -- 30 Laps, 30 Laps, 10 Laps
The race remained at its 70 lap format, but for 1998, only green flag laps would count in any segment, not just the third segment.
The second ten-minute break is eliminated and replaced with caution laps, and cars would have the option of pitting for tires and fuel, at the expense of losing track position.
The inversion is changed to a random draw between 3 and 12 cars for the inversion after the first segment.
In 2000, after The Winston Open, a 16-lap "No Bull Sprint" was added to after The Winston Open. The winner of this race would also advance to The Winston.
In 2001, television coverage moved to FX as part of the new NASCAR television contract, and qualifying was changed so the pit stop took place at the start of the qualifying, and the stop was a four-tire change instead of two.
Starting in 2001, crew members were introduced together with drivers during the driver introduction ceremonies, with Fox broadcasters Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond interviewing selected persons during the ceremony.
- Segment 1: 30 Green Flag laps (no caution laps count)
- Segment 2: 30 Green Flag laps (no caution laps count) / Pit stops optional (cars lose track position if they pit)
- Segment 3: 10 Green Flag laps (no caution laps count)
| Year | Date | Driver | Car Make | Winner's Prize (USD) |
Distance (miles) |
Average Speed (mph) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Winston | ||||||
| 1998 | May 16, 1998 |  Mark Martin |
Ford | $ | 105 | |
| 1999 | May 22, 1999 | Terry Labonte |
Chevrolet | $297,500 | 105 | |
| 2000 | May 20, 2000 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. |
Chevrolet | $515,000 | 105 | |
| 2001 | May 19, 2001 | Jeff Gordon |
Chevrolet | $ | 105 | |
[edit] 90 Laps - 40 Laps, 30 Laps, 20 Green Laps - With Elimination
The popularity of the reality show "Survivor" influenced Winston to make changes to the format in 2002, adding a new elimination format ("Survival of the Fastest"), and the final segment returns to 20 laps to make tire wear an issue.
Only race winning drivers and owners from 2001 would be in the field, and all former Cup titleholders and the past five winners of The Winston would be added to the field, plus the winner of the qualifying races.
The No Bull Sprint was eliminated after 2002, and for 2003, The Winston Open would become a 20-lap race with pit stops, and then a 10 green flag lap sprint after pit stops.
If the caution flag waved on Lap 40 of the first segment, two green flag laps or the next yellow flag would be run to finish the segment.
In The Winston, only the top 20 cars advanced to the second segment, and 10 cars (in 2002) or 14 cars (in 2003 planned, but was 12 after crashes) advanced to the third segment.
A green flag pit stop for four tires was mandatory in the first segment, but after Frank Stoddard beat the system in 2002 by changing four tires just feet from the finish line on the last lap, the rule was changed to mandating tire stops at a specific point in the race.
Also, the inversion is moved to the final 20 lap sprint, and the ten-minute break is restored between the second and final segment.
- Segment 1: 40 Laps / Must take a four-tire pit stop during race (In 2003, must be between Laps 10-30) / only top 20 cars advance.
- Segment 2: 30 Laps / Only 14 cars (2003) / 10 cars (2002) advance / full field inversion at end of segment
- Segment 3: 20 Green Flag Laps (no caution laps count)
| Year | Date | Driver | Car Make | Winner's Prize (USD) |
Distance (miles) |
Average Speed (mph) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Winston | ||||||
| 2002 | May 18, 2002 | Ryan Newman |
Ford | $794,326 | 135 | 110.005 |
| 2003 | May 17, 2003 | Jimmie Johnson |
Chevrolet | $1,017,604 | 135 | 133.297 |
[edit] 90 Laps - 40 Laps, 30 Laps, 20 Green Laps
The Nextel All-Star Challenge, as the race is now named, uses the unofficial moniker fans used for years as an official title. The format was changed slightly while the race stayed at 90 laps.
The elimination was eliminated, 1998-2001 inversion and second segment to third segment break rules were restored, meaning a random inversion and an open pit road for the final break instead of a ten-minute break.
The four tire stop is now between Laps 13 and 16.
- Segment 1: 40 Laps / with random inversion (6-12) at end of segment / 10 Minute Break
- Segment 2: 30 Laps / Pit stops optional (cars lose track position if they pit)
- Segment 3: 20 Green Flag Laps (no caution laps count)
| Year | Date | Driver | Car Make | Winner's Prize (USD) |
Distance (miles) |
Average Speed (mph) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge | ||||||
| 2004 | May 22, 2004 | Matt Kenseth |
Ford | $1,044,000 | 135 | 91.889 |
| 2005 | May 21, 2005 | Mark Martin |
Ford | $1,101,325 | 135 | 113.951 |
| 2006 | May 20, 2006 | Jimmie Johnson |
Chevrolet | $1,055,007 | 135 | 103.290 |
[edit] 80 Laps: Four 20-Lap Quarters
Starting with the 2007 race, to be held May 19, 2007, there will be changes.
Announced during the annual Media Tour in Charlotte on January 23, 2007, the annual Pit Crew Challenge, held three days earlier at Charlotte Bobcats Arena, will determine the order of pit box selection instead of the usual post-qualifying selection. The unique three-lap qualifying (with a pit stop to change two tires) will remain in place to determine the starting lineup.
It was also announced that the top two drivers from the NEXTEL Open event, which will now be a 40-lap race with two 20-lap segments, plus the fan vote winner would join the automatic entries from past decade's All-Star race winners and active Cup Champions, along with the winners of the 2006 and first eleven NEXTEL Cup races of 2007. Winners of those eleven races will also be eligible for the 2008 All-Star event. In addition, as part of NASCAR's new television agreements, coverage has moved from FX to Fox sibling network Speed. Additionally, the race format will change as well.
The race has been shortened to eighty laps with four twenty-laps segments (or "quarters" like in football or basketball; only green flag laps will count in the final quarter). After the first segment, a five-lap caution period will start and there will be an opportunity for drivers to take an optional pit stop. After the second segment, there will be the ten minute "halftime" break so pit crews can make adjustments. Additionally, unlike past events, there will be no inversion of the field. Finally, after the third segment, there will be a five lap caution period so team can make a required pit stop (for work on their cars or a "stop and go" akin to a speeding penalty on pit row) for all teams which will determine the running order before the Dash for Cash, namely the $1 million (US) grand prize.
- First quarter: 20 laps / optional pit stop during five-lap caution period.
- Second quarter: 20 laps / ten minute "halftime" break to make adjustments; no inversion of the field.
- Third quarter: 20 laps / manditory pit stop (or "stop and go") during five-lap caution period.
- Fourth quarter: 20 green flag laps.
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