Jimmie Johnson is not concerned with the addition of an extra pit stop in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
With the addition of a mandatory four-tire pit stop before the final segment, pit crews are expected to play a prominent role in who wins NASCAR’s Sprint All-Star Race on May 22.
But is one extra stop really a big deal, considering the event’s format remains otherwise unchanged from 2009?
It depends on whom you ask.
While some think the mandatory stop just prior to the final 10-lap dash for $1 million-plus in winner’s earnings will create more drama and intrigue, it eliminates the strategy element of previous years when teams could choose whether to take four tires, two tires or none at all before the final stanza.
Tweaks to the format of the race – which for the second straight year will feature 100 laps broken into segments of 50, 20, 20 and 10 laps – are also nothing new.
By most accounts, one extra pit stop isn’t as drastic as previous measures such as adding or taking away a segment, altering the number of overall laps or instituting or eliminating an inversion of a certain number of cars.
Jimmie Johnson, a two-time winner of the All-Star Race, wasn’t even aware of the mandatory stop when recently asked for his take on this year’s changes.
"I understand they are trying to do everything they can to put on a great show,” the four-time and defending series champion said. “I guess it's been so consistent over the years that we have tweaked it that I just expect for it to be altered. That's why I didn't even pay attention to the announcement this year because every year there's another announcement of it being adjusted. I'll show up and get it sorted out when I get to the race track."
Cup veteran Bobby Labonte also wasn't privy to the new rule, but he’s intrigued by the role the mandatory stop could have in the outcome.
“If an air wrench fails, if a guy drops a tire, if you have a penalty on pit road for that race in the last segment on a mandatory stop, then that’s going to be huge,” said the 2000 Cup champion. “That could make or break you. … If you’re leading the race by half a lap and you pit and you come down pit road too fast and you get a penalty, that’s going to spoil your day, obviously. You wish the rules wouldn’t be like that but they are like they are and you’ve just got to make sure you do everything you can and the pit crew does everything they can.”
