All-Star Race not a clear preview of Coca-Cola 600

CONCORD, N.C. - Fishing for Coca-Cola 600 answers out of the All-Star Race isn’t nearly as easy as it looks. Sunday night’s race will feature nearly double the field, adding the increased risk of getting caught up in an accident. Secondly, most of the cars in last Saturday’s race featured experimental engines and parts, legal but pushing the boundaries of power and performance. Most importantly, the All-Star Race was a series of 10-20 lap sprints while the Coke 600 is a 600-mile marathon.

The All-Star Race winner has only doubled up on the Coke 600 seven times, most recently in 2010, when Kurt Busch accomplished the feat. This year’s All-Star champion, Jimmie Johnson won both races in 2003.

But that was done with the same car, a luxury crew chief Chad Knaus will not have this coming weekend. NASCAR borrowed the car for a thorough post-race inspection, as is the norm after every race weekend, and did not return it until Tuesday.

Not that it would have mattered. Knaus claims that the All-Star car was built for speed on the long runs, where the Coke 600 car was “designed to drive more comfortably over 600 miles.”

Coming off back-to-back wins, Johnson is sure to be a contender, but don’t expect the runaway that marred Saturday’s All-Star Race. Winning the Southern 500, the Pit Crew Challenge, and the All-Star Race gave the No. 48 team a boost in confidence. And yet, nothing is guaranteed in NASCAR’s longest race, a fact not lost on Johnson.

“I saw a lot of fast cars out there on Saturday,” Johnson said. “So track position is going to be the key. Two or three pit stops from the end, being in the right position and having the right strategy to get out front is going to determine the race. ... We have a lot of great bullets at the shop. I think we learned a lot [on Saturday] that we can apply to the car that we’re bringing back here on Sunday.”

The Challengers

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Sprint Showdown and the fourth All-Star segment while Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski also won segments. All three should contend on Sunday night.

While Kenseth won a segment for Roush-Fenway Racing, both Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle suffered blown engines. It’s quite possible that Roush hasn’t shown its full hand and was using Saturday as an extended test session. Edwards insinuated as much following Saturday’s race.

“We taped it all the way up trying to get more downforce and we just broke it,” Edwards said. “So we’re not worried with the engines. That’s the hardest we’ve run them in a long time. I’ve never seen the water temp and oil temp stay so high, for so long, and have it live, so I’m proud of Doug Yates and the guys that made it last as long as it did.”

But the wild card for Sunday’s race might be A.J. Allmendinger, who had the most eventful night of any driver on Saturday. He was the fastest qualifier (based on speed) from both All-Star and Showdown qualifying sessions but cut a tire coming to the start of the Showdown. He immediately pitted, lost half a lap to the leaders, but caught up during the mandatory caution on lap 20. With 20 to go, Allmendinger marched from the back of the field to take second place and secured the final automatic transfer spot.

He finished the All-Star Race in 11^th after starting the main event in 22^nd.

One drive still looking for more speed is Tony Stewart. The defending champion struggled with the setup and could only muster a 14^th place finish. His Stewart-Haas teammate, Ryan Newman ended up in 10^th. Stewart expects his team to be aggressive in what they come back with this weekend.

“We’re going to bring back something different,” Stewart said. “I can drive it if it’s good, we just missed it on Saturday. We’re not going to hit it every week and we’re not going to get it right every week. You’d rather miss it on a night like Saturday rather than the 600.”

Interesting facts

The Coca-Cola 600 takes place on Sunday night, May 20, with the green flag dropping at approximately 6:19 EST. The race will be televised by FOX.