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ALL-STAR: Feudin’, Fussin’ Colors All-Star Race
Will there be a shootout at the CMS corral?...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted May 17, 2011   Charlotte, NC
CMS president Marcus Smith, flanked by driver Kyle Busch (Right) and NASCAR on FOX analyst Jeff Hammond (Left) makes a promotional appearance last month centered around the speedway's "wild west" theme for its 2011 all-star race. (Photo: Harold Hinson)
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Fans attending Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race – or watching it on SPEED – might be surprised to find that John Wayne, Marshal Dillon, Clint Eastwood, Spider-Man and other defenders of All Things Good won’t be at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The promotional blitz leading to the 27th race in the All-Star series might lead one to anticipate such.

The speedway adopted a Wild West theme as its main promotional vehicle for the event, setting the stage with a commercial shot at the Western town Dale Earnhardt Jr. had built on his property. There are threats of gunplay before a mustachioed lawman – turns out it’s NASCAR president Mike Helton – steps in to say that these matters will be settled in the race.

Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch merged into the theme perfectly with their difficulties two weeks ago at Darlington Raceway as both earned a month of probation and $25,000 fines from NASCAR.

Now the thinking, at least in promotional circles, is that there could be a shootout at High Noon (well, actually, at about 9 p.m.) Saturday between the combatants.

Subtlety has not been encouraged.

Track president Marcus Smith has gone so far as to say that he will pay the fines for any drivers who happen to be penalized for fisticuffs at the All-Star event.

As part of probation, Harvick and Busch have been instructed to steer clear of each other, and it’s not likely that they’ll engage in any serious bumper-to-bumper banging during the race. There could be a serious response – like points penalties – from NASCAR.

But, if both drivers have fast cars and they wind up in the same neighborhood in the race’s 10-lap dash to the finish, all bets are off.

“It sure seems like there’s a different energy with the fines being levied as they are,” said Jimmie Johnson. “It’s a different discussion swirling around. It could be one heck of a slugfest.

Kyle Busch (Left) and Kevin Harvick (Right) have had their differences this season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
“It sounds like the Smith family is willing to pay any fines. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference in creating an environment.”

There were no problems between Busch and Harvick last weekend at Dover International Speedway, where both raced in the Camping World Truck and Sprint Cup series.

Chances are that will stay the same Saturday night.

But bring your cowboy hats, just in case.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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