The NASCAR All-Star Open is one of the shortest and most intense events on the Cup Series circuit.
The All-Star Open determines the final few competitors in the All-Star Race. Both races will be held at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Seventeen drivers are locked into the All-Star Race field through race victories over the last 12 months and previous Cup Series or All-Star Race wins.
The rest of the Cup Series field has to fight for four positions at the back of the All-Star Field. Three stage winners and the champion of a fan vote will move on while the rest of the drivers will be finished for the night.
Matt DiBenedetto, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez are among the 2021 All-Star Open competitors. The first two stages are 20 laps and the third is a 10-lap sprint to earn a shot at $1 million in the All-Star Race.
NASCAR All-Star Open Info
Date: Sunday, June 13
Start Time: 6 p.m. ET
TV: FS1
Live Stream: Fox Sports app or FoxSports.com
Preview
The All-Star Open can be viewed as a more intense competition than the All-Star Race itself because of the stakes involved.
None of the Open competitors won a race in the last 12 months and a spot in the 21-car All-Star Race means they have a shot at $1 million and a chance to turn around what may be disappointing seasons.
Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and Kyle Larson are among the previous multirace champions of the Open. DiBenedetto has a chance to go back-to-back in 2021.
The first two stages will be 20 laps and each of those winners will qualify for the All-Star Race. Most teams will look to qualify out of those two stages because they are longer and they will not have to worry about the mad dash in the third stage.
The 10-lap sprint in Stage 3 will feature some of the most intense driving you will see on the entire NASCAR circuit. A spot in the All-Star Race means everything to smaller teams and struggling drivers, and you could see some desperate moves on track that you may not see in a regular Cup Series race.
The fan vote is the other way for drivers to make it into the All-Star Race. The voting was open until noon ET on Friday.
As of Wednesday, DiBenedetto, Wallace, Suarez, Erik Jones and Chase Briscoe were the top five drivers in the fan vote, per NASCAR.com.
Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher will start the Open on the front row. DiBenedetto and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are on the second row. A total of 22 cars will compete in the event.
Reddick and Buescher are 13th and 14th, respectively, in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. Reddick owns eight top-10 finishes and a top-five mark so far this season.
Reddick also took second behind teammate Austin Dillon at Texas in the first race after the 2020 All-Star Race.
The No. 8 car driver, DiBenedetto, Jones and Aric Almirola are the only Open participants that landed a top-10 finish in the two Texas races last season.
Of course, the Open format is suited for a different type of challenge, but previous success at the track could give the racers the slight advantage required to capture one of the stage wins.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from NASCAR.com.
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