Breaking down 4 major changes to NASCAR's 2020 All-Star Race

To longtime NASCAR fans — or anyone who’s watched the All-Star Race before — this year’s exhibition event is going to look a little bit different. And it actually has little to do with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has drastically changed the season’s schedule.

The NASCAR All-Star Race is more of a spectacle than a traditional race. It’s not a points race, meaning the winner doesn’t advance in the standings or qualify for the playoffs with a checkered flag, so it’s a little more fun and flashy. And although there are no points on the line, the winner gets $1 million, and that’s not changing.

But there will be some extremely noticeable differences on the track for Wednesday’s All-Star Race (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1), so let’s break them down.

1. The All-Star Race is at Bristol Motor Speedway, not Charlotte Motor Speedway

(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

For obvious reasons, this is the biggest change, by far, to NASCAR’s exhibition race this year. Since the All-Star Race began in 1985, it’s been held at the Charlotte track every single year, with the exception of the 1986 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

However, a spike in COVID-19 cases in North Carolina ignited the switch to Bristol in Tennessee, where up to 30,000 fans will be permitted to attend. And the move is probably a great thing because many NASCAR fans would agree that Bristol’s .533-mile short track produces far better racing than Charlotte.

This is also the first time in the race’s 36-year history that it’s a midweek race, which NASCAR fans will surely love.

2. The underglow lighting

(USA TODAY Network)

Here’s one example of the added pizzazz in the All-Star Race compared with the rest of the schedule. The underglow lights are exactly what they sound like, lighting up beneath the All-Star cars and creating a decidedly ridiculous but awesome look.

They were first used at the end of the 2019 season during Champion’s Week in Nashville for the Burnouts on Broadway event — when drivers literally do doughnuts in the street.

3. The “choose rule”

You may have heard about this one because several drivers (and fans) are super into it.

NASCAR likes to use the All-Star Race to experiment with rules in the exhibition event to see how they might work before implementing them in points races immediately, and this is another example of that.

The choose rule, sometimes known as the choose cone rule, allows drivers to select which lane they’d like to restart from, giving them the option to pick the preferred lane while adding more strategy to restarts. So with the caution flag out, drivers will line up single file, and as they approach a “V” shape painted on the track, they must choose the inside or outside lane.

Currently, NASCAR’s restart rules have only the leader choosing which lane to restart from, but this rule opens that up to the whole field. Short and dirt tracks around the country use this rule often, but this is the first time the Cup Series is trying it out.

Some drivers are pumped about this rule, but at least one thinks it’s being overhyped a little.

4. Moving the cars’ numbers back

For another experiment, NASCAR is testing out a new paint scheme concept with the numbers on the sides of the cars moved back a bit toward the rear tires. According to NASCAR, teams requested this move and “will use the newfound prime real estate for sponsorship integrations.”

Traditionally, the car numbers are more or less centered on the side panels, but moving them back puts more emphasis on whatever sponsor is on the car.