An idea first tossed about last fall will come to fruition this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Monster Energy All-Star Race.

Teams will be given two different tire setups to play with during the four-segment $1 million exhibition race: The prime, or standard tire, as well as an option tire. The option tire is softer and will not only provide more grip but can be three-tenths to half a second quicker. Its design comes with the hope of seeing strategy calls made throughout the race.

“It was something that was floated during our annual meeting with NASCAR last year,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “Every year we sit down in the fall with NASCAR and kind of talk about the season that we’re finishing up – what went well, what do we need to work on, what’s changing for next year. It actually came up first last fall. So, we went to work and started looking at how we would change it, what we would do, what our approach would be.”

At the time, the format for the All-Star Race still had not been decided, but that was part of the conversation. If NASCAR were to go ahead with an option tire, Stucker said there was discussion about what type of format would and would not work. When the sport began working toward stage racing, which was announced in January, the All-Star tire was put on the backburner.

“But then it was kind of resurrected this spring, so we had a good jump on it,” Stucker said. “We didn’t have to react very quickly. We could pull the strings on what we had already done.”

Stucker revealed teams would have a set of option tires to use in practice to get an idea of how they will react. When it comes to the race, it will be up the crew chief to decide when it would be the most rewarding to use them.

Can they choose to start the All-Star Race on the option tires? Stucker said yes. What about deciding not run them at all?

“I think if a crew chief made the decision not to put them on, they’d probably have an unhappy driver at some point,” Stucker said with a laugh.

Advancing through the All-Star Race can be done in two ways, either by winning one of the first three segments or having a high average finish. Only 10 drivers (of the 20 who will start the race) will make it to the fourth segment, where they will run 10 laps for the prize.

Many would assume teams would save the option tire for the final segment. However, any driver who does will have to start behind those who are on the prime tire. Variety and a change of pace from what is the norm are what Stucker said Goodyear and NASCAR hope to see.

“I think what everybody wants to see is open the door for some different strategies and I think with two different tire options, that’s what you have,” Stucker said. “Some guys, if they struggle in the first segment, you might see them put (the tires) on in the second or the third in order to advance.

“Other guys who do well and have their high average to get into the (final segment), they’ll probably save (the tires) for that final 10-lap segment. I think that’s the whole goal – just kind of create an opportunity for guys to take different strategies, so not everybody is doing the same thing. Give it a little bit of flair and a little personality so people can do different things.”