2008 SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE & SPRINT SHOWDOWN

NASCAR headed to Lowe's Motor Speedway for the annual All-Star weekend which NASCAR says is all for the fans. Two days before the All-Star races, NASCAR held a pitcrew challenge for bragging rights. Brian Vickers' crew pulled off the upset and won that event.

The All-Star race is a race for Cup race winners from the previous season and those who have already won in the current year to duke it out for a million bucks under the lights at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Drivers were also elligible if they won the All-Star race within the last ten years. Qualifying for this event was different from other races, in that drivers run 3 laps having to also make a green flag pit stop during their run. Kyle Busch reigned supreme during qualifying capturing the pole over Jeff Gordon by only half a second (with pitstops, that interval is REAL close).

Qualfifying also occured for the Sprint Showdown drivers, people racing to get into the All-Star event. These drivers didn't win in a race in 2007 or at all in 2008 so far. Some of those drivers included Elliott Sadler, David Ragan, Kasey Kahne, and Sam Hornish Jr. Qualifying was the typical two lap format with Elliott Sadler scoring the pole

The first race on Saturday night was the Sprint Showdown, a 40 lap race split into two 20 lap segments. Polesitter Elliott Sadler ran into problems early has he and A.J. Allmendinger in the 84 car got together. Elliott got wrecked but A.J. motored on without much damage. It turned out to be a two horse race for the checkers: Allmendinger and Hornish Jr. A.J. won the Sprint Showdown and Sam Hornish wound up second. There were two transfer spots to get into the All-Star and they both got them. However, there was a third transfer spot reserved for a 'fan vote'. Kasey Kahne won the honors of the fan vote and got to race in the All-Star. He was fifth in the Showdown race after starting deep in the field.

SHOWDOWN TOP 5:
1. #84 A.J. Allmendinger (Toyota)
2. #77 Sam Hornish Jr. (Dodge)
3. #6 David Ragan (Ford)
4. #83 Brian Vickers (Toyota)
5. #9 Kasey Kahne (Dodge)

After a fancy driver introduction session, the All-Star race got under way. The race featured four 25 lap segments, resembling the four quarters of a football game. Allmendinger, Hornish, and Kahne had to start in the rear due to being transfers. Segment one was ALL Kyle Busch. He led all 25 laps and looked to have a car that could dominate the whole event. Busch did continue to lead in Segment 2, but halfway through that segment he dropped a cylinder. That gave Carl Edwards the lead and he in fact won Segment 2. At halftime, Kyle's crew chief stated that they were done for the night since it would be impossible to keep up with the leaders when the car's down a cylinder. Segment Three, Greg Biffle moved into the picture and dominated that segment. Carl Edwards began to drop back through the field in that one. As cars made pit stops following Segment Three, Kasey Kahne's crew played some pit strategy taking no new tires. Kahne was in the back of the top ten at the end of that segment but wound up in the Top 3 on the restart. Jimmie Johnson played the same strategy as Kahne but they had to battle Greg Biffle who did take tires. Surprisingly, Kasey Kahne was able to take the lead and drive away from Greg Biffle as the Biff's car got increasingly tight during the run. Johnson also ran well with no tires but faded to fourth being passed by Matt Kenseth. Kasey drove off to the checkers scoring his first All-Star victory and he became the first winner to win the All-Star being voted into the race. It also locked him into the All-Star for the next ten years. Kahne's last Cup victory came right there at Lowe's in 2006. Tony Stewart was the last Gibbs car running after Busch as well as Denny Hamlin had to retire due to engine problems. Showdown runner-up Sam Hornish Jr. finished 7th after having issues earlier in the race being a couple laps down but got some free passes at the segment ending yellows. There were no cautions called except for those that ended the segments.

ALL-STAR TOP 5:
1. #9 Kasey Kahne (Dodge)
2. #16 Greg Biffle (Ford)
3. #17 Matt Kenseth (Ford)
4. #48 Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)
5. #20 Tony Stewart (Toyota)

The drivers would remain at Lowe's for the Coke 600 next week.