NASCAR floated an exciting concept this past month for the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. It had considered letting teams adopt a ‘Run What Ya Brung’ format to make things even more entertaining. Had the proposal gone through, teams could have modified their cars however they liked, as long as the changes met safety standards.
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Disappointingly, teams vetoed the idea, citing financial restrictions. One of the most disappointed drivers by this outcome is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell.
In his pre-race interview, he said, “I was bummed that we didn’t get to do the ‘run what you brung’ thing. I thought that was really cool. I understand the reasoning behind it, and how it does make it a really expensive event, but I genuinely enjoy trying different things.”
Even though he didn’t enjoy racing with the option tire or different packages, he believes experimenting like this is important for the sport. He continued, “I would have loved to try something and see if you hit on something. I think this and the Clash are two events that are great opportunities to try and improve our sport.”
The biggest reason for NASCAR proposing this format was to find a way to fix the short-track issues with the Next Gen car. NASCAR could have gathered valuable insights from the different modifications teams might’ve made. While multiple team owners, including Denny Hamlin, cited high costs as the reason for not accepting the format, NASCAR’s Mike Forde refuted that claim.
He explained in an episode of Hauler Talk that the promotion was only going to allow modifications that would not have cost much. Perhaps the teams were a bit too hasty in their rejection.
Bell’s take on the All-Star Race
Bell won the second Heat Race on Saturday and will be starting the main event on the front row alongside Brad Keselowski. This puts him in a prime position to be the one who takes $1 million home at the end of Sunday. After years of participation in this marquee event, he has come to realize that his competitors don’t approach this race the same way they do others.
He said, “The format is very unique, and the purse is as well, so we won’t race like it is any other event when the green flag drops. That is one thing that really took me by surprise whenever I got into the Cup Series is — the All Star race is not just another race. Everybody is more aggressive here than what you see at a normal Sunday Cup race.”
With that kind of prize on the line, it’s no surprise. Hopefully, that aggression doesn’t lead to disaster.
