05/18/2022
Roush Fenway Keselowski Weekly Advance | All-Star
The Cup schedule heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for the All-Star Race for the second-straight season. Jack Roush has four All-Star Race wins all-time, as Brad Keselowski and the No. 6 team are locked into the main event Sunday night, while Chris Buescher and the No. 17 team will attempt to race their way in Sunday afternoon in The Open.
NASCAR All-Star Open
Sunday, May 22 | 5:30 p.m. ET
FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
- Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
NASCAR All-Star Race
Sunday, May 22 | 8 p.m. ET
FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang
All-Star Open Format
- For the All-Star Open, Buescher is one of 16 drivers slated to compete on Sunday. Prior to that, single-lap qualifying will take place Saturday in reverse order of 2022 owner points. The Open race format will break down into three stages – 20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps. The winner of each stage will advance to the All-Star Race, along with the winner of the Fan Vote.
- For the 125-lap main event, there will be four stages — three 25-lap stages and one 50-lap stage. The winner of stage 1 will start on pole in the final stage as long as they finish 15th or better in stage 2 and stage 3. The winner of stage 2 will start second in the final stage as long as they finish 15th or better in stage 3. The winner of stage 3 will start third in the final stage.
- There will be a special stage break at the conclusion of stage 2 where all teams must pit and perform a four-tire stop. The driver and team with the shortest time on pit road (pit in to pit out) will win the pit-crew award and start fourth in the final stage as long as they finish 15th or better in stage 3.
- Another added feature will be unique to the final stage. If a natural caution does not occur between lap 15 and lap 25, NASCAR officials will throw an “All-Star” competition caution.
All-Star Race Format
- This year’s running of the All-Star Race will feature a new qualifying format for drivers already locked into the All-Star Race. Qualifying will consist of two rounds. The first round will see a single lap in reverse order of the current 2022 owner points. The top-eight qualifiers in the first round will transfer to a head-to-head elimination bracket.
- The eight-car elimination bracket will put a heavy emphasis on pit crews, allowing their talents to shine to better their drivers’ qualifying position. It will feature two cars staged in temporary side-by-side pit stalls near the end of pit road. At the sound of an alert, each pit crew will perform a four-tire stop, and at the drop of the jack, drivers will exit their pit stalls onto the track with no speed limit on pit road. The first car back to the start-finish line will advance to the next round.
- The final pairing will compete for the pole. Drivers eliminated in the Round of 8 will start in positions 5-8 based on their one-lap speeds from the first round of qualifying. Drivers eliminated in the Round of 4 will start in positions 3 and 4 based on their one-lap speeds.
All-Star Victories
RFK has earned four victories in NASCAR’s All-Star Main Event with drivers Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Martin, who is a two-time All-Star race winner, first went to Victory Lane in 1998 for RFK before taking the checkered flag again in 2005. Kenseth earned the victory in the 2004 running of the event and Edwards visited the winner’s circle in 2011.
Racing in to the Show
Overall RFK has four victories in The Open – the preliminary qualifying races prior to the main event – two by Greg Biffle and one each by Jeff Burton and Trevor Bayne. Burton earned the win in the 2003 running of the Open after starting 18th. Biffle won his qualifying race in 2015 to earn a spot in the event, and the following year he and teammate Trevor Bayne swept the qualifying races to put their name in the hat for a shot at the $1 million payout.
RFK All-Star Wins
1998 Martin
2004 Kenseth
2005 Martin
2011 Edwards
