Nascar’s non-championship ‘All-Star’ race has always featured a unique qualifying system which requires drivers to complete a full stop for new tyres at some point during their three-lap run. However, this year another challenge was added to the mix with the removal of the speed limit in the pits. No, really.
As you expect with drivers charging down off the banking at over 150mph, there were a few errors and overshoots, and even a swift reverse burnout from Denny Hamlin. The award for ‘most committed’, though, has to go to Kyle Larson, who entered the pits sideways and hit the brakes way too late. He lost a lot of time, sure, but damn it looked cool.
And here’s how it looks from the helmet cam of Kurt Busch:
It’s seriously cool to see a series have a non-championship weekend where the usual rules get shaken up a bit in the name of fun and experimentation. We’d love to see F1 follow Nascar’s lead and do the same – Ross Brawn has hinted at it before, but that was a while ago. Come on, Liberty, make it happen!
