How to make Unlimited, All-Star Race more ‘prestigious’

How can NASCAR make the Sprint All-Star Race and the Sprint Unlimited more prestigious and interesting for fans? Drivers mulled that during Thursday night's Sprint Cup Drivers Council meeting, Denny Hamlin said. The answer could be limiting the field for both races.

"Trying to make it as prestigious as it probably used to be,'' Hamlin said Friday of the goal for both races.

"It expanded over the last few years, the Unlimited especially, and even our All-Star event. It's over half the field, not really that prestigious. We'd like to get some of that back. If you tighten up how you get in, maybe these guys will keep that in the back of their mind when going for a pole and they'll go for it. You can tighten it up by making it a certain way to get in.

The fan vote and all that stuff is cool, but it's also gimmicky and gets a lot of people in versus making it the true race winners or pole winners.'' The Sprint Unlimited, held the week before the Daytona 500, and Sprint All-Star Race, run the weekend before the Coca-Cola 600, will have new names next year with the series getting a new title sponsor. NBC Sports