NASCAR All-Star Race format: Explaining the stages, choose cone rule & other changes for 2020

Tadd Haislop

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NASCAR All-Star Race format: Explaining the stages, choose cone rule & other changes for 2020 image

Very little about Wednesday night's NASCAR Cup Series event will resemble what fans have come to know as a traditional All-Star Race. Yes, NASCAR likes to use the annual non-points race as an opportunity to experiment with new formats, rules and procedures, but never has the NASCAR All-Star Race experienced so much change for a given year.

Arguably the most significant change for the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race is the location, as Bristol Motor Speedway is hosting the event for the first time in its 36-year history. Only one NASCAR All-Star Race (Atlanta in 1986) has been held somewhere other than Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In line with the qualifying format NASCAR has used for the All-Star Race in all but its first year, the main event, scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, technically is one of two races Wednesday night. The Open, a qualifying race for the drivers who are not guaranteed starting spots for the All-Star Race, is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET and set three of the last four positions for the main event. The winner of a fan vote will be given the 20th and final position in the All-Star Race lineup.

That procedure is nothing new, though. What is new for the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race, beyond the modified date and location because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a choose cone rule and a new look for the Cup Series cars in the field.

Below is a breakdown of the format and rules for the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol, including the new procedures and paint schemes.

MORE: Starting lineup for the 2020 All-Star Race

NASCAR All-Star Race format

Per usual, the NASCAR All-Star Race field is made up of recent points race winners, former All-Star Race winners and full-time drivers who have won Cup Series champions. Below is the official language on who is eligible to compete in the All-Star Race.

  • Drivers who won a points event in either 2019 or 2020
  • Drivers who won a NASCAR All-Star Race and compete full-time
  • Drivers who won a NASCAR Cup Series championship and compete full time

Drivers who don't meet any of the above criteria must race their way into the All-Star Race via the Open, a three-stage sprint that at Bristol consists of two 35-lap segments and a 15-lap shootout at the end. The winner of each stage in the Open advances to the rear of the All-Star Race field.

In addition, the winner of a fan vote will get the 20th and final starting spot in the All-Star Race. If the fan vote winner earns a spot in the main event via the Open, the driver with the second-most fan votes will get the last All-Star Race spot, and so on.

The NASCAR All-Star Race payout is $1 million, and no championship points are awarded. From a technical aspect, the Cup cars will run the same short track package used at Bristol and Martinsville earlier this season.

NASCAR All-Star Race stage lengths

Race Stage lengths
The Open 35 laps | 35 laps | 15 laps
All-Star Race 55 laps | 35 laps | 35 laps | 15 laps

Because Bristol Motor Speedway is a half-mile oval as opposed to the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway, the stage lengths for the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race are longer than usual.

Last year's All-Star Race at Charlotte, for example, featured stage lengths of 30 laps, 20 laps, 20 laps and 15 laps for a total of 85. This year's event at Bristol will run a total of 140 laps but is still split into four stages.

Both green flag and yellow flag laps will count in Stages 1-3, with only green flag laps counting in the last stage. In the final stage, if the race is restarted with two or fewer laps remaining, there will be unlimited attempts at a green-white-checkered finish under green flag conditions.

Choose cone rule

Drivers and fans for years have pushed for a choose cone rule in NASCAR. They finally get it for the All-Star Race at Bristol, as if restarts Wednesday night were not going to be interesting enough.

Commonly implemented at non-NASCAR short track races around the country, the choose cone rule — NASCAR is simply calling it the "choose rule" since there won't be a literal cone on the track — is simple. Rather than just the leader, all drivers are able to choose their lanes for all restarts.

As drivers approach a designated spot on the track, they will have to commit to the inside or outside lane for the restart. One they pick a lane, they have to stick with it, or they will lose their position.

The choose cone rule should eliminate some shenanigans on pit road where drivers try to jostle for position based on the lane in which they want to restart.

“There has already been an incredible amount of buzz around this year’s NASCAR All-Star Race with the move to Bristol Motor Speedway,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “The choose rule is going to add another dynamic to the race. Drivers and fans have been asking for this change, and I can’t think of a better time to try it than the All-Star Race.”

Said driver Austin Dillon in May when he was advocating for a choose cone rule in NASCAR: "Dirt track, asphalt, you name it. You see it on a weekly basis at places that, heck, when I was Legends car racing at 14 with no radios, you could figure out how to make the choose cone work.

"You just chose and that was your line you had to make. This puts it in the driver’s hands. It kind of allows us to decide our fate when it comes down to restarts."

Paint schemes, number placement

This one's pretty simple. Because race teams have requested the chance to "use newfound prime real estate for sponsorship integrations," as NASCAR put it, a new paint scheme concept is being used for the All-Star Race as a (for now) one-time only experiment.

The car numbers on the side panels of the cars are simply pushed back toward the rear wheels to make room for the additional ad space. Below are some examples of the new paint schemes being used for the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race.

NASCAR says it will accept feedback from teams sponsors and fans after the All-Star Race before it weighs potential changes for the future.

Underbody glow lights

Also simple but just as aesthetically interesting as the new paint schemes, the 16 cars that automatically qualified for the 2020 All-Star Race will feature glow lights under their cars. (The teams that qualify for the All-Star Race via the Open and the fan vote won't have enough time to install the lights under their cars.)

According to a report from automotive writer Bozi Tatarevic, Fords will feature blue underbody glow. Toyota underbody glow will be red, and Chevy underbody glow will be amber. The report also noted "LED strips will be mounted in a rectangular fashion around the fuel cell area and will illuminate the underside of the rear of the car.

"These strips are fairly thin and light and will not impact the performance of the cars in any fashion," Tatarevic wrote. "The complete light assembly is set to weigh less than 6 ounces and pull a small amount of current."

Similar underglow lights were used by Chip Ganassi Racing on its cars during the Burnouts on Broadway event in Nashville as part of 2019 Champion's week.

Tadd Haislop

Tadd Haislop is the Associate NFL Editor at SportingNews.com.