How to go about making a pick for the North Wilkesboro All-Star Race / Variables Of Importance
This weekend, NASCAR will be racing at North Wilkesboro for the All-Star Race! North Wilkesboro was last visited by the Cup series in 1996, with Hendrick Motorsports pulling out the broom with a season sweep (Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte won). Obviously, we’re going into the weekend with a blank slate for track history. One of the most important things to know this weekend is, “The Schedule” because there is a lot of on track activity which will be key for making informed decisions. Exercising patience for this “unknown” is a good thing!
Below are variables of importance to me for making an informed pick for the All-Star Race
- On Saturday Night starting at 7:30 PM, NASCAR will be holding two 60-lap Heat Races. These Heat Races should give us a good idea who’ll be competitive in the “Main Event.” 60 laps is 3/5th’s as long as a segment is in the All-Star Race (The All-Star Race is 100 laps in segment #1/ 100 laps in segment #2). If somebody looks good in the Heat Races, there’s a good chance they’ll also shine in the “Main Event.” The Heat Races also set the starting lineup for the All-Star Race, and you better believe track position will be important in this short race.
- If you need to make a pick prior to the weekend, I would approach the All-Star Race viewing Richmond as the most relevant track to study. Richmond is a .75-mile fellow shorter-flat track where tire wear is big. North Wilkesboro is a .625-mile oval where tire wear will likely be extreme. I think Richmond is by far the best comp track we have heading into the weekend. I will note, I think some Martinsville racing mentality also comes into play.
- Practice! Always gotta study practice. On Friday afternoon, NASCAR will hold a 50-minute practice. That should provide quality information.
- Pit crew competition. For this year’s All-Star festivities, NASCAR is bringing back the pit crew competition. The pit crew competition is “Qualifying” for the Heat Races. If a team does good in the competition, they’ll have somewhat of an advantage on the competition.
