Just like the past four years, we're going to treat the 2016 NASCAR All-Star Race next Friday and Saturday (May 20-21) just like a normal weekend NASCAR race but with more bonus point opportunity.
All picks for Saturday qualifying and the Saturday Sprint All-Star race events must be posted Friday, May 20th, before the Sprint Showdown television coverage starts on Fox Sports 1 at 7:00PM EDT (4:00PM PDT).
Here's the weekend schedule:
Friday, May 20 -
* The Sprint Showdown is a 50-lap event for those drivers who aren't in the All-Star race. The top two finishers in the Showdown plus the fan vote winner advance to the all-star race and will participate in qualifying Saturday).
* The winner of the 2016 Sprint Fan Vote will be announced in Victory Lane after the conclusion of the Sprint Showdown on Friday, May 20. In addition to accumulating the most votes, a Sprint Fan Vote-eligible driver must also finish the Sprint Showdown qualifying race with a car in "raceable" condition (as determined by NASCAR Competition) to earn a spot in the race field.
Saturday, May 21 -
* Drivers and teams will turn their attention to the most highly-anticipated qualifying run of the season, a timed run of three laps including a mandatory four-tire pit stop with no pit road speed limit. With the new schedule, the Sprint Showdown winner and second place finisher as well as the Sprint Fan Vote winner will make qualifying runs.
There are three segments in this year's Sprint All-Star Race -- a 50-lap opening segment, a 50-lap second segment and a 13-lap final dash to the finish with a unique rule.
For the first time in the event's history, the starting order for the final segment will be determined following a random draw that decides if the top running 9, 10 or 11 cars have to pit for a mandatory four-tire stop between Segment 2 and Segment 3. Pit road will be closed for all other cars, and those for which pit stops were mandated must resume position for the final sprint, lining up behind the cars that did not pit -- creating an unpredictable, no-holds-barred rush to the checkered flag and All-Star history.
This will be interesting.
So, how are points going to work? Pick two drivers as always - driver picks are for the Saturday night qualifying and All Star Race only, you are not picking drivers for the Sprint Showdown on Friday.
All game scoring will be based on All Star Race qualifying and finish position only.
But you can pick a driver that is driving in the Friday night Sprint Showdown if you think they will be one of the two drivers from either the Sprint Showdown, or will be the fan vote winner, and advance to the Saturday All Star Race.
If your driver wins the final 13-lap segment of the All Star Race you'll get a -5 bonus, 2nd-place driver pick will get a -3 point bonus. Also, the driver pick winning each 50-lap segment of the All Star Race will get a -1 point bonus. If the same driver pick wins multiple 50-lap segments they'll get a -1 point bonus for each.
As always, finishing positions from the All Star Race for your driver picks will be averaged. But not all current drivers will be starting the 113-lap All-Star race and some may get knocked out due to accidents or mechanical problems during the two 50-lap segments.
Only 18 drivers will start the All-Star race event, including the Fan Vote Winner and the winner and runner up from the Sprint Showdown preliminary race.
Any driver pick not starting the final 13-lap segment will have their final position counted as one more than the final segment starting car count.
Example: 6 cars get knocked out during the two 50-lap segments and only 12 cars start the final 10-lap sprint. Any driver not starting the final segment will be counted with an 13th-position finish. If you pick a driver that doesn't make it out of the Sprint Showdown, you'll also get an 13th position finish.
No picks at all will be counted as 18 points rather than 43 since only 18 cars will be starting the All-Star Race segments.
Whew! Too much thinking! I've got a headache again - just like last year.
Here's the list of drivers guaranteed entry to the All-Star Race. They'll be joined by the Fan Vote Winner and the Winner and Runner-Up of the Sprint Showdown.
#1 Jamie McMurray
#2 Brad Keselowski
#4 Kevin Harvick
#5 Kasey Kahne
#11 Denny Hamlin
#14 Tony Stewart
#19 Carl Edwards
#20 Matt Kenseth
#22 Joey Logano
#31 Ryan Newman
#41 Kurt Busch
#48 Jimmie Johnson
#75 Kyle Busch
#78 Martin Truex Jr.
#88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Pick any driver not on the above list and double any bonus points earned by that driver. You could get -10 points for an event win, -6 points for an event runner-up, -2 points for any 20-lap segment wins and -2 points for qualifying.
Not interested in any driver except for those already locked in, you say? How about #3 Austin Dillon, #10 Danica Patrick, #24 Chase Elliott or #42 Kyle Larson? Either one of them or any other non-qualified NASCAR driver could easily win either the Sprint Showdown or the Fan Vote on Friday night. Pick a non-qualified driver and possibly earn double bonus points.
So, do you feel lucky? Well, do you?
All picks for both Saturday qualifying and race events must be posted Friday, May 20th, before the Sprint Showdown television coverage starts on Fox Sports 1 at 7:00PM EDT (4:00PM PDT).
Vote for your favorite driver if he's not already in the set field and try to get him in via the Sprint Fan Vote.
Good luck all! Let me know if you have any questions.
