Brad Keselowski helped spur changes to All-Star Race format
KANSAS CITY, Kansas – Like the changes NASCAR announced for the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway? You can thank Brad Keselowski for them.
Keselowski was an impetus behind the changes unveiled Friday for the race on May 21. You can click the link above for the full list of changes but the biggest change is a 13-lap final segment that will be preceded by approximately the first half of the field being forced to head to pit road.
He said Friday that he and other drivers were approached by the track for input towards the race, which hasn’t featured the most thrilling of finishes recently. He was revealed as a driving force for the changes by Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Twitter Friday morning.
“I don’t know, I don’t think that I was all the ideas, but maybe the one that seems to catch everyone’s attention,” Keselowski said. “I just wanted to see the race something that I would want to watch if I was a fan, and something that I would want to be proud of if I was the driver that won it.Quite honestly, I didn’t feel like the formats of the past few years were that way.“
A big reason for the change? The minimization of aerodynamics. Charlotte’s new pavement, and subsequently harder tire compounds provided by Goodyear, has produced races dependent on clean air and the most aerodynamically-efficient cars.
“I think what you’re gonna see in the All-Star Race is gonna be the modern day format of excellence for that type of race because a lot of things have changed.It’s not 1990 anymore.It’s not 1992 anymore.I think we’ve seen aerodynamics come in the sport and really make it so much more difficult to pass than ever before, and the format is meant to combat that challenge.There is probably an argument to be made that it’s a little bit gimmicky, and that’s fair, but it’s the All-Star Race and I feel like the All-Star Race gets a free pass on gimmicks to some extent, and it should be a short, fun, amazing race.”
Tire compounds have become softer along with the reduced downforce on Sprint Cup cars this season and Keselowski said he felt there would be enough tire fall off to potentially see a driver with fresh tires slice through those with older tires on the last segment with enough time to challenge for the lead before the end of the race.
We also asked Keselowski what he thought about adding an-almost automatic Chase berth for the winner of the All-Star Race as extra incentive. Had the All-Star Race been counted towards the Chase in 2014, Jamie McMurray would have qualified for the postseason. He ended up missing out on the Chase because he didn’t have a regular season win and wasn’t high enough in the standings to make it on points.
“I don’t think it’s out of line. I can’t think of really very many scenarios when someone has, I guess Jamie McMurray was one of them. He won the All-Star Race. I hadn’t really thought about it, but it seems fair to me.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
