In his 81st attempt, Martin Truex Jr. won at Richmond Raceway in April of 2019 to finally win a short-track race in the NASCAR Cup Series. Now at Bristol Motor Speedway, he’ll have the chance to do it again for a much bigger prize.
Truex will lead the field to the green flag in Wednesday night’s All-Star Race in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry, in pursuit of the $1,000,000 grand prize. The lineup for the 36th annual running of the event was revealed Monday evening on FS1’s NASCAR Race Hub, and was done by virtue of a random draw. In nine starts in the event, Truex’s best finish is second, coming in 2010.
Starting beside Truex will be Alex Bowman in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. Ryan Blaney, Justin Haley, and Kevin Harvick will round out the top-five starters.
The front row for the preceding All-Star Open was also revealed on Race Hub Monday evening. The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang of Michael McDowell will start on the pole, with Aric Almirola’s No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang lining up beside him on the front row.
16 drivers are locked into the race, with spots 17-20 to be determined by the three stage winners of the All-Star Open, and the winner of the fan vote. Past winners of the All-Star Race that are locked into Wednesday night’s main event include Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin.
FOX Sports 1 will air both races on Wednesday, July 15, with the All-Star Open scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET, and the All-Star Race scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)