2008 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Lowes Motor Speedway

2008 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race:

This Saturday night the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race will pay $1,012,975 to the winner. This made-for-television event features a small field, huge purse and four twenty-five lap segments. This race was created to maximize excitement and it usually delivers. The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race is one of NASCAR's "don't miss" events.

Tickets:

Speedway ticket office (800) 455-FANS or (704) 455-3200

Buy online from TicketsNow (direct link)

The Track:

Lowes Motor Speedway is a mile and a half tri-oval with 24 degrees of banking in the turns. The track is fast and even though there is one preferred groove there is still enough room on the top for a faster car to get by.

Lowes Motor Speedway is the home track for NASCAR. The majority of the teams are based within 30 miles of the speedway and everybody brings their best stuff to Lowes because everybody wants the bragging rights of winning their home race.

Race Distance:

100 laps = 150 miles in four twenty-five lap segments

All preceeded by the 40 lap / 60 mile Sprint Showdown qualifing race broken into two twenty lap segments.

How To Qualify:

This year the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race will feature 24 drivers.

There are five different ways to qualify for the Sprint All-Star Race:

1. Race winners from 2007 or 2008 (17 drivers)
2. Sprint Cup Champions from the last ten years (2 drivers)
3. Winners of the All-Star race within the last ten years (2 drivers)
4. First and second place finishers in the Sprint Open (2 drivers)
5. One driver voted in by the fans (1 driver)

Storylines:

Lowes Motor Speedway will host a new event before the All-Star Race on Saturday night. The Pennzoil Victory Challenge will feature five NASCAR stars competing in a unique event.

The Pennzoil Victory Challenge will include four essential skills of any victory celebration: a tire-smoking burnout; spectacular donuts; precision driving into "Victory Lane;" and, as with anything in racing, speed.

Promoter Humpy Wheeler is legendary for coming up with creative ideas to entertain the fans. This sounds like a fun competition. I can't wait to see how it plays out.

Media Coverage:

TV: SPEED Saturday, May 17th, 7:00PM Eastern.

Radio: PRN and SIRIUS Satellite

Recent Events:

2007 Winner: Kevin Harvick

Last Year:

The 2007 event was a rare dud in All-Star race history. The old-style cars really showed their biggest weakness during last year's event.

The final sprint to the checkers saw Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin lined up nose to tail. However, the old cars were so aero-sensitive that it was very difficult to pass. The top three finished just like that with very little excitement.

Predictions:

Lowes Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler has a tradition of picking the All-Star winner. Often his predictions come true but he missed it in 2007. This year he picked Carl Edwards to win it all.

Just because Humpy has a great track record in picking the winner of this race I am going with Carl Edwards for my backup this week.

Jimmie Johnson won this event two years ago and finished a strong second last year. His Hendrick Motorsports team has dominated Lowes Motor Speedway in recent years. These facts make Jimmie the man to beat this Saturday night.