NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race: Winners Only Need Apply

NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race: Winners Only Need Apply
The 24th annual NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, will have 24 drivers racing for a winner’s purse in excess of $1 million.

Seventeen of those drivers are All-Stars because they’ve won NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in either 2007 or ‘08

Four are in because – even though they haven’t won a race in 2007 or ’08 – they’re past champions of the event (Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin) or of the series (Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett) within the last 10 years.

Two will get in via the NASCAR Sprint Showdown, a 40-lap preliminary race for series competitors who haven’t won in either 2007 or ’08.

One gets in via the NASCAR Sprint Fan Vote, which started April 17 and runs through 7 p.m. on Saturday night. Fans can vote a non-winner in via text messaging, by going to NASCAR.com or by voting at Sprint retail stories. The driver advancing must finish on the Showdown’s lead lap.

The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Showdown: Best All-Star Prelim Ever?
The NASCAR Sprint Showdown, the annual “last-chance” preliminary to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, is even more intriguing than usual, as it features a former Chase competitor in Elliott Sadler, a former All-Star champion in Michael Waltrip and a man who in recent years has been considered one of the series' very best drivers, Kasey Kahne. It also will have former Indy 500 champions Sam Hornish Jr. and Dario Franchitti.

The top two finishers in the NASCAR Sprint Showdown advance to the main event.

Kahne is one of four drivers currently in the top 20 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings who most “race their way into” the All-Star event; and one of those drivers is currently inside the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup top 12 bubble -- David Ragan, who moved into 12th place after his top-five finish at Darlington. The other two top 20 NASCAR Sprint Showdown entries are Brian Vickers and Travis Kvapil – former champions of the NASCAR Nationwide Series and .the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, respectively.

NASCAR Sprint Fan Vote Awards One Lucky Driver
For the fifth consecutive year, the fans will vote one driver into the Sprint NASCAR All-Star Race field. Fans can vote for their favorite driver who is not already locked in using their Sprint phones by texting “7777” and following the instructions or by voting online at NASCAR.com or sprint.com/speed.

Previous winners of the fan vote are:
2004 – Ken Schrader
2005 – Martin Truex Jr.
2006 – Kyle Petty
2007 – Kenny Wallace

Finale for Jarrett – And The Big Brown Truck
The NASCAR All-Star race will be the last race for Dale Jarrett, who is retiring. He's in the All-Star event as a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. He has never won the All-Star race. What a capper that would be, if he won.

Pre-race ceremonies involving Jarrett will be pretty interesting, as well. During drivers' introductions – with drivers being introduced as they walk on stage, then get into Toyota Tundra pickup trucks for a lap around the track – Jarrett will be introduced last. He will then get into the famed UPS “Big Brown Truck” and will drive around the track. In addition, a fan, selected this week at random, will accompany Jarrett on the long-awaited ride.

History Ready To Be Made – Again
The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race is legendary for providing history-making moments, such as:
Dale Earnhardt's “Pass in the Grass” of Bill Elliott in 1987;

Davey Allison's win 1992 that was followed by an accident – after he took the checkered flag – that sent him to the hospital;

Michael Waltrip finishing fifth in the prelim race in 1996 – which then afforded the top five prelim finishers berths in the All-Star race – and going on to win the big event, the first prelim qualifier to do so. At the time, Waltrip had never won a regular NASCAR Sprint Cup event;

Dale Earnhardt Jr. becoming the first rookie to win the All-Star event in 2000, then being joined by his dad in victory lane.

People have come to expect some history being made, in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

Busch Vying For Youngest-Ever Honor – Again
Kyle Busch, already the youngest winner in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history with his 2005 win at the Auto Club Speedway (20 years, 4 months, 2 days), became the youngest winner in Darlington’s history with his win last Saturday night.

Now he looks to check off another “youngest-ever” milestone – the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

The youngest driver to ever win the All-Star Race was Jeff Gordon in 1995 – at 23 years, 9 months, 18 days.

If Busch wins this Saturday night, he’ll take over that title – he would be 23 years, 15 days.

2008 NASCAR PIT CREW CHALLENGE
Pit crews participating in the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge – Thursday night (7 p.m.) at the Time-Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte – are from teams eligible for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race as well as the 2007 winners of the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge.

Following are some storyline surrounding the event.

The No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet: Plenty Of Athletic Firepower
Gas man Caleb Hurd (Pulaski, Va.) is a former special-teams standout at Virginia Tech (as the place-holder for kicker Shayne Graham, now with the Cincinnati Bengals).
Jack man Jeff Cook (from Charlotte, N.C.) played college football at Winthrop College.
Front tire carrier Mike “Tiny” Houston (Concord, N.C.) played football at Western Carolina and later wrestled in the NWA.
Rear tire carrier Jeff Knight (Matthews, N.C.) played Royals Rookie League baseball.

TEAM CONTACT: Jon Edwards (704) 377-8727. Email: pprplus50@aol.com

The No. 12 Alltel Dodge: Defending Champions
The reigning Daytona 500 and NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge championship team has four former college athletes and three men over age 40 on its crew:
Rear-tire carrier Trent Cherry (Charlotte, N.C.) was a quarterback at Lenior-Rhyne. He’s also the team’s pit-crew coach.
Catch-can man Britt Goodrich (Gastonia, N.C.) was a linebacker at the University of North Carolina (and the jack man until last fall).
Jackman Bryan White (Knoxville, Tenn.) was a linebacker at the University of Virginia (in fact, the New York Jets had just cut him in training camp three years ago when he got the pit-crew tryout call from Cherry).
Front-tire changer Ben Brown (Charlotte, N.C.) played baseball at Davidson College.
Goodrich, gas man George Whitley (Chocowinity, N.C.) and rear-tire changer Joe Piette Jr. (Wausaw, Wisc.), all are over age 40. Whitley is 41, Goodrich is 40 and Piette is 41.
TEAM CONTACT: Wendy Belk (704) 664-8182, Email: wendy.belk@penskeracing.com

The No. 18 M&M’s/Interstate Batteries Toyota – Addington Is Shining
Thanks to new driver Kyle Busch, crew chief Steve Addington has found the spotlight.
Busch’s March 2008 win at Atlanta Motor Speedway marked Addington’s first as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief.
A quiet, behind-the-scenes type, Addington’s in his fifth season at Joe Gibbs Racing and his fourth as the No. 18 crew chief.
Prior to JGR, he spent 15 years as a NASCAR Nationwide Series crew chief – 11 with fellow Spartanburg, S. C., native Jason Keller.
TEAM CONTACT: Adam Travers (704) 632-2012. Email: atravers@elevationgrp.com

The No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet: A Behind-The-Scenes Look
Clint Bowyer’s new pit-crew coach Matt Clark (North Haven, Conn.) and team trainer Ray Wright (Charlotte Hall, Md.) are making a big difference at Richard Childress Racing. So is a new shop gym with tons – literally – of new equipment.

Bowyer’s crew has targeted Thursday night’s May 15 NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge as a short-term goal; Clark and Wright’s long-term is upgrading the performance of all RCR pit crews.
Clark comes to RCR from Hendrick Motorsports.

Wright, a NASCAR newcomer, played baseball at Louisiana State University and won a College World Series. He trained pro athletes (baseball, football and basketball) in Maryland before coming to North Carolina, where he most recently worked as a strength and baseball coach at Forsythe Country Day School. Team owner Richard Childress’ grandsons were among his Forsythe pupils, helping to lead Wright to RCR.

TEAM CONTACT: Matt Klug (336) 731-3334, ext. 3786. Email: mklug@rcrracing.com


NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

Test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Starts Open Week
NASCAR Nationwide Series teams have their second open week of the season but it begins with on-track activity with a scheduled test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The majority of the teams are based in Charlotte so the trek for the two-day test will be short. More than 40 drivers representing more than 20 teams are scheduled to test at the 1.5-mile track which will serve as host for the next series race on May 24.

Bowyer’s Lead Grows Thanks To “Lady In Black”
Three laps at Darlington last Friday night was all it took for Clint Bowyer’s standings lead to grow from nine points to 112 points. Carl Edwards – who won the pole for the race – placed last for the first time in his series career after an incident on Lap 3 ended his day. Edwards entered the race nine points behind Bowyer. Kyle Busch was in third, only 11 points behind Bowyer but a mid-race accident relegated him to 31st place. Busch did move into second in the standings but Bowyer’s lead is the largest any first-place driver has enjoyed this year. Bowyer was runner-up at Darlington.

Bliss Continues To Lead Series-Only Drivers In Standings
Despite a last-lap accident that took him out of a certain top-10 finish at Darlington, Mike Bliss remained in fifth place in the point standings, the highest-ranking series-only regular. Brad Keselowski, Jason Leffler, Mike Wallace and David Stremme, also series-only regulars, hold positions 7 – 10, respectively. Steve Wallace has posted career-best top-five finishes in his last two races and is 11th, just 28 points behind Stremme, his Rusty Wallace Racing teammate.

Joe Gibbs Racing Extends Series Mark
With Tony Stewart’s win at Darlington last Friday night, Joe Gibbs Racing registered its sixth consecutive series win, building on its new series record. Denny Hamlin’s win at Richmond May 2 actually set the new record (the old mark was four straight wins by Roush Racing in 2000). Three different drivers in two different cars have put together the JGR streak. Kyle Busch leads the trio with three wins, two in the No. 18 Toyota and one in the No. 20 – the car that also leads the owner standings. Stewart has two victories in the No. 20 and Hamlin’s win also came in the No. 20.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES

Busch Is Back
Kyle Busch, the hottest driver in NASCAR, returns to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Friday’s North Carolina Lottery Education 200. Busch is the only double winner of the event, in 2005-06 and over 10 days at Lowe’s Motor Speedway expects to compete in five races comprising 814 laps and 1,221 miles.

Hornaday Man To Watch
Ron Hornaday Jr. holds many of the cards this week: He’s the defending winner at LMS; is the defending series champion and holds a 61-point lead over Rick Crawford in the race for the 2008 championship.

No Home Cooking At LMS, Traditionally
It’s a hometown race but only one North Carolina driver – Dennis Setzer of Newton – has been able to win a NASCAR Craftsman Truck event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. In fact, Setzer is one of just six natives of the Tar Heel State to win a series race. He’s scored 18 of the 30 wins.