Mitchell's Chase Briscoe set to mix it up in NASCAR All-Star races in Texas

FORT WORTH, Tx. — Chase loves to race.

That would be Chase Briscoe, who has exhibited his willingness to strap into the cockpit of just about any kind of race car this year, having hit the track in Sprint, Midget and Late Model competition along with, of course, his NASCAR Cup Series ride.

Still, there's a race the Mitchell man won't mind missing this weekend, and that is the NASCAR All-Star Open that serves as the pathway to the NASCAR All-Star Race for those who are not already locked in to the main event Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Forth Worth.

The All-Star Open portion of the program gets underway at 5:30 p.m., and leads to the All-Star Race that is slated for 8 p.m. 

The All-Star Race will be 125 laps for 187.5 miles over the 1.5-mile layout. It will be run in stages of 25, 25 and 25 laps and a final 50-lap shootout to settle the million dollar payout.

The entire night will be televised by FS1, while MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will have the radio broadcast.

Briscoe already in big money race

Briscoe is already in the $1 million-to-win All-Star Race by virtue of his victory at Phoenix Raceway on March 13. 

During last year’s All-Star Race weekend, Briscoe finished 10th in the first two stages and fourth in the final 10-lap stage of the undercard event, the All-Star Open.

It was a solid run, but not quite enough to get into the big event, and Briscoe said it's a bit of a relief to not have to work his way through the Open to make the All-Star race this year.

“A little," he said. "Mostly, I just don’t have to worry about racing my way in while keeping the car in one piece for a second race. But it’s cool to get to know I’m already locked in. The All-Star Race is one of those races you want to have a chance to compete in when you get to the Cup Series but, if you don’t go into it knowing you’ve already got your spot, you know it’s going to be a pretty big task to earn your spot. Everyone wants to be part of it.”

Showing off shiny new scheme

When the NASCAR Cup Series arrives at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth for Sunday night’s non-points All-Star Race, Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will feel right at home.

Briscoe will be joined by Magical Vacation Planner (MVP), a powerhouse vacation planning agency founded in his hometown of Mitchell, Indiana, for the first of four races this season during the playoff run – No. 14 on Sept. 11 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas Speedway, Sept. 17 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Oct. 2 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, and Oct. 23 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“It’s pretty incredible," Briscoe said of his newest primary sponsor. "Jamie and JJ (Eubanks) are great people and they’ve built an awesome company that makes planning vacations as easy as possible. We’ve used them a few times to plan trips and it’ll be cool to have them out there with us and to give them a cool experience at the track.

"Hopefully, we can give them a good run, but I might have to get JJ to give me some tips before the race. I used to do his basketball camps back home when I was a kid, and he was a great coach, so maybe he can give the team a pep talk before we get going.”

All-Star qualifying format unique

This year’s All-Star Race at Texas will be 125 laps, broken into four stages with the starting lineup being determined by a four-round qualifying format featuring head-to-head elimination rounds that highlight the speed and efficiency of each team’s pit crew. Here’s how qualifying will work:

● Opening round is the traditional single-car, one-lap format in reverse order of the current 2022 owner points.

● Fastest eight qualifiers transfer to a three-round, head-to-head elimination bracket.

● Elimination bracket will feature two cars staged in adjacent pit stalls near the end of pit road.

● At the sound of an alert, each pit crew will perform a four-tire stop and, at the drop of the jack, drivers will exit their respective pit stalls and return to the track with no pit road speed limit.

● First car back to the start-finish line advances to the next round.

● Final pairing competes for the pole.

Race stages explained

Once the starting field is set, the 38th edition of the All-Star Race will consist of four stages, with the first three stages 25 laps in length and the fourth and final stage being a 50-lap shootout for the $1 million prize. Here's how the stages proceed:

● Stage 1 (25 laps): Stage 1 winner will start on the pole in the final stage as long as he finishes 15th or better in Stages 2 and 3.

● Stage 2 (25 laps): Stage 2 winner starts second in final stage as long as he finishes 15th or better in Stage 3.

● Special Stage Break (Pit Stop Competition): Each team must pit and perform a four-tire stop. The team with the shortest time on pit road (pit in to pit out) wins the pit crew award, and the driver will start fourth in the final stage as long as he finishes 15th or better in Stage 3.

● Stage 3 (25 laps): Stage 3 winner starts third in final stage.

● Stage 4 (50 laps): Stage 1 winner starts first, Stage 2 winner starts second, Stage 3 winner starts third, and pit stop competition winner starts fourth. If a caution for an on-track incident or debris happens between laps 15 and 25 of the final stage, standard race procedures will be in effect. If there is no caution during that time, NASCAR will call a competition caution. The winner of the Stage 4 earns $1 million.

Briscoe ready to roll

The driver of the No. 14 Magical Vacation Planner Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing is ready to rumble Sunday. He doesn't believe the different format requires different preparation.

“Not really," he said. "The stages are shorter, so the team will want to make sure we’ve got a good short-run car but, really, you race the same way. Points or not, you want to win. That’s why we do this, so it’s the same mentality we’ve got every race.

"You want to be the best and win, and if we can find something that works for us, we might be able to take that somewhere else and capitalize on it for another win.”

Contact Times-Mail Sports Writer Jeff Bartlett at jeffb@tmnews.com, or on Twitter @jeffbtmnews.