The format for the all-star race was released to the teams a couple of weeks before the race, giving teams the time to game plan the race and figure out an advantage. The format was pretty straight forward: 50 laps with a mandatory pit stop, 50 laps with a pit stop in the first 35 laps, then a pit stop for a set number of cars (11) to get four new tires while the remaining cars stayed out on the track with old tires. The cars with new tires had to line up behind the cars with old tires and race the final 13 laps.Things did not work out as planned when Matt Kenseth and his team stayed out during the first segment when the rest of the field had made their green-flag stops, presumably planning to wait for the last lap to make his stop, which would have allowed him to change four tires on two consecutive two-tire stops.