CONCORD, N.C. – Saturday night, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will take part in the NASCAR All-Star Race – Earnhardt for the very last time – under the lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The three Hendrick Motorsports drivers are already locked into the exhibition event. Hoping to join them for the second consecutive season is teammate Chase Elliott.
He has two ways of doing so. One is to win the fan vote, as he did last year – and fans can still #VoteChase every day until the polls close at 11:59 p.m. ET this Friday. The second is to race his way in through The Open Saturday evening.
The Open is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday. It consists of three stages – 20 laps, 20 laps and 10 laps – with the winner of each stage earning a spot in the All-Star Race later that night. It will mark Elliott’s third experience with The Open, as he ran it in the No. 25 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS in 2015 and again as a rookie in his No. 24 Chevy in 2016.
The three stages of this year’s Open will provide three chances for the driver to race his way into Saturday's exhibition event with a $1 million winner's purse. Immediately following the race, the fan vote winner will be announced, providing a fourth and final chance for Elliott to participate in the All-Star Race.
The Open field will be set by two rounds of traditional qualifying Saturday afternoon, and the race will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.