NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race: ‘Always Wild And Crazy’

NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race: ‘Always Wild And Crazy’

No points. No problem.

That’s Saturday’s Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a nutshell – along with a $1 million payoff for the driver and team most willing to throw caution to the wind and fulfill the racing prophecy of “checkers or wreckers.”

“It is a win-or-nothing kind of situation,” said Jeff Gordon, with three all-star victories the top winner among active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitors. “If we don’t win, then we don’t lose any points, so you can kind of leave [the track] with a smile on your face.”

What separates NASCAR’s all-star affair from those of other professional sports? Several things – but most noteworthy that individual players aren’t performing with an unfamiliar coach or manager with teammates who may or may not be interested in the outcome. Points leader Greg Biffle will race with his No. 16 Ford team. So will the other starters who will be racing for pride as well as cash. 

It’s also a dress rehearsal for the May 27 Coca-Cola 600, which does carry points and looms significant as the countdown to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ closes on its mid-point.

The last driver to win both the Sprint All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600 was Kurt Busch in 2010.

Saturday night’s 100-lap race will be contested in five segments – four 20-lap stints and a 10-lap finale. Winners of the first four segments will go to the head of the field for the race’s ultimate pit stop. Only green flag laps will be counted during the final segment.

Carl Edwards is the defending winner of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. Other previous winners qualified for the event include Gordon, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman.

The race is open to race-winning drivers from the 2011 and 2012 NSCS seasons, active NSCS champions from 2002-2011 and past Sprint All-Star Race winners from 2002-2011. The top two finishers of the night’s opening Sprint Showdown plus one driver selected via the Sprint Fan Vote complete the field. (Click here to vote)

An All-Star victory might be the spark Gordon needs to jump-start his 2012 season – during which he’s been beset by just about every imaginable piece of bad luck. He ranks 23rd in the point standings despite being in contention for a top-five finish or better in most of the season’s first 11 races.

“We’ve won all three segments and battled Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt for the victory,” said Gordon. “But we’ve also run out of gas while leading on the last lap. We’ve also won in a backup car after wrecking in primary in Turn One on lap one. The All-Star Race is always wild and crazy.”

Showdown Filled With NASCAR Star Power

Last-chance races have been called many things, and Saturday’s Sprint Showdown (run in two segments, 20 laps each) is “special.” Consider that among the 22 participants there are:

• 10 winners of 77 NASCAR Sprint Cup races
• A past NASCAR Sprint Cup champion
• Two Daytona 500 winners and a Brickyard 400 winner
• Three former Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ qualifiers
• Two competitors ranked among the top 10 in current NASCAR Sprint Cup points

Only the top two finishers will transfer to the Sprint All-Star Race although another will go into the night’s main event via the Sprint Fan Vote. Who might they be? 

Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte have won 21 races apiece. Labonte is the 2000 NSCS champion. Dale Earnhardt Jr., an 18-time winner and currently third in points, has won the Daytona 500. So has Jamie McMurray, whose resume includes the Brickyard 400. Burton, Earnhardt and Juan Pablo Montoya have been Chase qualifiers.

If there’s a “wild card” it could be Martin Truex Jr., ranked sixth in points with four top-five finishes including a second place last month at Kansas Speedway.

Any way you shake it, that’s some under card.

Bayne, Menard, Ambrose Eye First All-Star Race

Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race will feature at least three first-time starters – two of them winners since last May’s Coca-Cola 600 and another whose all-star debut was delayed by illness.

• Trevor Bayne punched his All-Star ticket by winning the 2011 Daytona 500. Unfortunately, Bayne was hospitalized later in the spring, forcing him to delay his special trip to Charlotte as a 20-year-old.
• Paul Menard kissed the fabled start-finish line bricks following his victory in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
• Australian Marcos Ambrose became the second foreign-born driver to reach NASCAR Sprint All-Star glory, winning at Watkins Glen International last August.

There could be other Sprint All-Star rookies. Three more slots are open to as-yet unqualified drivers: one via the Sprint Fan Vote and to the top-two finishers of the Sprint Showdown last-chance event that precedes the Sprint All-Star Race.

Rookie winners of the race are few and far between – just two since the race’s second edition in 1986. Ryan Newman won as a first-time starter in 2002 driving for Penske Racing. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won in 2000 driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc.

One Mistake And You’re Done In NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge

NASCAR Sprint All-Star week isn’t just for the drivers. The pit crews – arguably the second most important part of a winning combination – get their time in the spotlight on Thursday, May 17, at 7 p.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena (SPEED, delayed beginning at 8 p.m. EDT) in Charlotte.

The NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge is a competition between 24 of the top NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pit crews and features the “unsung heroes” of the sport in a popular tournament-style battle. The event’s finishing order determines pit selection for Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11 Toyota team is the two-time defending champion.

Mike Lepp, director of athletics for JGR, has been with the organization for six years and has witnessed the evolution of stops and those who perform the pit road ballet. “Six years ago it was 14 seconds. Now, if you’re not under 13 seconds you’re done,” said Lepp, adding that as many as 15 crews regularly bust sub-13-stops.

The No. 11 team’s rear tire carrier, former Lenoir-Ryne College linebacker Heath Cherry, said the pit crew competition requires crews to bring their ‘A’ game each round. “It always comes down to the team that makes the fewest amounts of mistakes,” said Cherry, “just like out here [in an NSCS race].”

Rising Stars: Suárez Shines In Historic Mexico City Night Race

Daniel Suárez collected his first NASCAR Toyota Series victory on Saturday in the Mexico Nocturna 200 presented by AC Delco at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The 20-year-old Suárez, out of Monterrey, Mexico, and driver of the No. 3 TELCEL Dodge, had to survive three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish. In the process, Suárez takes over the points lead after four races.

It was a historic night for the NASCAR Toyota Series as it was the first night race in Mexico City. The series held its first race under the lights in 2010 at Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico.

Suárez, the 2010 series rookie of the year, is also in his second full season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and heads to Iowa Speedway Saturday for the Graham Tire 150, the annual combination showcase with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.

Joining Suarez in Saturday’s combo event are a number of other possible future NSCS stars, including Darrell Wallace Jr. and a pair of 16-year-old points leaders: Dylan Kwasniewski (West) and Chase Elliott (East). 

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Etc.

The ninth celebration of NASCAR Day will be on Friday, May 18. Fans are encouraged to join The NASCAR Foundation’s initiative in the “Pin It Forward” campaign. Fans are invited to connect and share their pride for NASCAR by posting stories and uploading pictures on the Foundation’s Facebook page, as well as donate $20 for a pair of commemorative pins. … Blake Shelton, a three-time GRAMMY nominee and CMA’s reigning Male Vocalist of the Year, will perform prior to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race in the infield between Turns 1 and 2. Admission to the show is free with the purchase of a ticket to the race. … On Monday, former Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter, who passed away after a year-long battle with cancer in 2010, was inducted into the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame. Born in Charleston, S.C., Hunter attended the University of South Carolina and lettered in football and baseball from 1959-60. He was the president of Darlington Raceway from 1993-2001 before rejoining NASCAR in the summer of 2001. … Regan Smith will be featured in one of the segments on the Discovery Channel show, American Guns, Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.