When you look at some of NASCAR’s greatest moments, many of them have come when there were no points on the line. Moments like Dale Earnhardt’s infamous “Pass in the Grass” on Bill Elliott in 1987, Davey Allison’s victory on “One Hot Night” in 1992, Jeff Gordon’s specialty car “T-Rex” in 1997 that was asked to not come back to the race track and the 2001 “Wrecks to Riches” event. Each of these moments happened when no points were at stake, and each happened at NASCAR’s All-Star Race.
On an overcast Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the best drivers in NASCAR were ready to battle it out in the Sprint All-Star Race, where the winner of the event gets $1 million.
Before the main event, the evening started with the Sprint Showdown where the remaining drivers not qualified to be in the All-Star race would get the chance to race their way in. The top two drivers would transfer along with the winner of the Fan Vote, who would be revealed later in the evening. The race would be 40 laps split into two segments, with only green flag laps counting in the final 20 laps.
When the green flag flew, it would be David Stremme and Dave Blaney leading the field. Stremme got an early jump on the field and in two laps was able to pull out to a ten car-length lead, however it was short lived as Tony Raines and Carl Long made contact in the third turn bringing out the first caution of the night. Long would retire to the garage as his oil pump gave out.
The race would restart on lap seven and immediately got racy as Brian Vickers and Joey Logano started banging fenders as they ran fifth and sixth. On lap 12, all that contact finally hurt Vickers as his left front tire blew out coming into the first turn, tearing up the fender.
No cars came to pit road as the field would restart on lap 17 and the caution would fly again at lap 20 to end the segment. Drivers would battle for position so that they could get ready for the final 20 laps. At the end of the segment, it was Penske teammates Stremme and Sam Hornish Jr. leading the field as the yellow flag flew. During the short break, some cars came down pit road, but a majority of the front cars elected to stay out for track position.
As the field rolled to the start of the last 20-lap sprint, the focus was on the Penske cars, but the car coming up quickly was Jamie McMurray, who started way back in 30th, but was running fourth on the start. Immediately, McMurray went for position as he moved to third one lap into the run. Out front, teammates were battling for the lead as Hornish and Stremme ran side-by-side. That battle ended when the yellow flag flew again as Elliott Sadler hit the outside wall in turn two. Because the caution laps would not count in the second segment, the field would restart on the last completed lap.
The field took the green flag with 15 laps left with Hornish Jr. at the point, but McMurray was making a big move and took second away from his teammate. Unfortunately, there would not be enough time to catch Hornish Jr. as he took the checkered flag to win the Shootout. McMurray would finish second and also advance to the All-Star race.
Soon, the track would be set up for the main stars of the night. It was Jimmie Johnson who won the pole over Kurt Busch. As the race winners from the previous season were introduced, the main contenders emerged. You have Gordon, who won three All-Star events, then you have Mark Martin who has a renewed desire to win, along with the “bad boy” Kyle Busch, who has dominated NASCAR the last year and a half.
The one driver that hadn’t been revealed was the fan vote winner. After the qualified drivers and Shootout transfered were welcomed in, it was the honor of 16-time World Champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair to introduce rookie Joey Logano as the fan’s choice to run in the All-Star race. His smile said it all as he made his way to his car.
Finally, once the fireworks in he sky cleared out, it was time for some fireworks on the track as 21 drivers took the green flag to start the first of four segments in the Sprint All-Star Race. The first segment would be 50 laps with a mandatory green-flag pit stop midway through to get four tires.
Right away, Jimmie Johnson broke away from the pack and built up a two-second lead. The driver on the move behind him was Kyle Busch who started 15th but had moved up to eighth in only three laps. By lap eight, he made it into the top five. The field then began to spread out as they prepared for the pit stop at the half way point.
The field finally got the cue to head down pit road and all drivers came in for their new tires and some minor adjustments. Still, heading out of pit road it was Johnson leading the way. Back on the race track, Johnson built up his lead again as he was running down Ryan Newman, who was complaining of a bad vibration in his car from a possible broken shock.
However, Johnson did not want to put Newman a second lap down, so in his haste to keep from doing it, Gordon and Kurt Busch were running him down and got to his rear bumper on the last lap. Both made an attempt to pass, but Johnson held on to win the segment.
Some cars decided to hit pit road during the break for service, with four cars only taking two tires to get track position. It was Kyle Busch who won the race off pit road over Matt Kenseth, and it was these two drivers who took the field to the green flag in segment two, which would be 20 laps.
Kenseth would fall back a bit after the start, but kept digging back and finally caught up to the younger Busch brother midway through the segment. However, try as he may, the M&M’s Toyota would not yield as Busch would take the victory in the second segment.
The question of whether to pit or not got answered as some lead cars looked to be heading to pit road, but then darted back out on the track before hitting the commitment line. The front eight cars decided to stay out, while drivers like Johnson and Tony Stewart came in for service.
Kyle Busch and Kenseth brought the field to speed for the third segment, which was also a 20-lap run. On the first lap, Johnson got into the wall in turn four, which caused him to lose some spots. One lap later, the first caution of the race was put out as Hornish and Greg Biffle got together in turn two when Hornish got loose and slid up the track.
No cars elected to hit pit road, so the field lined up for the restart, where unlike points races, the restarts would be double-file, just like the initial start. Right away, Kyle Busch stretched out to the lead, but the car on the move was Gordon as he easily got past Kenseth on the restart. A few laps later, he mad easy work passing the 18-car as it seemed to fall off. The younger Busch would fall back to fourth by the end of the segment.
What didn’t fall off was the DuPont Chevrolet as Gordon led the final eight laps to win the third segment. What was the benefit was that when the field came down pit road, no positions would change. As per the format for the race, there would be a 10-minute break for teams to work on their cars, as the final segment would be a ten-lap sprint in which only green flag laps would count, and the winner would get the million-dollar prize.
It would be Gordon and Kenseth leading the field to the green flag for the final ten lap sprint, but the run would be short as right out of the second turn Johnson got loose and spun down the backstretch. Since the first lap was not completed, the field would revert to the way they lined up for the initial start, except for Johnson who would be in the back since he pitted for new tires.
Right away on the restart, Gordon held the lead but Kyle Busch made a risky move on the start to the outside of Kenseth, making it three wide right at the start. Two laps later he went for the same move in turn three, with Gordon pinned on the bottom. Coming out of the fourth turn, Gordon hit Busch, who hit Newman on the outside and then hit then bounced back off Busch and into Gordon, sending the 24-car through the infield grass, and despite his best efforts, into the outside wall. The caution brought the field to a halt again. Newman, having come back from a suspension problem, had the lead at the line, however would restart second since the order would be set based on the last completed lap.
On the restart, Busch grabbed the lead since Newman could not drive hard into the turn as he had a tire going down, giving an opening for Kenseth to challenge. On lap four, Kenseth got the lead but Busch would battle back, which brought Stewart closer to the front as they ran side-by-side. The final caution of the night came out on lap six as debris made its way onto the race track. With only four laps to go, it looked to be a three-car battle as Kenseth and Busch took the green flag. However, right away, Stewart was able to get around Busch and take second spot, now setting sights on the 17-car.
Two laps later, Stewart was on Kenseth’s back bumper, but the pass was blocked on both ends of the track. With two laps left, Kenseth left an opening at the bottom of the track in the first and second turns, and Stewart capitalized and made the pass on the backstretch. Once he made the pass, all Kenseth could do was watch Stewart pull away. After coming so close on many occasions already this season, it was the Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet of Tony Stewart taking the victory and getting the $1 million bonus.
It may not be a points race, but at that moment, all the doubters of Stewart’s decision to leave a team where he won two championships to form his own organization were proven wrong. All the right people were hired, and the best equipment was acquired to make the team a strong competitor. All of that hard work paid off as Stewart became the first owner/driver to win a NASCAR race since Ricky Rudd did it in 1999. He also became the first owner/driver to win the All-Star race since Geoff Bodine did it in 1994.
Judging by how this event turned out, there will be a lot of contenders in next week’s Coca-Cola 600 back at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Right away, my favorite is Stewart. He was the only car to stay right on the bottom the entire night and make the car stick. However, don’t count out Kenseth either. He had a strong run and got his first win back in 2000 at this race. Look for Kyle Busch and Gordon to be strong as well as they had spectacular runs.
Coverage of the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 begins at 5 p.m. next Sunday on FOX.
SPRINT SHOOTOUT RESULTS: 1-Hornish Jr.* 2-McMurray* 3-Stremme 4-Reutimann 5-Logano (R)** 6-Truex Jr. 7-Allmendinger 8-Ragan 9-R. Gordon 10-Ambrose
*Advance to Sprint All-Star Race
**Advances to Sprint All-Star Race as Fan Vote winner
SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE XXV RESULTS
SEGMENT ONE: 1-Johnson 2-Kurt Busch 3-J. Gordon 4-Martin 5-Kyle Busch 6-Kenseth 7-Earnhardt Jr. 8-Edwards 9-Stewart 10-Kahne
SEGMENT TWO: 1-Kyle Busch 2-Kenseth 3-Johnson 4-Martin 5-J. Gordon 6-McMurray 7-Kurt Busch 8-Stewart 9-Hornish Jr. 10-Edwards
SEGMENT THREE: 1-J. Gordon 2-Kenseth 3-Kurt Busch 4-Kyle Busch 5-Johnson 6-Stewart 7-Hamlin 8-Earnhardt Jr. 9-Newman 10-McMurray
SEGMENT FOUR-FINAL RESULTS: 1-Stewart 2-Kenseth 3-Kurt Busch 4-Hamlin 5-Edwards 6-Martin 7-Kyle Busch 8-Logano (R) 9-McMurray 10-Earnhardt Jr. 11-Labonte 12-Bowyer 13-Johnson 14-Kahne 15-Harvick 16-Hornish Jr. 17-Keselowski 18-Newman 19-J. Gordon 20-Burton 21-Biffle
CAUTIONS: Four race cautions for three laps. Lap 72-75, 91, 93, 96
LEAD CHANGES: Six lead changes among six drivers. Johnson 1-50, Kyle Busch 51-81, J. Gordon 82-92, Kyle Busch 93, Kenseth 94-98, Stewart 99-100
