The NASCAR All-Star Race might not have an impact on the Cup Series standings, but it will certainly make a difference to the driver who wins.
Waiting at the end of the race at Texas Motor Speedway is a check for $1 million and plenty of bragging rights.
MORE: Watch NASCAR's All-Star Race live with fuboTV (free trial)
The big first step for drivers and viewers this weekend: understanding the race format. Qualifying, the All-Star Open and the All-Star Race have all changed from a year ago, and there's a lot to break down.
Here's all you need to know about how the 2022 NASCAR All-Star Race will be run.
NASCAR All-Star Race format 2022
Qualifying
First things first: The drivers who are already in the All-Star Race based on NASCAR's criteria need to have their places in the lineup set, but qualifying won't be as simple as fastest lap times.
Drivers will still do a single-lap run, with the cars going out in reverse order of owner points. But this weekend, the top eight drivers will move on to a head-to-head bracket to determine the pole winner.
Under the bracket setup, two cars will line up side-by-side in matching pit stalls at the end of pit road. The respective pit crews will complete a four-tire stop, and then the drivers will speed — yes, speed — off pit road and onto the track for a one-lap race. The driver who gets back to the start-finish line first will advance to the next round.
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The bracket winner will start the All-Star Race on the pole. The runner-up will start second. The drivers who lose in the semifinals will be third or fourth based on their speed. The drivers who are knocked out in the first round will be ordered fifth through eighth based on their speed off pit road. The rest of the field will be ordered based on their single-lap speeds.
Here is the order of the single-lap runs by the drivers who are already locked into the All-Star Race:
| Driver | Car No. | Team |
|---|---|---|
| AJ Allmendinger | 16 | Kaulig Racing |
| Brad Keselowski | 6 | Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing |
| Michael McDowell | 34 | Front Row Motorsports |
| Bubba Wallace | 23 | 23XI Racing |
| Denny Hamlin | 11 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| Kurt Busch | 45 | 23XI Racing |
| Austin Cindric | 2 | Team Penske |
| Chase Briscoe | 14 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| Aric Almirola | 10 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| Kevin Harvick | 4 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| Christopher Bell | 20 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| Kyle Larson | 5 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| Alex Bowman | 48 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| Joey Logano | 22 | Team Penske |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| Ross Chastain | 1 | Trackhouse Racing |
| William Byron | 24 | Hendrick Motorsports |
| Kyle Busch | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| Ryan Blaney | 12 | Team Penske |
| Chase Elliott | 9 | Hendrick Motorsports |
All-Star Open
There is not much different from this year's All-Star Open than the races in recent years. The three stage winners will advance to the All-Star Race. The last driver in the All-Star Race field will be determined by online fan voting. Per NASCAR.com, if the fan vote winner also wins a stage in the Open, then the second-place finisher in the fan vote will make the All-Star Race.
All-Star Race
The race's starting positions will be based on the results of the qualifying stage, the Open and the fan vote. The stage winners in the All-Star Open and the fan vote winner will start in the rear.
There will be four stages and a pit crew competition in the All-Star Race. The first three stages will be 25 laps each and will help to set the field for the 50-lap final stage.
The winner of Stage 1 will be on the pole for the final stage, as long as that driver finishes 15th or better in the second and third stages. The winner of Stage 2 will start second in the final stage as long as the driver finishes 15th or better in the third stage. The Stage 3 winner will start third in the final stage.
The pit stop competition will take place after Stage 2. Teams are required to make a four-tire stop. The team with the shortest stop (defined as the least amount of time spent by the driver on pit road, from entry to exit) will receive a $100,000 pit crew award and the driver will start the final stage in the fourth position, so long as they finish 15th or better in Stage 3.
If the winner of the first or second stage or the pit stop competition later finishes below 15th in a stage, they will start the final stage in their running position after Stage 3 pit stops. Per FoxSports.com, NASCAR will not put a second-place finisher in one of the first two rows. Similarly, a second-place finisher won't replace a driver who wins more than one of the first three stages.
In the final stage, NASCAR will call a competition caution if there is no "natural" caution between the 15th and 25th laps. The driver who takes the checkered flag will receive the winner-take-all $1 million prize.
