NASCAR plans Texas-sized show on All-Star night

FORT WORTH, Texas — A NASCAR All-Star race in the Lone Star State, with at least five restarts over 100 laps, a few inversion gimmicks and $1 million for the winning driver.

The Cup Series is planning quite a night to mark the 25th season of racing at Texas Motor Speedway and a celebratory sendoff for track president and showman Eddie Gossage, whose last race is Sunday after overseeing the track since its groundbreaking in 1995, two years before it opened.

“This is a full metal rodeo for a big old bag of dough,” said the 62-year-old Gossage, who saw hosting the All-Star race as a perfect final touch on his time at TMS.

It will be the third track in three years for NASCAR’s annual showcase that doesn’t count toward the season points standings. Chase Elliott won last summer at Bristol Motor Speedway, where it was moved from Charlotte Motor Speedway, which hosted 34 of the first 35 All-Star races, because North Carolina wouldn’t allow spectators due to COVID-19 restrictions. Tennessee did.

“It’s a race that should move, and I’m glad it’s moving around,” said Elliott, who also won his first Cup Series title last season. “We’ll see how it is here at Texas. It should be a good show.”

There will be six segments of racing. The first four are 15 green flag laps each, followed by a 30-lap segment that must include a four-tire stop for which the fastest pit crew will earn $100,000, and then 10 laps to the checkered flag. Based on a random draw, the top eight to 12 spots will be inverted before the second and fourth segments, and the entire field of up to 21 cars will be inverted before the third.

The lineup for the longest stretch will be based on cumulative finishes from the first four segments, and the finishing order of that fifth segment will set the starting order for the final short shootout.

While the rules package for the cars will be similar to the usual configuration and downforce for 1.5-mile tracks, slightly reduced tapered spacers will lower the horsepower to the range of 500 to 510, short of the normal 550.

For the 17 drivers already qualified for the All-Star race, the starting order was determined by random draw. The pole position goes to Kyle Larson, who has won the past two Cup Series races and has been part of three consecutive 1-2 finishes for Hendrick Motorsports with Elliott, who will start sixth. Three other drivers will advance from the All-Star Open earlier Sunday, and a fan vote will determine the final spot.

The only drivers locked into the All-Star race doing double duty this weekend are Elliott, who finished second Saturday in his first Truck Series race at Texas, and Kyle Busch, whose 99th career Xfinity Series victory Saturday was his 10th at the track. Busch will start second Sunday night.

IndyCar: Ericsson wins

DETROIT — Marcus Ericsson raced to his first IndyCar victory Saturday in the actionpacked opener of the Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park.

The 30-year-old Swede became the seventh driver to win through seven IndyCar races this season, and he’s the fourth firsttime winner this year. It was the first victory for the former Formula One driver since a GP2 race at Nurburgring in 2013.

“It’s a huge relief. I came over here after five years of F1, and one of the big goals coming over here was to win races again,” Ericsson said. “I feel like I’ve really gotten used to the series, to the cars, to the tracks. I felt like one of the big things for me this year was to get that first win out of the way.”

The seven unique winners through as many races ties an IndyCar record set in 1958 and matched in 2000 and 2017.

Ericsson benefitted from the second red flag stoppage, this one with six laps remaining when Romain Grosjean crashed in the ninth turn. An earlier accident sent Felix Rosenqvist to a hospital for evaluation overnight and caused a 78-minute suspension to repair the tire barrier and concrete wall damaged when what appeared to be a stuck throttle sent Rosenqvist smashing into the wall.

Arrow McLaren SP said Oliver Askew will replace Rosenqvist in Sunday’s race. Askew made 12 starts for the team last year but was replaced by Rosenqvist after the season.

Will Power had control and led a race-high 37 of the 70 laps until the Grosjean crash.

Although IndyCar had mandated the use of an aerodynamic device designed to circulate air in the cockpit, the drivers were overheated on a hot and humid Detroit day.

Some wore cooling vests or other new technology to help with heat on the bumpy, rough 2.35-mile, 14-turn circuit considered one of the most physical in IndyCar.