Track Trash – Sprint All-Star Race

Another All-Star Race behind us and another cool $1M handed out to the winner. Although many past All-Star events resembled a “Days of Thunder” style of racing during the final few laps as drivers were already imagining themselves rolling around in a huge pile of bills, Kasey Kahne glided under the checkered flag with no challengers for the cash. Next Sunday 42 drivers will all be chasing Kid Kyle around Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 and the next to last FOX broadcast of the season.

Glitz & Glamour: How ‘bout that Inaugural Pennzoil Victory Challenge? If you didn’t catch it, Jimmy Johnson, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch competed in a pseudo burnout/driving skills competition. The rules called for a standing start inside a set of cones, race across the S/F line, do at least 2 donuts and stop inside another set of cones, all the while burning your tires. JJ had the attitude for the event…”Rules, we don’t need no stinking rules,” as he immediately started doing donuts, flinging cones and dang near kissed the wall. His melted, flat rear tires made him the favorite of the crowd, but not judges. Choosing to follow the rules, Biffle turned in the best time and collected $10,000 for the Greg Biffle Foundation.

The Showdown: Hats off to AJ Allmendinger and his #84 Red Bull Toyota for his victory in the Sprint Showdown and to Sam Hornish, Jr. and the Mobil 1 Dodge for securing the second transfer spot into the All-Star Race. You know AJ had to be feeling the love considering he’s been watching Mike Skinner pilot his Red Bull after failing to qualify for the first 3 races of the season.

Fan Favorite: Unable to make the All-Star Race on his finishing position on the Showdown, Kasey Kahne was handed a dead-last starting position for the night All-Star Race after being voted “Fan Favorite.” The results of the fan voting seemed to surprise Kasey who claimed “I was going to head home, drink a couple of Budweiser’s and watch the All-Star Race, but thanks to the fans I get to race.” Despite heavy politicking, Patrick Carpentier and Robby Gordon weren’t selected and were left to just watch.

Back to the drawing board: I think they should call it the “anchor” package, referring to the new motor package Joe Gibbs Racing put together for the All-Star Race. Team President J.D. Gibbs commented prior to the race that they were trying to squeeze out even more horsepower with the new package but questioned if the motors could last the entire 150 miles. Tony Stewart had to replace his engine prior to the race after experiencing problems during practice. Kyle Busch made it 50 laps into the All-Star Race before declaring “motor’s gone, dude” to crew chief Steve Addington. Denny Hamlin stretched it to 84 laps before his motor cut loose. Horsepower “rules” but you need to be there at the end of the race to have a shot at a win.

Pre-race: It was really nice to not see DW shaking his tail on the stage during the pre-race concert this week. Kudos to NASCAR for the 3 Doors Down concert – a nice change of pace from some of the entertainment we’ve seen thus far this season. Good job by the Davidson basketball coaches (Co-Grand Marshals) getting the “Gentlemen, Start you Engines” out without sounding like a twisted blob of words. A very well deserved Standing O for Dale Jarrett as he hangs up his helmet after 668 Cup starts and 32 Cup wins. Swearing not to be a fill-in driver, Jarrett claims his retirement if final as he plans to polish his golf handicap and enjoy quality time with his family. We’ll still have the pleasure of catching DJ in his commentator role on ESPN.

The history: This year’s Sprint All-Star Race was the 23rd running of this unique no points race and it dolled out a record $3.3M purse. Who was the first winner, you might ask? Darrell Waltrip in 1985.

Race Time- Segment 1: Starting from the pole Kyle Busch looked like he was shot out of a cannon when the green dropped. Kyle and older, bitter brother Kurt were 1-2 at the close of the first lap. From there Kyle continued to stretch it out and ended up leading all 25 laps of Segment 1 while collecting the $75,000 bonus. The action in the pack was without incident and Kasey Kahne began his march from the rear.

Segment 2: With a 2-wide restart I expected some sort of excitement but is was a repeat of the start of segment one. Kyle Busch blasted away from the pack for a quick 10 car lead but then fell prey to the JGR motor gremlins. Even before the announcers picked up on Busch’s motor problems Carl Edwards radioed in to Bob Osborne that he could hear the #18 had a sick motor. Edwards grabbed the first lead change of the day as Kyle faded back and Jr. moved up to the #2 spot. Kyle made it to the break but wouldn’t return. Edwards nabbed Segment #2 and the $20,000 bonus.

Segment 3: With Kyle out for the day, the racing at the front of the pack heated up a bit. Jr. and the Grey Ghost lead lap 1 while Biffle and Kenseth showed us some quality side-by-side battling. Once Biffle was able to push past Kenseth he methodically gained ground on Jr. until he breezed underneath the National Guard Chevy and into the lead. The #88 had a heck of a time keeping the tail-end straight several times during this segment and had a SWEET save on the final lap. Biffle captured Segment 3 along with the $10,000 bonus.

Segment 4: With a fuel only stop, JJ, Hamlin and Kahne were the first three to take the green. In my opinion, this is usually where the gentlemen quit being gentlemen. With no points on the line and Oooone….Miiiiilion…..Dooollars (said with a Dr. Evil accent) waiting for the victor, the carnage usually happens in these final 25 laps. So, I waited. Hmmm, the laps were ticking away and no one seemed anxious to repeat history. I was thinking “don’t any of these youngsters remember The Intimidator’s ‘Pass in the Grass’ move on Bill Elliott in ’87. Or maybe Davey Allison crashing at the finish line in ’92?” Well, it never happened. The day finished with only 3 cautions, all for competition yellows between segments. For a moment there I thought Biffle’s two tire change would give him an advantage on Kahne but it never came to be. The #9 Budweiser Chevrolet gathered the checkered and a hefty check for $1,012,975.00. Kahne is the third driver to win after transferring from the Shootout and the first to do it as the Fan Favorite.

Congrats to team Bud and Kasey for his first win since 2006. Honorable mention to Sam Hornish, Jr. who finished a strong 7th after making it in on a Showdown transfer spot.

Infield Lizard Racin’